Frugal or free ideas for early and elementary homeschool science activities and easy to do unit studies. Hands-on and FUN! #homeschoolscienceactivities #elementaryscience #homeschoolelementary
For us we did not involve an expensive set curriculum. Not at all.
At our house elementary science was all about exploring our world, being curious and learning about whatever our daughter was into at the moment, be it backyard insects like spiders, slugs, or favorite animals like rats, penguins, or trees, plants and birds.
Then going to the library and picking out related books and videos.
So especially for science we got to follow her interests and come along with her for the ride.
We studied animals without backbones, habitats, horses, cats, all the different types of penguins, bears, wolves. etc, etc.
At the same time, when we had time we also introduced our daughter to our science and nature interests as well.
BIRD WATCHING SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
One of those is nature photography, just heading out and taking pictures along the way. Through that our kiddo became an eager photographer, especially of birds. She started with robins in our backyard, then eventually got skilled enough to take this photo of a Great Blue Heron at the park.
We kept up with taking nature photos, in elementary, and that led to bird watching, then identifying birds, making bird feeders and all that kind of fun stuff.
Here is more information on fun and educational bird activities. For more info, Click Bird Watching - Our Favorite Nature Study.
And Bird Watching - Our Favorite Nature Study includes:
- a simple to do fun experiment for your young learners
-,bird identification
- bird resources
- info on video art lessons on birds
The above is for Preschool through 3rd Grade. Click here for that - Bird Watching - Our Favorite Nature Study.
Along the way we also taught our daughter all about gardening. Because we love to garden so and it lent itself to many fun science activities. So secondly, let's talk about science activities in the garden.
SCIENCE FUN IN THE GARDEN
I so love gardening, growing anything that I can stick in the ground, water and watch to grow. I love the feel of dirt in my hand, the joy of watching a seed poke out of the dirt, the beauty of a seedling growing up strong.
So we taught our daughter all about gardening by just having her with us along the way, whenever we gardened! And she not only learned so much, but she loved it, too!
First we started with growing beans, as they grow quickly. Then tomatoes. And corn. Oh, she so loved growing corn. Then the next year, it was all about onions.
Gardening is a great way to teach your child the scientific method. Do you wonder how to do that?
Or are you looking for a FUN way to do science with your kids?
Just click here for Science FUN in the Garden and information on gardening activities, how we did science in the garden and much more.
Click here for Science FUN in the Garden, including:
-A simple to do unit study
-Veggie Growing Activity
-How to teach the Scientific Method in a FUN Way
-Simple Science Gardening Resources
-Free Printable
Science FUN in the Garden shares that and more.
Thirdly, let's talk science kits.
SCIENCE KITS AND EXPERIMENTS
Then there were the experiments. Every time we baked that counted as science. It was an experiment. She loved that! She made up her own kitchen experiments, too. Then as she got older, she wanted to try her hand with science kits, starting with the ones from Magic School Bus, then going on to the Science Wiz kits for more challenging fun.
Doing science activities with my daughter during the elementary years was one of the best ways that we made life long memories together. And as a family.
They also helped our daughter to build up her attention span, concentration and other executive functioning. While not knowing it!
Click on Homeschool Science Kits for lots of choices on science kits plus an extensive review of one of the Science Wiz Kits.
Homeschool Science Kits includes our favorite kits and:
- kitchen science kit
- robots kit
- snap circuits kit
- 5 Magic School Bus Kits
- Review of Chemistry Wiz Kit my child loved
- Science Wiz Kits in Physics Fun, DNA and more.
Click on Homeschool Science Kits for more info.
For more quality frugal ideas for elementary curriculum:
My friend from 7 Sisters Homeschool also offers an extensive list of quality Elementary Curriculum Resources here - Favorite Homeschool Curriculum for Elementary Grades.
I hope these activities give you good ideas for that kind of rich learning times with your kids. They grow up so fast. Make some science memories!
What ideas would you add to my list?
What are your favorite ways to do science with your kiddos?
Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,
Betsy
Betsy is a homeschool blogger, former O.T, preschool teacher and published author of children's stories. She is mom to her 2e college grad whom she homeschooled through high school. She blogs at BJ's Homeschool about the early years, high school, college, and is the author of "Homeschooling High School with College in Mind". She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting.
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