Course Competency #5 Sheri Johnson

Create developmentally appropriate science activities

When we provide developmentally appropriate science activities for children they have insights, ask questions, work on solving problems and they try new ideas. Starting as an infant, children have a distinctive desire to make sense of their world by tasting, touching, smelling, and hearing. These science process skills are developed in everyday life. Science becomes less of a struggle to children when science skills are introduced and developed at an early age. Science should be viewed as an ongoing part of the total curriculum merged into daily activities and routines. It is important to pair scientific concepts and science process skills with developmentally appropriate hands-on activities as a foundation for early childhood science education. Learning science in a science environment is being in constant motion involving inquiry, exploration, and examination. These activities all require an action involving active experimentation, creativity, and problem solving in combination of childrens interests. A sensory table is a great tool for allowing children to explore science concepts independently; it can be filled with so many different things that will allow children to actively explore so many things! Some other things that can be provided to the children are magnify glasses, magnates, pictures and or models of insects, books, plants, live animals, weather cards, light tables, color mixing glasses, and binoculars just to name a few! Developmentally appropriate activities encourage hands-on participation of each child at his own level. Active involvement in learning is needed for children to acquire science concepts. Developmentally appropriate science activities should compel children to use their senses to explore their environment and obtain knowledge.