Getting Children Involved in Science

Science is one of the subjects that are taught in almost every school in the world. The reason behind teaching science is for students to learn the basics of how things move and why elements in the Earth and the universe exist while also developing their interest in the subject so that they can work someday as scientists for the government and agencies focusing on research and experimentation.

However, most students see science as a subject to learn in order to pass a test or to graduate, so they slowly lose interest since they only see it as a chore in school. While teaching science in school is beneficial, it is not enough to keep their fascination on the subject going after school time.

To develop a child’s curiosity in science, several people are coming up with methods to make science fun and exciting for children. Let’s look at some ways that are developed to get children engrossed in science.

Reading Books on Science

There are several science books for children that are much more enjoyable to read than the textbooks usually found in schools. Reading books on science will enhance not only their knowledge in the subject but also their reading skills.

For children who are always asking their parents “why?” after seeing something peculiar, there is a book called National Geographic Kids Why?: Over 1,111 Answers to Everything that gives more detailed answers to satisfy their curiosities.

Even if children are currently not curious about anything, they can just flip through the book and absorb every fantastic fact that they see while reading. Keep in mind that this book is for ages 8 to 12 years old, but there is another book named National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Why that is for kids who are 3 to 7 years old.

Besides the books mentioned previously, there is also The Everything Kids’ Science Experiment Book that teaches children how several things work and how they can do it themselves. What’s interesting about the Science Experiment Book is that children will be able to perform an experiment using household items.

All of these books’ pages are filled with stunning colors and pictures that will surely make kids enthralled while reading them.

Using Science Kits

Speaking of experimenting, hundreds of science kits for kids are available in toy stores and online, and these kits usually have all the items that a child needs in order to do the experiments on the fly.

For children who are interested in mixing and matching liquids, there is the Learning Resources Beaker Creatures Liquid Reactor Super Lab, which is a kit that reveals toy animals after kids dissolve the hard eggs called “Beaker Creatures Reactor Pods.”

The starter set includes the Super Lab, which has one compartment at the middle where you put a reactor pod, and two cylinders at each side where you pour the liquids used to dissolve the pod. After turning the eggs into a liquid, kids can pick up the surprise toy in the middle compartment using the tweezers included in the set.

There are two reactor pods included in the kit, but you can buy more Baker Creatures Reactor Pods. There are 35 beaker creatures for your children to collect, and each is randomly placed in every box.

If your child is interested in geology and rocks, you can buy the National Geographic Break Open 10 Premium Geodes kit, which includes not only ten geodes, but also a pair of goggles, a magnifying glass, and a learning guide to know more about geodes and rock formation.  

What’s not included in the kit is a hammer that children need to break the geodes and see what’s inside. Before letting children use the hammer, make sure that you are supervising them and see if they are using the hammer properly.

For kids who are fascinated with things that they cannot see with the naked eye, AmScope has the 120X-1200X 52-pcs Kids Beginner Microscope that allows them to see things that are smaller than a grain of rice.

Along with the microscope, the kit also comes with a bottle of brine shrimp eggs so that the children can enjoy using the microscope right away. Using the lens, they will see how the shrimp eggs hatch and grow into tiny creatures that swim about in the small petri dish included in the kit. While observing how the shrimps evolve, they can also take notes on the changes happening on a shrimp’s body and analyze the functions of the animal’s emerging body parts.

Visiting Museums

Along with learning about science at home or in school, children can also know more about the subject’s different branches and studies by going to museums dedicated to enhancing children’s knowledge in science.

San Francisco’s The Exploratorium is one of the most fun science museums ever built because of its focus on bringing weird and exciting scientific discoveries and inventions to kids and people of all ages. Nicknamed the “Scientific Fun House,” the Exploratorium’s exhibits can be played and interacted with, which means that kids will be able to do the experiments themselves in the museum as opposed to just observing them.

The National Air and Space Museum, located in Washington, D.C., is a place where aviation enthusiasts can go and see the iconic airplanes used throughout history. Children will be able to learn more about how planes are constructed and how they can fly in the sky even if they are heavy while also being more knowledgeable in the history of aviation.

In London, there is a museum simply called the Science Museum that is considered as one of the oldest museums in the world. Celebrating its 162nd anniversary in 2019, the Science Museum has stood the test of time because of how significant it is to the development of children’s interest in science throughout the years.

Because of its popularity, the Science Museum is visited by more than 3.3 million people a year, and people would often come back again to the museum because it continually changes exhibits and galleries so that there is always something new to see in the Science Museum.

Through all of these methods, children will be able to see science as something that will be able to answer their mind’s deepest curiosities enjoyably. These different approaches to learning science are so fun that parents can also enjoy going through the experience of reading science books, performing experiments using science kits, and going to the different exhibits in a museum.