Our Executive School Directors worked together to provide our TGS families with various projects that bring the amazing curriculum at our schools to your home. From learning reading skills and math skills to just dancing along to your favorite children’s songs, there are lots of opportunities for learning and interacting with your young children. We hope you enjoy engaging with your children in these creative developmental activities. This post shares our favorite child-friendly activities to learn about science and technology.
Fizzy Art – Baking Soda Paint
Fizzy art is a fun process art activity for the kids that requires just a few basic supplies. This colorful STEAM project is low prep and engaging!
STEAM activities are always a huge hit in our house. We love making and creating with anything that combines science with colorful process art. And this baking soda painting does not disappoint!
After doing a few baking soda art projects and then not having any left for baking, I’ve learned to keep a bag of baking soda in our craft closet for last minute activities like this one.
Liquid water colors are perfect for this STEAM activity, plus a few drops go a long way when you add some water.
SUPPLIES NEEDED FOR BAKING SODA PAINTING
- baking soda
- cups for fizzy paint
- cardstock or watercolor paper
- art tray or baking sheet
- liquid watercolors or food coloring
- paint brushes
- pipettes
- vinegar
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To get started, mix a spoonful of baking soda and liquid water colors together in a cup to create a paste. We also added a little bit of water to make it easier to paint on the paper.
Place a sheet of watercolor paper or card stock on a tray to help keep everything contained. It also makes for an easier clean-up.
Encourage your artist to mix colors, paint different shapes and use a variety of brush strokes to fill the paper with the baking soda paint.
Once the painting is finished, use pipettes to drip vinegar onto the paper and create a bubbling reaction. It’s so fun to see the paint colors start to bubble, fizz, and mix together!
This fizzy art project is fun for all ages and is a super simple STEAM activity to introduce chemical reactions to your little scientists. The baking soda and vinegar create a fun fizzy reaction and with the water colors mixed in, it makes for an extra colorful science experiment!
Ramp Drip Painting
Materials Needed: white contact paper, scissors, eye droppers, cups, paint, water, two trays, and wooden blocks.
Directions:
- Create a ramp using plastic trays, thin cardboard boxes, plastic clipboards or other materials you have around the house. Elevate the ramp surface by putting wood blocks underneath them or propping up one side using anything else you have around the house. If you have a plastic kid’s slide, that could be a fun larger ramp to use!
- Cover the ramp surface with white contact paper (so you can reuse it again and again) or white paper (if you want to save your masterpieces)
- Put some watered down paint into cups. It is great to have several colors to choose from!
- Give your toddler a dropper and have her drop the paint onto the ramp and watch how it moves from the top to the bottom. It is also fun to see how the colors mix.
This activity can teach about gravity, color mixing, simple color recognition, and can also help your child work on basic fine motor skills. Using a dropper and manipulating it to drop paint in a particular spot can be hard work for a toddler! If you use contact paper you can just rinse off your surface again and again and keep creating! This drip painting activity by Child Central Station looks like it would be a lot of fun too!
Milky Color Explosions
Materials Needed: pie tin, toothpick, whole milk, cups, liquid water color, droppers, and dish soap.
Infants, Toddlers, and Twos
Nature Painting
Use natural materials to create a beautiful painting.
- Paint
- Large piece of paper
- Rubber bands or tape
- Items found on a nature walk
Take a nature walk and gather materials to use as art tools for a painting project. Create paint brushes out of leaves and sticks, try using a pinecone as a paint roller, and use a flower or a rock as a stamp. Talk with your child about color mixing, patterns, texture, shapes, and sizes. When you’re finished, display the work of art at your child’s eye level and continue to talk about it throughout the week. Your child will be proud of the project and remember the special time you spent together.
Earth Day Sensory Bottle
Create a sensory bottle to celebrate Earth Day with your child.
- One empty water or soda bottle
- Blue food coloring
- Water
- Oil (baby oil is best, but vegetable oil works, too)
- Funnel
- Hot glue or super glue
- Additional items: glitter or blue and green beads
Use the funnel to fill your bottle with water 2/3 full. Add a few drops of blue food coloring. Fill the remainder of your bottle with oil. Add in any extra items like glitter or beads. Hot glue the lid to the bottle for safety. Show your child how to shake the bottle and observe the water and oil.
Painting with Ice
Ice painting is a messy and fun sensory experiment for your infant or toddler.
- Ice cube tray
- Popsicle sticks
- Washable tempera paint
- Paper
Fill an ice cube tray with water and use a Popsicle stick to scoop a pea-sized amount of paint into each ice cube mold. Gently stir until blended. Freeze 3-4 hours or overnight. Loosen paint cubes from the tray and let the fun begin as they push the ice paint over a piece of paper. Discuss color, experiment with color mixing, and enjoy this cool activity with your toddler!
Nature Sun Catcher
To have children experience nature through sensory play.
- Leaves
- Flowers
- Grass
- Gallon or quart Ziploc bag
- Aloe vera gel
- Painter’s tape
Make a beautiful sun catcher with your infant or toddler by going on a nature scavenger hunt and gathering materials to use for this project. Start by putting half a small bottle of Aloe Vera gel into the large Ziploc bag. Then, add all of the items you gathered on your nature scavenger hunt into the Ziploc bag. Slowly press the air out of the bag before sealing it. Once you seal it, find a window you would like to display it in. Secure it to the window by applying painter’s tape around the edges of the bag to frame it. Display it at your child’s eye level so that they can touch the sun catcher and see the flowers and leaves move around in the gel.
Edible Playdough
Young children will love mixing, measuring, and exploring this edible dough with all their senses.
- Flour
- Oatmeal
- Water
- Measuring Cup
- Mixing Bowl
- Spoon
Start this activity by gathering all the supplies and a mixing bowl. First, measure two cups of uncooked oats and put them in the mixing bowl. Next, measure one cup of water and put it in the mixing bowl. Finally, measure one cup of flour and add it to the mixing bowl. Take turns stirring until the mixture becomes firm. Knead the dough for a few minutes and enjoy playing with this edible play dough. You can also add food coloring to this recipe!
Soil and Sand Sensory Bin
There’s nothing better than getting your hands dirty while learning about different textures.
- Soil
- Sand (or another item to explore texture like uncooked rice or oats)
- 1 cup of water
Start this activity by gathering your soil and sand. Place the two different materials into two separate plastic tubs. Allow children to touch and feel the different textures and temperatures as they alternate between the soil and the sand. Next, add a half-cup of water to each tub, and ask your child how the texture of the materials change when water is added.
Threes, Fours, and PreK
Balloon Chemistry Experiment
Children can learn how to blow up a balloon with baking soda and vinegar while incorporating a little chemistry at the same time.
- Empty water bottle
- Funnel
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Balloon
First, pour 1/3 cup of vinegar into the water bottle. Then, position the mouth of the balloon over the funnel and add two teaspoons of baking soda into the balloon. Carefully place the balloon over the bottle opening without dropping in the baking soda. When your child is ready, have them lift the balloon to sprinkle the baking soda into the vinegar. Stand back and watch as this creates an acid/base reaction that inflates the balloon! Have extra balloons at the ready, as your child may want to try this again and again!
Growing Plants in Water
Help your child learn about photosynthesis and gardening with these windowsill veggies.
- Tray of water
- Celery or romaine lettuce stump. (avocados, beets, basil, scallions, and bok choy can also be propagated in a similar manner)
Science is everywhere—even in the kitchen! Try this simple activity with your child by gathering a stump from a celery stalk or romaine lettuce. Place it in a shallow container of water, lettuce side up. Set it in a sunny windowsill and change the water each day. In a couple weeks, you’ll have enough lettuce to make a sandwich!
Build a Bird Nest
Help your child create a model of a natural habitat by building an imitation bird’s nest.
- Play-doh or homemade dough*
- Items collected on a nature walk
Start this activity by going on a nature walk with your child. Point out birds and talk about their characteristics, including where they live. Gather items, as a bird would, to build a bird nest. Items to look for include twigs, feathers, leaves, flowers, grass, straw, and moss. Once you have gathered your materials, display them for your child along with some Play-doh as a base for your nest. Encourage your child to create a “bowl” shape out of the Play-doh and incorporate the materials you gathered to create a bird nest. Ask open ended questions to stimulate your child’s thinking and allow your child to process the project. Some examples of open ended questions include “Why do birds need to find items to build a nest?” and “How long do you think it takes a bird to build a nest?” or “How big do you think the bird nest needs to be?” Encourage your child to make observations and ask questions. Leave your child’s bird nest outside to dry and revisit it throughout the week.
*3 ingredient play dough: 2 cups baking soda, 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup cornstarch
Bonus connection content: Find a book at home about birds to read before your nature walk. Draw attention to the bird’s habitat to get their brains thinking before the build.
Pinecone Bird Feeder
Your child can use natural items to help support your local ecosystem with this sustainable bird feeder.
- Peanut butter or sunflower seed butter
- Pinecones
- Bird seed
- Twine
- Q-tips
Start this activity by going on a nature hunt for pinecones. Ask your child a few questions to get them engaged. Some questions you might ask are: “How do birds eat?” and “Where is their beak?” or “What do birds eat?” Gather all the items you will need to start the bird feeder.
Once you have gathered your materials, display them for your child. Start by putting small dabs of peanut butter on all of the different layers of the pinecone. You can apply the peanut butter using the Q-tips. Next, dip your pinecone in the bird seed, making a rolling motion. Now, look at your beautiful creation. Tie the twine around the top layer of the pinecone and make sure the twine is secure and won’t slip off easily. Next, encourage your child to find a good location to hang the bird feeder. Enjoy watching, identifying, and counting the birds together.
Any Age
Painting with Spray Bottles
This kinetic art activity will help hone both gross motor skills and fine motor skills.
- Paint
- Spray bottles or squirt guns
- Paper
- Tape
For this activity, ask your children to gather all of the materials listed. First, put their favorite paint colors in different spray bottles and add water. You can also add two squirts of hand soap in each squirt gun or spray bottle to mix with the paint. Tape a piece of paper on a sliding glass door and let the spraying begin! Watch how the beautiful colors blend. Another creative idea is to put painter’s tape onto the paper outlining your child’s name and then have them spray paint the paper with their spray bottle. After the paint is dry, remove the tape. Just like that, you have a masterpiece you can frame.
Phone Number Challenge
Teach your child their phone number and learn about technology in the process with this simple challenge.
Memorizing your phone number is an important task to learn before going to kindergarten. Here is a fun visual way to teach your child how to remember their phone number! Start by gathering all of your materials. Take your paper plates and write the numbers 0-9 on them. Then, tape them up on the wall in the shape of a phone keypad. Have them learn their phone number by touching each number on the plate in the correct order. To help with memorization, you can sing the numbers to the tune of a favorite song or nursery rhyme. Practice with your wall keypad daily!
Chia Pet Head
With this easy biology activity, children can watch seeds sprout and grow!
- Pair of stockings
- Grass seeds
- Sand
- Water
- Paper towel roll
- String (optional)
After gathering all your supplies, first tie a knot in the toe end of the stocking. Insert the paper towel roll to funnel grass seed (for hair) into the stocking. Then, funnel the sand (for the head) into the stocking. Once the head is to the size you want, tie a knot on the other end of the stocking and cut the excess off. To add a nose to your head, pinch a small portion of the stocking and tie a string around that portion to make a small nose. You can add googly eyes or other accessories to add extra personality. Next, dunk your pet in water every three days and keep your pet in an area where it will get some direct sun. Observe your pet over the next several days and watch their hair grow. (Don’t forget to name your new pet head and send a photo to your school director!)
