In the Science Lab – Exploring Molecules With Little Kids

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A huge thanks to Experience Early Learning (formerly Mother Goose Time) for providing us with their Experience Preschool curriculum for free in exchange for sharing our honest and authentic stories resulting from our personal experiences. It’s been such a huge blessing to us! As always, my opinions on awesome stuff for little kids are 100% my own.

Keep in mind that all preschoolers do things in their own time and on their own terms. What one is ready for, another might not be. Please use your best mama judgement when planning activities for your little kids. 

Today’s topic for our Science Lab curriculum kit was all about molecules. Such an odd topic for a toddler, don’t ya think? Either way, the little guy loved every minute of it and of course it was all awesome for developing fine motor skills.

We started with the Molecule Model activity, which was lots of fun. I’ve never used these cornstarch noodles before and neither has the little guy, but I showed him how to get each side wet and connect them together.

He definitely got a kick out of it. He loves making stuff and this proved to be no exception. The skills listed in the Teacher Guide included Number Concepts, Visual Arts, and Physical Science.

Isn’t it cool to see little kids learning so much from such a simple activity? And all of these skills work so well together. This is STEAM at its finest, y’all! Lol…

We of course talked about what colors we were connecting together. I’ve made a point of using teachable moments as they occur, so I’m always counting things and describing them to him. I’m constantly pointing out colors, shapes, textures, and patterns to the little guy.

On that note, I seriously need to get some more of these. They’d be great to add to a tinker kit for little kids.

Next on the agenda for today was the Atom Sort. We were supposed to pretend that the pipe cleaners were molecules and the beads were atoms.

I would love to do this theme again in a few years when the little guy is older. I think he’d get so much more from it then.

He still loved the idea of putting the beads on the pipe cleaners, though. He did it over and over again.

For today, our focus was on fine motor skills. We talked a little bit about atoms and molecules, but mostly I wanted him to have fun with it.

And he had a blast. He was so proud of himself. You can’t even begin to imagine. Look at the smile on his face. That’s what homeschooling is all about. We can work on patterns and the idea of compound molecules another day.

Check it out! Isn’t it cool? He definitely thought so. Lol…

Keep in mind that cornstarch noodles as well as beads can be a choking hazard. If your toddler still puts things into his or her mouth, remember to substitute larger manipulatives for these activities. Fruit Loops are just as fun as beads or maybe even use Cheerios like the Little Goose Teacher Guide suggests. Either way, you can never be too careful.

I may or may not have already mentioned that today was all about different ways to make molecules. The “tray play” was Connecting Atoms. This time around we used some connectors that we already had.

Don’t these look fun? You’d never guess they came from the Target $1 Spot, right? We’ve actually had them for quite a while, but today we put them to good use.

The little guy practiced stacking them up and snapping them together to make his own version of molecules.

And when he was finished, he took them all apart again. Sometimes, I can’t get over how versatile these types of toys are. They sort of remind me of K’nex.

We still have a lot more awesome stuff to do this month. Next week, we’ll be starting Physics. We’re lovin’ it and spending lots of time creating and exploring. I seriously can’t wait.

Looking for more insight & inspiration? Here are the top 10 most popular posts from The Keeper of the Memories. You’re definitely not going to want to miss these!

Thanks so much for visiting. See ya next week!