This is fall fun and learning post #6, and here’s a few kindergarten readiness science tricks: checking to see if fall fruits and vegetables will float or sink. Children are natural scientists, they are always trying something to see what happens and they love to discover and explore. As adults, we forget how exciting many ordinary, everyday items can be.
For a fun fall science activity, your child can find out if fruits and vegetables float or sink. Either a big bowl or container of water can be used or simply run some water in the kitchen sink. Some items to use might be an apple, a carrot, a potato, a banana, a zucchini, a baby pumpkin, a grape, and an orange. First, before trying each item, encourage your child to predict if it will float or sink. This involves them in the process and they eagerly pay attention to see what happens. Then they can try each item, one at a time, to check what it does.
This comes with a warning, though. Grownups also find this fun and it’s quite astonishing which of these float and which do not. Older kids can think of other questions besides just float/sink. The may want to experiment with putting the apple in upside down or on it’s side. For fun, we wanted to see if the color of the potato made any difference, so we tried purple, red, and white potatoes. We also tried a baby white one and a bigger one. We had to use lots of water in the sink for the giant yam. Does color or size make a difference?
Science materials can be as close as the fridge and kitchen sink. How’s that for some fall science tricks?