We love pumpkins (gourds too!), we love Fall, and we LOVE SCIENCE! Water science is awesome to introduce to little learners! It’s quick, frugal and fun! There are so many ways to make it interesting and different each time! Take a look at our 10 Quick Water Science Activities! I love repeating simple science experiments with fun twists. It really helps solidify understanding of what we are actually learning while encouraging a playful environment at the same time! More fun pumpkin science experiments to try too!
Measuring Water Fall Science and Math
Measuring water, weighing gourds, and comparing sizes and weights are all great simple math and science activities! Add it all to a large bin and you have a neat and educational Fall sensory bin too. Measuring water is a terrific introduction to simple math. We added our favorite scale right to the water sensory bin along with our gourds. Having items to compare and contrast makes for great exploring! Let your kids come with ideas for measuring water and comparing weights and have them test their ideas!
Supplies Needed:
- simple scale and balance (check below for links)
- small gourds to weigh
- scoops
- eye dropper
- large container
- water
- food coloring (optional)
Fill a large container with water and place all the items inside! I chose to color the water orange both for festive Fall fun but also to increase it’s visibility when added to the scales containers! Add measuring cups and eye droppers or even a turkey baster.
Measuring water and weighing gourds for Fall themed learning and play!
Try to resist the urge to control the experiment! This type of water science experiment is very open-ended for the purpose of discovering and exploring! Allow your child to fill the buckets of the scale, dump water, and discover what happens in the process. This usually leads to great discoveries on the child’s part and he or she will be eager to share! If your child is having difficulty deciding what to do, model an idea such as putting a gourd in one container and scooping water into the other. Fill it too much and say,” wow what do you think is happening?” We sat together and I offered questions like..
- What do you think will happen if..?
- Which do you think is heavier? Lighter? A liquid? A solid? Why?
- What happened when..?
- What do you see now?
There are so many ways a child can explore this type of hands-on math and science activity. You can also talk about the different size measuring cups you have available for measuring water. Extend the activity by adding different size containers to the water and have your child predict which measuring cup will fill the container or how many scoops it will take to fill the container. Add a gourd and see how much room it takes up when measuring water!
Measuring water is also a great fine motor skill!
Include math vocabulary and concepts about more, less, even and balanced when measuring water! Point out what each term means as he or she is experimenting or ask them to show you if you have already worked on similar concepts! You can also talk about adding and subtracting to make the sides even or balanced!
Don’t forget the awesome use of fine motor skills with all the transferring, pouring, scooping and eye dropper squeezing that takes place when measuring water! Hands-on learning can include so many opportunities to practice different skills!
We love sensory science! Measuring water is a neat science and math activity for play and learning!
I can’t find where to enter the linky?