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Bath Tub Science For Kids
by Jennifer Ellis
Description: Easy bath tub science project ideas to do with your preschooler.
Water play is one of the most exciting forms of play for young
children. A lot of learning can happen while in the bath tub without
any formal lessons being taught. The bathtub is a great place to
explore math and science concepts. Why not make your child's bath
time an ongoing science experiment? When they experiment, they can
learn about different properties and volumes of objects. They also
understand more about water and how it moves.
MEASUREMENTS
Let your child experiment with water by pouring and measuring.
Provide different sized measuring cups, measuring spoons, funnels,
plastic bottles, pitchers, an eye dropper, and a turkey baster. Let
your child try to predict if pouring water from one container to the
next will fill it exactly, overflow it, or not be enough. Count how
many tablespoonfuls it takes to fill a measuring cup. Predict how
many tablespoonfuls it will take to fill other similar sized
objects. Look for any patterns. Try to always refer to the
measuring cups and spoons by their correct measurement name, i.e. ¼
cup or tablespoon.
SINK OR FLOAT?
Gather some everyday objects that can be put into the tub, such as a
sponge, a large plastic toy, a small plastic toy, a swimming shoe, a
bottle of lotion, a block, a quarter, a paper clip, a cotton ball, a
Styrofoam plate, a spoon, and a rock. Try to find different sized and
weighted objects. Ask your child if she thinks each individual
object will sink or float. Have your child explain why she thinks
this will be the case. Let her drop the object into the tub. Did her
prediction come true? Let your child tell you possible reasons why.
Typically, children believe that large objects sink and small objects
float. Try another object. Discuss her findings and conclusions.
COLOR
Fill each egg hole of a white Styrofoam egg carton 3/4 full of water.
Add red food coloring to one section, blue to another section, and
yellow to another section. Give your child an eye dropper. Show her
how to use the eye dropper to move the colored water to the clear
water sections. Notice how the color changes. Let her experiment.
Have her mix colors. Can she make green or orange?
Make colored ice cubes by adding a drop of food coloring to the water
before freezing. Toss them into the bath tub and watch them melt.
Why do they melt? What happens to the color? Mix colors.
You can also play with color by squirting shaving cream into a muffin
tin and then adding a drop or two of food coloring to each squirt.
Mix the colors with your finger to blend. Let your child "body
paint" with the shaving cream. Be careful to keep it away from your
child's eyes.
AIR PRESSURE "MAGIC"
Young children love this "magic" trick! Have your child crumple a
piece of paper and push it to the bottom of the plastic cup. Next,
have her turn the glass upside-down. Make sure that the paper
remains stuck up in the cup. Have her keep the cup perfectly straight
up and down (vertical position) and push it through the water until
it touches the bottom of the tub. If she's kept it perfectly
straight, the air trapped inside the glass will prevent the tissue
from getting wet. Wow!
BUBBLES
The day before your bath experiment time, mix together water, dish
soap and glycerin. I've heard that sugar will work as well as
glycerin but have never tried it. Leave it alone until bath time.
The longer bubble juice sits the better the bubbles will last. Pour
the bubble juice into a loaf pan and give your child different
objects to try to blow bubbles through, i.e. slotted spoon, water
bottle sport cap, a straw, a small funnel, cookie cutter. Experiment
with different objects and see which work better and discuss why this
may be so. What happens to the bubbles when they land on something
dry? What about on something wet? Can you catch the bubbles? Can
you stack the bubbles?
Have fun and learn without your child even noticing it!
Jennifer Ellis is a former elementary teacher and is now a stay-at-
home mom. Reprinted with permission.
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