Science Pre-K

A year of play-based, parent-led science for four-year-olds: you and your child look, listen, touch, mix, plant and splash through short daily activities that build the habit of noticing and asking "what happens if...?"

Science K →

180 lessons

One a day for a school year

8 units

Each opens to its lessons

8 garden check-ins

Follow one plant all year

Standards

Head Start ELOF & Texas Pre-K Guidelines

What's taught, unit by unit

1
Using our senses and first experimentsDays 1–30
Exploring with eyes, hands, ears and nose, then daily weather talk, pushing and dropping, mixing, living versus not living, planting a first seed, textures, warm and cold, bubbles, ramps and a month-one celebration.
- 1 · Welcome to Science Pre-K
- 2 · Exploring With Our Eyes and Hands
- 3 · Exploring With Our Ears and Nose
- 4 · What's the Weather Today?
- 5 · What Happens If I Push It? Drop It?
- 6 · Mixing and Watching What Happens
- 7 · Living or Not Living?
- 8 · Planting a Seed
- 9 · Checking on Our Seed and Sorting Nature Finds
- 10 · Splash and Scoop: Sensory Bin Exploration
- 11 · Is It the Same Outside as Last Week?
- 12 · Chasing Shadows
- 13 · Rough, Smooth, and Bumpy: A Texture Hunt
- 14 · Warm or Cold? A Temperature Exploration
- 15 · What Does Our Pet (or Animal Friend) Need?
- 16 · A Walk Outside to Look, Listen, and Wonder
- 17 · Dressing for the Weather
- 18 · Blowing and Popping Bubbles
- 19 · Pouring, Scooping, and Squeezing: Water Play
- 20 · Checking In on Our Plant
- 21 · Ramp Play — Does It Roll or Slide?
- 22 · Float or Sink — A New Round of Objects
- 23 · What Color Do We Get?
- 24 · Bug Walk — Noticing Little Creatures
- 25 · Loud or Quiet — A Sound Hunt
- 26 · Making Homemade Shakers
- 27 · Kitchen Mixing — Watching It Change
- 28 · Sky Watching — What's the Weather Doing?
- 29 · Outdoor Senses Scavenger Hunt
- 30 · Our Science Month — A Celebration
2
Looking closer: water, animals and plantsDays 31–60
Ice melting, a magnifying glass, bird and ant watching, shadows, air and balloons, what pets and farm animals need, taste and smell games, sticky and stretchy things, clouds, worms, celery drinking colored water, with two milestone celebrations.
- 31 · Ice Melting Sensory Play
- 32 · Magnifying Glass Close-Up Look
- 33 · Bird Watching and Feeding
- 34 · Shadow Explorers
- 35 · Balloon and Air Play
- 36 · Garden Helper Day
- 37 · Smell-Matching Game
- 38 · What Does a Farm Animal Need?
- 39 · Sweet, Sour, or Salty? A Taste Exploration
- 40 · Month Two Science Celebration
- 41 · Stretchy, Bendy, Breaky: A Material Exploration
- 42 · Sticky and Not-Sticky: A Things-That-Stick Exploration
- 43 · Cloud Watching: Shapes in the Sky
- 44 · Digging in the Dirt: A Worm and Soil Day
- 45 · Sink or Float: A Prediction Chart Day
- 46 · Bubbles and Splashes: A Bath-Time Water Play Day
- 47 · How Plants Drink: A Celery and Color Watching Day
- 48 · Celery Check-In and a Listening Walk
- 49 · Celery Reveal and Final Check
- 50 · Fifty Days of Science: A Review and Celebration
- 51 · Hot or Cold? Matching Clothes to Weather
- 52 · Things That Fly and Float in Air
- 53 · Watching Ants at Work
- 54 · Squishy or Hard? A New Texture Sort
- 55 · Rainbow Noticing: Colors Hiding in Light
- 56 · What Do Animals Eat?
- 57 · Mixing Our Own Bubble Solution
- 58 · Nature Walk: Listen, Look, and Touch
- 59 · Building a Nature Table
- 60 · Mid-Course Celebration: My Science Journey So Far
3
Comparing, sorting and a changing worldDays 61–80
Fizzing baking soda, baby animals that look different when grown, rock collecting and comparing, fresh versus old, day and night sky, a disappearing puddle, bouncing balls, hand-span measuring, spider webs, homemade instruments and sound walks.
- 61 · Fizzy Bubbly Pour Play
- 62 · It Changes As It Grows
- 63 · Rock and Pebble Collecting Walk
- 64 · Comparing Our Rocks
- 65 · Fresh or Not Fresh Anymore
- 66 · Things In Our Sky
- 67 · Where Did the Puddle Go
- 68 · Leaf Rubbing Art
- 69 · Mystery Texture Bag
- 70 · Science Cycle Review and Celebration
- 71 · Does It Bounce?
- 72 · How Big Is It? (Hand-Span Check)
- 73 · Pinecone and Acorn Hunt
- 74 · Warm Colors, Cool Colors
- 75 · Spider Web Watching
- 76 · What’s Inside? Fruit and Vegetable Cross-Sections
- 77 · Homemade Instrument Sounds
- 78 · Sound Walk
- 79 · Biggest Find Check
- 80 · Discovery Celebration Day
4
Wind, water, light and a window gardenDays 81–100
Watching wind, mystery smells, what soaks up water, wet and dry sand, animal prints, mirrors, heavy and light, what light shines through, drying, a handful of seeds and planting a new window garden, stacking, spinning and a day-100 celebration.
- 81 · What Is the Wind Doing?
- 82 · Mystery Smells
- 83 · Does It Drink the Water?
- 84 · Wet Sand, Dry Sand
- 85 · Who Made That Print?
- 86 · How Is Our Plant Doing?
- 87 · Mirror, Mirror, Spoon
- 88 · Heavy or Light?
- 89 · Does the Light Shine Through?
- 90 · Our Science Party: Days 81-90
- 91 · The Drying Detective
- 92 · A Handful of Seeds
- 93 · Planting Day: The Window Garden
- 94 · Raindrop Races
- 95 · Stack It Up: Wobbly and Steady
- 96 · The Nature Color Hunt
- 97 · Fizzy Pots
- 98 · Twig Check: Same or Different?
- 99 · Things That Spin
- 100 · One Hundred Days of Discoveries!
5
Growing things and animal homesDays 101–130
Regular window-garden check-ins, mud, bendy or snappy materials, animal homes, a scoop of dirt, how children grow, feeding birds, spring worms and buds, puddle play, shaking butter in a jar, dandelions, dew, mud tracks and a spring celebration.
- 101 · Window Garden Check-In: Same or Different?
- 102 · Marvelous Mud
- 103 · Bendy or Snappy?
- 104 · Who Lives Here? The Animal-Home Hunt
- 105 · A Scoop of Dirt, Up Close
- 106 · Growing Me
- 107 · A Snack for the Birds
- 108 · Breath Clouds on the Glass
- 109 · Baby and Grown: The Animal Match
- 110 · Move Like the Animals
- 111 · Window Garden Check-In: Is Anything Peeking Up?
- 112 · Worms on the Walk: After-the-Rain Noticing
- 113 · The New Green Hunt
- 114 · Peeking Under a Rock
- 115 · Splashes and Rings: Puddle Play
- 116 · Feeling the Ground: A Barefoot Walk
- 117 · Shake, Shake, Spread: Making Butter in a Jar
- 118 · A Close Look at a Dandelion
- 119 · Tiny Rivers: Water Finds Its Way
- 120 · Discovery Celebration: Twelve Weeks of Noticing
- 121 · Garden Helper Check-In: Little Jobs for a Growing Plant
- 122 · Flower Visitors
- 123 · Morning Dew Discovery
- 124 · The Pinecone Surprise
- 125 · One Small Circle: A Tiny Ground Safari
- 126 · Find My Tree
- 127 · Rain Music
- 128 · Nature Paintbrushes
- 129 · Who Walked Here? Mud Track Hunt
- 130 · Spring Discovery Celebration
6
Early summer: bugs, bubbles and water playDays 131–150
More garden check-ins, ants, bubbles, sunny and shady spots, melting ice treasures, wet rocks, ramps, birdsong, big and little growing things, how animals stay cool, a water dish for visitors, leaf boats and shells.
- 131 · Garden Check-In: Taller, Stronger, and Maybe Something New
- 132 · The Ant Parade: Watching Tiny Walkers at Work
- 133 · Bubble Day: Chasing, Popping, and Watching Them Fly
- 134 · Sunny Spot, Shady Spot: A Feeling Walk
- 135 · Ice Treasure: Melting Play on a Warm Day
- 136 · Wet Rock Magic: Colors That Wake Up
- 137 · Roll or Slide? Ramp Play with Whatever Rolls
- 138 · Morning Bird Concert: A Sit-and-Listen Adventure
- 139 · Big Tree, Little Sprout: Growing Things Come in Every Size
- 140 · My Discoveries Celebration: A Look Back at Our Adventures
- 141 · Garden Check-In: Is Something Getting Ready?
- 142 · Vanishing Pictures: Painting With Plain Water
- 143 · Seed Hunt: What’s Hiding in Our Snack?
- 144 · The Long, Light Evening Walk
- 145 · Squeeze, Squirt, and Drip: New Water Tools
- 146 · How Do Animals Stay Comfy on a Hot Day?
- 147 · A Water Dish for Thirsty Visitors
- 148 · Leaf-Boat Harbor
- 149 · Shells and Smooth Stones: A Summer Treasure Look
- 150 · Summer Discoveries: A Celebration
7
Late summer: seeds, ripening and evening skiesDays 151–170
Harvest news from the plant, fireflies, grasshoppers, warm rain, ripening fruit, who visits the water dish, snails, summer smells, where flowers went, hitchhiker seeds, taste testing, sunset colors, crickets, flowers that close at night.
- 151 · Garden Check-In: High Summer News
- 152 · Little Lights at Dusk
- 153 · Tall-Grass Safari: The Little Jumpers
- 154 · Warm Rain Welcome
- 155 · Visit-a-Fruit: Watching Something Ripen
- 156 · Who Comes to the Water Dish?
- 157 · Stone Towers
- 158 · Silver Trails: A Snail Morning
- 159 · The Smells of Summer Walk
- 160 · Summer Wonders Celebration
- 161 · Garden Check-In: Harvest News
- 162 · Where the Flowers Went
- 163 · The Seed Packet: Keepers for Later
- 164 · Hitchhiker Seeds
- 165 · The Ripe Taste Test
- 166 · The Evening Sky Show
- 167 · The Cricket Concert
- 168 · Left-Behind Treasures
- 169 · Do Flowers Go to Sleep?
- 170 · The Late-Summer Wonder Fair
8
Looking back: wonder tour and celebrationDays 171–180
A final plant check-in, thanking the water dish, a wonder tour led by the child, a goodbye splash, a treasure shelf, teaching a grown-up, a family weather friend, making a keepsake Wonder Book and a year-end celebration.
- 171 · Garden Check-In: The Whole Year of the Plant
- 172 · The Water Dish: A Year of Thank-You
- 173 · The Wonder Tour
- 174 · The Big Splash Goodbye
- 175 · The Treasure Shelf
- 176 · One Last Summer Evening Show
- 177 · Teach a Grown-Up Day
- 178 · The Family Weather Friend
- 179 · The Wonder Book
- 180 · The Great Backyard Wonder Celebration

By the end of the year, your child can

Describe what they see, hear, feel, smell and taste using simple words
Say what the weather is today and choose clothes to match
Predict what will happen, try it out, and tell what they noticed
Care for a plant over time and tell how it has changed
Sort and compare objects by size, weight, texture and whether they float
Name what animals and plants need to stay alive and grow

Try the first 10 days free

No card needed to start.

Start free

Other Pre-K subjects: Math Pre-K · Reading Pre-K · Writing Pre-K · Social Studies Pre-K