Preschool Science and Nature Activities: 8 Easy Experiments

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Science & Nature. Preschoolers are natural scientists. They ask why, test things, and notice changes. These 8 experiments use simple supplies and follow the same steps: guess, test, and talk about what happened.

  • 8 activities
  • Ages 3–5
  • 5–30 minutes each
  • Everyday supplies

Quick Picks

Not sure where to start? Use this table to pick an activity by time and mess level. Tap a name to jump to the directions.

ActivityAgesTimeMess
Sink or Float3–515 minMedium
Ice Melt Experiment3–515 min plus waitingLow
Bean in a Bag3–510 min plus several daysLow
Rainbow Walking Water4–520 min plus waitingMedium
Magnet Exploration4–515 minLow
Bug Hunt with a Magnifying Glass3–520–30 minLow
Ocean in a Jar3–510–15 minMedium
Weather Chart3–55 min dailyLow

8 Science & Nature Activities

1. Sink or Float

  • Ages 3–5
  • 15 min
  • Mess: Medium

What you need

  • A tub or large bowl with a few inches of water
  • A towel
  • Objects to test (wooden spoon, plastic cup, sponge, large smooth rock, apple, toy car)

How to play

  1. Fill the tub with a few inches of water and lay out the objects.
  2. Hold up one item and ask ‘Will it sink or float?’ Let your child guess.
  3. Drop it in and see what happens, then sort items into two piles.
  4. Ask ‘What do the floating things have in common?’

What your child learns: Predicting, testing, observing, and sorting.

Make it easierUse three items with very clear results.

Make it harderMake a foil boat and see how many items it holds before sinking.

Safety: Stay within arm’s reach of your child at all times near water, even a small tub, and empty it when you are done.

2. Ice Melt Experiment

  • Ages 3–5
  • 15 min plus waiting
  • Mess: Low

What you need

  • Ice cubes
  • Bowls or plates
  • Optional: salt, warm water, a sunny window

How to play

  1. Put one ice cube in each bowl.
  2. Place the bowls in different spots, like a sunny window, a shady spot, and a cool room.
  3. Ask ‘Which will melt first?’ and let your child guess.
  4. Check every few minutes and talk about what you see.

What your child learns: Making predictions, observing change, and basic ideas about heat.

Make it easierCompare just two spots.

Make it harderSprinkle salt on one cube and compare, or time how long each one takes.

Safety: Supervise ice play, and don’t let young children put ice in their mouths.

3. Bean in a Bag

  • Ages 3–5
  • 10 min plus several days
  • Mess: Low

What you need

  • A zip-top bag
  • A paper towel
  • Water
  • A dried bean (lima or kidney)
  • Tape

How to play

  1. Dampen a paper towel, fold it into the bag, and add one or two beans.
  2. Seal the bag and tape it to a sunny window.
  3. Check each day and draw what changes.
  4. When roots and a shoot appear, plant the bean in soil.

What your child learns: The plant life cycle, patience, and drawing what you observe.

Make it easierPlant a bean in a cup of soil and just water it.

Make it harderPlant several beans and compare how they grow, or measure with cubes.

Safety: Beans and seeds are not for eating, and some plants are poisonous. Keep them away from mouths and wash hands after touching soil.

4. Rainbow Walking Water

  • Ages 4–5
  • 20 min plus waiting
  • Mess: Medium

What you need

  • 6 clear cups
  • Water
  • Food coloring (red, yellow, blue)
  • Paper towels

How to play

  1. Line up the cups in a circle and fill every other cup with water. Add red to one, yellow to the next, and blue to the third.
  2. Fold paper towels into strips and place each strip with one end in a full cup and the other end in the empty cup beside it.
  3. Watch the color travel up the paper and drip into the empty cups.
  4. Talk about the new colors that form, like green and orange.

What your child learns: Color mixing, observation, and how paper soaks up water.

Make it easierUse two cups and one color.

Make it harderAsk your child to predict what color each empty cup will turn.

Safety: Food coloring stains hands and clothes. Use an old shirt and a tray, and don’t drink the water.

5. Magnet Exploration

  • Ages 4–5
  • 15 min
  • Mess: Low

What you need

  • A large magnet made for children (bar or horseshoe)
  • A tray of objects (metal spoon, key, metal lid, wooden block, plastic cup)

How to play

  1. Show how the magnet sticks to a metal object.
  2. Test each item, asking ‘Will it stick?’ before you try.
  3. Sort items into ‘sticks’ and ‘doesn’t stick’ piles.
  4. Hunt around the house for more things that stick.

What your child learns: Predicting, testing, and discovering that magnets attract some metals.

Make it easierUse three clearly different objects.

Make it harderTest through a sheet of paper and ask what changes.

Safety: Use large, child-safe magnets only. Small or high-powered magnets can cause serious injury if swallowed, and the CPSC advises against play sets with small magnets for children under 6. Check that no pieces are missing afterward.

6. Bug Hunt with a Magnifying Glass

  • Ages 3–5
  • 20–30 min
  • Mess: Low

What you need

  • A magnifying glass
  • A clipboard or paper
  • Crayons

How to play

  1. Go outside and look on leaves, in grass, and along walls.
  2. Use the magnifying glass to look closely without touching.
  3. Draw what you see: legs, wings, and color.
  4. Count the legs and talk about where the bug lives.

What your child learns: Observation, vocabulary, and respect for living things.

Make it easierLook in one small area and observe just one bug.

Make it harderSort bugs by number of legs and make a simple graph.

Safety: Look, but don’t touch. Some insects sting or bite. Teach your child to leave bugs where they find them and watch for bees, wasps, and ants.

7. Ocean in a Jar

  • Ages 3–5
  • 10–15 min
  • Mess: Medium

What you need

  • A clear jar with a lid
  • Water
  • Blue food coloring
  • Cooking oil

How to play

  1. Fill the jar about halfway with water and add a few drops of blue coloring.
  2. Slowly pour in oil to fill the jar to the top.
  3. Close the lid tightly and seal it with tape.
  4. Tip the jar side to side and watch the waves.

What your child learns: Liquids that don’t mix, cause and effect, and how waves move.

Make it easierLet an adult do the pouring and let your child do the tipping.

Make it harderCompare with a water-only jar and talk about the difference.

Safety: Seal the lid with tape so it can’t open, and don’t let your child drink it.

8. Weather Chart

  • Ages 3–5
  • 5 min daily
  • Mess: Low

What you need

  • Paper or poster board
  • Markers or stickers for sunny, cloudy, rainy, windy, and snowy

How to play

  1. Draw a simple chart with a row for each day.
  2. Each morning, look outside together and decide what the weather is.
  3. Stick or draw the matching symbol.
  4. At the end of the week, count each kind of weather.

What your child learns: Observing, recording information, and describing weather.

Make it easierUse just sunny, cloudy, and rainy.

Make it harderAdd a temperature reading or a tally graph at the end of the week.

Safety Notes

  • Stay within arm’s reach of your child near any water, even a small tub, and empty it when you are done.
  • Experiments are for looking and touching, not tasting. Keep food coloring, seeds, and liquids away from mouths.
  • Use only large, child-safe magnets. The CPSC advises avoiding play sets with small magnets for children under 6.

See our general safety basics for more.

Where This Fits in the Curriculum

These activities line up with our free 12-month preschool curriculum. Try them alongside these months, or use them any time:

See the full 12-month plan or browse all preschool activities.

Science & Nature Activity FAQs

How do I teach science to a preschooler?

Let them ask questions, make a guess, test it, and talk about what happened. The steps matter more than getting the right answer. Short hands-on experiments work best.

What if an experiment doesn’t work?

That’s part of science. Ask ‘What do you think happened?’ and try again with one change. Mistakes help children learn to think like scientists.

Do I need special supplies?

No. Most of these use things from your kitchen and yard, like cups, ice, beans, and water.

More Activity Types

Keep Learning with Science & Nature

Pair these activities with free printables and our 12-month plan.

Free WorksheetsColoring Pages

See the 12-month preschool curriculum · All preschool activities

Sources

This guide is general educational information for parents. It is not medical advice. Always supervise young children, follow product age labels, and talk with your child’s doctor or teacher about any concerns.