Preschoolers and children in pre-k enjoy exploring and investigating the world around them. The activities in this article tap into that natural curiosity by combining nature-based STEM/STEAM learning and artistic expression to explore nature, color, and texture.
This STEAM activity encourages children to wonder about the relationship among clouds, rain, and gravity through a unique and interesting art project. For this activity, you will need liquid water color paints, cotton balls, droppers, glue, thick cardstock paper, and water. You might also want a tray or something to cover the table, as this project can get messy! Children will use the droppers to fill their cotton ball clouds with water, and then hold the clouds at an angle to watch the clouds “rain.”
As they watch the water come down, ask children questions about what they think is happening. If you are working with older children, you might use this activity to introduce basic concepts about gravity. Talk about how it pulls the rain down, just like it pulls us back down when we jump!
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This activity is a fun way for children to learn about flowers and how they drink water. It requires just a few items: water, clear cups (available at the Dollar Store), food coloring, white flowers, and scissors. The first step of this project is to trim the flower stems, since this will reduce the time it takes for colored water to reach the petals. Fill each clear cup with water, and add a few drops of food coloring. Finally, invite children to take turns placing flowers in each cup.
Observe the flowers later that day, or even over the next few days, to see how the colors of the flower petals change. If you work with older children, you might invite them to record their observations on paper by drawing pictures of what they see. As children make their observations, talk with them about how they can observe that flowers are drinking the water.
This is a simple art activity that helps children explore the unique textures of leaves, flowers, and other natural objects.
Place a variety of natural items on a tray next to paper and various colors of paint. Encourage children to choose a leaf, flower, or other natural item to dip into the paint and use as a paintbrush to make marks on the paper. When the children are done, ask them about the variety of marks left by each of the items. You can also share the names of the flowers and types of leaves they used to paint the marks.
This project is also a great opportunity to learn about colors! Ask children to name all the different colors they see on the table, from the paints, the markings, and all of the natural items.
If the children in your care are curious about flowers, they might enjoy this simple flower dissection activity. It’s a fun experiment that enables children to see all of the different small parts that make up a flower.
This activity can be done using flowers from your yard, or you can invite families to bring flowers from their homes! It’s a nice way to include parents, and offers children a variety of different flowers to observe and compare. Using cardstock and tape, help children to slowly and carefully take their flowers apart. As they do this, talk about each of the different parts of the flower. Then, help children to place each part of the flower onto the tape, and use magnifying glasses to look closely at each one.
