Items to spruce up preschool science center?
I am looking for suggestions of new items to add to the science center in my classroom this up coming school year. The school has no money budgeted for new items. I currently have the following items:
Sea Shells
Dinosaurs
Insects
Sea animals
Rocks
Magnetic play set
view master
magnifying glasses
a balance/scale
A set of preschool science books
A subscription of Big Backyard magazine
Puzzles
a texture match set
binoculars
I also have plants and an aquarium in the classroom. I am looking for items that the children can explore and use independently.
Update:The age group using the items are 4 and 5 years old
Comments
Plants
Bird's nests
go out to a pond or river bank and take plaster castings of animal footprints left in the mud
leaves of various kinds
bark of different trees
photos of various spiders and their webs (print from internet)
I'm guessing your insects are plastic ones. How about a real one in a jar? Observe it for a day or 2 then let it go
Discovery bottles! You can put anything in these! In the past my class favorites have been the rust and magnet bottles. Rust: Put various objects in a bottle with water and watch them rust. Fun to save the old bottle to show when you start a new one with a new group! Magnet: Put different objects in a bottle, some of which will be attracted to the magnet and some that won't. Other favorites have been crayon shavings in water and beads, etc. one in water and another in corn syrup. Put a marble in different substances such as shampoo, hair gel, oil, water. Compare how fast the marble moves in each.
Cd player so they can dance, coloring books, crayons (not markers for those get messy), television, building blocks, pretend play phones, and the little kids LOVE dress up! They also love name tags. I help at a preschool and there so funny with there name tags, they go around telling people there name and spelling names of others. Also, at the preschool I help at they have a guinea pig, and they just keep it in the cage and the kids sit around the cage laughing at it and playing with it. Then we take it out sometimes for them to hold. It's such a fun age! I hope I helped!
Sand and Water
Different Leaves
Different Bones
Mixing Colors
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