Here is a quick overview of how children approach science stage by stage.

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Three-Year-Olds:

• tend to choose sensory and physical activities over problem-solving activities. Provide hands-on activities that invite them to dive into materials and be messy!
• like to do more than watch. Avoid teacher-directed and complicated science activities that require children to watch and wait.
• are beginning to play with science for a purpose. ? They can make a simple prediction and (with help) test it out.
• may have difficulty manipulating small items and science tools. Choose things such as large, unbreakable magnifiers, big bucket pan balances, and large horseshoe magnets.
• want to talk about their findings but may not have the vocabulary. Narrate their explorations - See how your puddle is smaller? It evaporated! - and model science words and language.

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Four-Year-Olds:

• are beginning to think ahead, plan, and imagine many different outcomes to an experiment.
• start to infer information gained from one experience and apply it to a new situation.
• like to use dramatic play to pretend to be scientists and to help themselves make sense of fact and fantasy.
• can make simple drawings and fill in charts to record observations and experiments.
• enjoy discussing a discovery and can use new science words in context.
• take a more purposeful approach to science experiments.

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Five-Year-Olds:

• tend to look at the world with more abstraction. They delight in taking their observations from the concrete to the representational level.
• can follow directions (on a task card or from a teacher) for an experiment that involves many steps.
• like to look up information in books, charts, photos, and on the computer.
• enjoy telling others about their findings in a group meeting or small groups.
• are able to draw and write their findings in science journals and field books.
• feel like they know all ? about a science topic but usually have many gaps in their understanding. (But they DO enjoy filling them in!)