Professionalism in Early Learning: Children are Natural Scientists

Children are extremely curious about the world around them. From as early as infancy, young children observe and interact with their immediate environment in many different ways. They observe how objects move and behave; make and create sounds; and build patterns of expectations about the biological and physical world.

Children are natural scientists, and science should be a fundamental part of a curriculum. Children should be free to direct their own learning and choose activities appropriate to their own needs and developmental level.

Pull the science out of the environment and make it part of daily experience. Find science in trips to the park and the playground, in water and sand play, making fruit salad, rolling toys down a ramp, and building with blocks. Science is based on curiosity, and teachers should reinforce children's inherent curiosity through discussion. They begin to understand the scientific method, learning how to develop hypotheses, design ways to test them, and record and compare data.

Through exploration and discussion, preschoolers learn that science is part of their lives — and that it's a lot of fun!

There are so many opportunities.

Click on the Curriculum Resources link above, or the photos below, for preschool science ideas.