50 Easy Preschool Science Experiments - Little Bins for Little Hands

Curious kids turn into junior scientists with these fun and easy preschool science experiments. This collection of preschool science activities is doable and uses simple supplies for home or in the classroom. Plus, you can also scale any of these activities to use with Kindergarten through elementary-age students!

Science Projects for Preschoolers and Beyond

So many of these science experiments below can be adapted to your kids’ current level. Also, many of these preschool science activities are perfect for kids of multiple ages to work together in small groups.

ARE SCIENCE ACTIVITIES EASY TO DO WITH YOUNG KIDS?

You bet! You will find science activities here that are inexpensive, as well as quick and easy to set up! These activities can be used as easily in the classroom as at home.

Many of these awesome kinder science experiments use common ingredients you may already have. Just check your kitchen cupboard for excellent science supplies.

You will notice that I use the wording preschool science quite a bit, but these activities and experiments are absolutely perfect for kindergarten-age kids as well as early elementary-age kids.

It all depends on the individual kid or group you are working with! Depending on age, you can add more or less of the science information or create science journals!

Make sure to check out…

Benefits of Preschool Science Activities

Enhances Critical Thinking:
Science activities in preschool involve observation, exploration, and problem-solving. These activities prompt children to think critically, make connections between cause and effect, and develop reasoning skills.

Fosters Creativity:
Science is not just about facts and formulas; it also encourages creativity. Engaging in hands-on activities and experiments allows children to think outside the box, come up with unique solutions, and express their ideas creatively.

Promotes Hands-on Learning:
Preschoolers learn best through hands-on experiences. Science activities provide the perfect platform for them to touch, feel, observe, and experiment with the world around them, making learning more tangible and memorable.

Cognitive Development:
Science activities stimulate various aspects of cognitive development, including problem-solving, memory, attention span, and language skills. Children learn to think logically, analyze information, and make predictions – all crucial academic and life success skills.

Language Development:
Science activities involve communication, encouraging children to describe their observations, ask questions, and discuss their findings. This enhances language development, vocabulary, and verbal expression.

Social Skills:
Science activities often involve group work and collaboration. Working together on projects fosters teamwork, cooperation, and social skills. It also teaches children to respect each other’s ideas and value diverse perspectives.

Emotional Development:
Science activities can be both exciting and challenging for preschoolers. As they explore and experiment, they experience various emotions, such as curiosity, excitement, frustration, and joy. These experiences contribute to emotional development and self-awareness.

Motor Skills:
Many science activities require fine motor skills like pouring, measuring, and manipulating objects. Engaging in these activities helps refine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and dexterity.

Confidence Building:
As preschoolers engage in science activities and witness successful outcomes, their self-confidence and self-esteem grow. The sense of accomplishment gained from completing experiments encourages them to take on new challenges.

Preschool Science Activities Engage the Senses

Preschool science encourages making observations with the 5 senses, including sight, sound, touch, smell, and sometimes even taste. When kids are fully able to immerse themselves in the activity, the greater the interest they will have in it!

Kids are naturally curious creatures, and once you have piqued their curiosity, you have also turned on their observation, critical thinking, and experimenting skills.

These science activities are perfect for the senses, allowing play and exploration without adult-led directions. Kids will naturally start to pick up on the simple science concepts presented just by having a fun conversation about it all with you!

How to Teach Science to Preschoolers

Teaching science to preschoolers is a wonderful way to spark their curiosity about the world around them. Making the learning process fun, engaging, and age-appropriate is essential.

Begin by incorporating hands-on activities and experiments that encourage exploration and observation. Use simple and relatable examples from their everyday lives, such as observing plants grow, mixing colors, or exploring the properties of water.

Encourage questions and provide simple explanations that align with their level of understanding. Picture books can also be valuable tools for teaching science concepts. Add fun themes and colors for the holidays and seasons!

Additionally, fostering a sense of wonder and excitement about the natural world will lay a strong foundation for their future scientific learning. Remember that patience, repetition, and a nurturing environment are key to helping preschoolers develop a lifelong love for science.

Getting Started with Science

Check out the links below to prepare yourself, your family, or your classroom for these easy preschool science experiments and activities. The key to success is in the preparation!

Awesome Science Activities for Preschoolers

Here are some science activities you can do with your preschooler. Click on each of the links below for the full instructions.

ABSORPTION

Check out how different materials with this simple Preschool Water Science activity absorb water. Explore how much water a sponge can absorb. Or you can try the classic walking water science activity.

ALKA SELTZER CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Make an Alka Seltzer Rocket, try Alka Seltzer Experiment or a homemade Lava Lamp to check out this neat chemical reaction.

BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR EXPERIMENTS

Who doesn’t like a fizzing, foaming eruption? From an erupting lemon volcano to our simple baking soda balloon experiment.. Check out our list of baking soda science activities to get started!

BALLOON RACE CARS

Explore energy, measure distance, build different cars to explore speed and distance with simple balloon cars. You can use Duplo, LEGO, or build your own car.

BALLOON ROCKETS

Gas, energy, and power! Make Go power! Set up a simple balloon rocket. All you need is a string, a straw, and a balloon!

BURSTING BAGS

Definitely take this bursting bags science activity outside! Will it pop? This science activity will have you on the edge of your seat!

BUTTER IN A JAR

The science you can spread with a tasty homemade butter, after a good workout for the arms anyway!

Butter Battle Homemade Butter Science Activities and Dr. Seuss Science

BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE

Explore the butterfly life cycle with a free printable pack and sensory bin idea. Or create an edible butterfly life cycle instead!

BUBBLES

Explore the simple fun of bubbles with these easy bubble experiments! Can you make a bubble bounce? We have a recipe for the perfect bubble solution too.

Check out even more bubble fun with 2D bubble shapes or 3D bubble shapes, bubble painting, and bubble snakes!

BUILDING BRIDGES

This bridge building activity is an easy engineering project for young kids. It starts with the planning and designing process and ends with the building process. Construct your own bridge from simple supplies.

BUILDING TOWERS

Kids love building and building structures is a great activity that incorporates many skills. Plus it is a great frugal activity. Check out a variety of building activities.

CANDY SCIENCE

Play Willy Wonka for a day and explore candy science with floating m&m’s, chocolate slime, dissolving candy experiments, and more!

CELERY SCIENCE WITH OSMOSIS

Watch the process of osmosis with a simple celery science experiment!

CHICK PEA FOAM

Have fun with this taste-safe sensory play foam made with ingredients you probably already have in the kitchen! This edible shaving foam, or aquafaba as it is commonly known, is made from the water chickpeas are cooked in.

COLOR MIXING

Color mixing is a science. Learn colors through play with these preschool color activities.

CRYSTAL GROWING

Growing crystals is simple! You can easily grow your own crystals at home or in the classroom with our simple recipe. Make a rainbow crystal, a snowflake, hearts, crystal eggshells, and even crystal seashells.

DENSITY {LIQUIDS}

Can one liquid be lighter than the other? Find out with this easy liquid density experiment!

DINOSAUR FOSSILS

Be a paleontologist for a day, make your own homemade dinosaur fossils, and then go on your own dig. Check out all our fun preschool dinosaur activities.

DISCOVERY BOTTLES

Science in a bottle. Explore all kinds of simple science ideas right in a bottle! Check out a few of our easy science bottles or these discovery bottles for ideas. They are perfect for themes, too, like these Earth Day ones!

EGGS

Test how strong an egg is with this easy eggshell strength experiment. Find out what happens to an egg in vinegar, and try our mess-free egg drop challenge for young kids.

FLOWERS

Have you ever changed the color of a flower? Try this color-changing flower science experiment and learn about how a flower works! Or why not try growing your own flowers with our list of easy flowers to grow.

GRAVITY

What goes up must come down. Have young kids explore concepts in gravity around the house or classroom with simple objects you already have.

FIZZING LEMONADE

Explore the senses and a little chemistry with our fizzy lemonade recipe!

ICE CREAM IN A BAG

Homemade ice cream is yummy edible science with only three ingredients! Don’t forget the winter gloves and sprinkles. This gets cold!

ICE MELT SCIENCE

An ice melt activity is a simple science you can set up in many different ways with many themes. Ice melting is a wonderful introduction to a simple science concept for young kids! Check out our list of ice activities for preschool.

IVORY SOAP

Try classic expanding ivory soap experiment! One bar of ivory soap can be very exciting! Also see how we experimented with one bar of soap and turned it into either soap foam or soap slime!

LAVA LAMP

Another must try science experiment using oil and water, a lava lamp experiment is always a favorite!

LETTUCE GROWING ACTIVITY

Set up a lettuce growing station. This is fascinating to watch and pretty quick to do. We watched the new lettuce grow taller each day!

MAGIC MILK

Magic milk is definitely one of our most popular science experiments. Plus, it is just plain fun and mesmerizing!

MAGNETS

What’s magnetic? What’s not magnetic? You can set up a magnet science discovery table for your kids to explore and a magnet activity!

MIRRORS AND REFLECTIONS

Mirrors are fascinating and have wonderful play and learning possibilities plus it makes for great science!

NAKED EGG OR RUBBER EGG EXPERIMENT

Ah, the egg in vinegar experiment. You need a little patience for this one {takes 7 days}, but the end result is really cool!

OOBLECK {NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS}

Oobleck is 2 ingredient fun! A simple recipe using kitchen cupboard ingredients, but it is the perfect example of a non-newtonian fluid. Also makes for fun sensory play. Make classic oobleck or colored oobleck.

PENNY BOAT

Take the penny boat challenge and find out how many pennies your tin foil boat will hold before sinking. Learn about buoyancy and how boats float on water.

DIY PULLEY

Make a simple pulley that really works, and test out lifting loads.

RAINBOWS

Learn about the science of rainbows as well as fun rainbow-themed science experiments. Check out our fun selection of simple-to-set-up r ainbow science experiments.

RAMPS

We use cars and balls all the time with our rain gutters! Even flat pieces of wood or stiff cardboard work! Check out toy car friction experiment! Newton’s laws of motion really come alive with simple toy cars and homemade ramps.

ROCK CANDY (SUGAR CRYSTALS)

Another tasty science activity as you explore how sugar crystals form!

SEED GERMINATION

Planting seeds and watching plants grow is the perfect spring preschool science activity. Our simple seed jar science activity is one of our most popular science activities for preschoolers. It is an excellent way to see how a seed grows!

THE 5 SENSES

Let’s explore the senses! Young kids are learning to use their senses every day. Set up a simple 5 Senses Science Table for exploring and learning how their senses work! Our candy taste test and senses activity are fun, too.

SHADOW SCIENCE

Explore shadows in several ways! Make shadows with your body (fun outdoor play and learning idea) and animal shadow puppets to check out!

SLIME

Slime is one of our favorite activities, and our simple slime recipes are perfect for learning a little bit about non-Newtonian fluids. Or make slime for fun sensory play! Check out our fluffy slime!

VOLCANO

Every kid should build a volcano! Build a sandbox volcano or a LEGO volcano!

VOLUME

Young kids learn by exploring, observing, and figuring out the way things work with hands-on activities. This volume activity encourages all of the above and is simple to set up.

WATER EXPERIMENTS

There are all kinds of fun science activities you can do with water. Use your STEM design skills to build your own water play wall, observe refraction of light in water, explore what dissolves in water or even try a simple solid liquid gas experiment. Check out more easy water science experiments.

WATER XYLOPHONE

Learn a little bit about the science of sound with a simple water xylophone.

WEATHER SCIENCE

Explore wet weather with rain clouds and tornados or even make a water cycle in a bottle!

TORNADO BOTTLE

Create a tornado in a bottle and study the weather safely!

ZIPLINE

We made both an indoor and outdoor zip line this year. Explore science concepts through play.

Printable Preschool Pack

Get ready to explore this year with our growing Preschool STEM Bundle! Or grab the individual Preschool 5 Senses Pack.

What’s Included:

There are 5 fun preschool themes to get you started. This is an ” I can explore” series!

Each unit contains approximately 15 activities, with instructions and templates as needed. Hands-on activities are provided to keep it fun and exciting. This includes sensory bins, experiments, games, and more! Easy supplies keep it low cost and book suggestions add the learning time.