Book Review: Super Simple Science Experiments

August 6, 2022 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Kids of a certain age seem to love science experiments, but it can be difficult to come up with ideas for experiments off the top of your head.

Andrea Scalzo Yi has collected 100 easy setup science experiments you can make with supplies you probably already have in your house in her book Super Simple Science Experiments for Curious Kids.

The book is divided by types of experiments: those involving liquids, solids, gasses, and light, color and sound.

Experiments are rated by simplicity level on a scale of 1 to 3. Materials and instructions are listed, as well as how and why the experiment works and variations you can try.

These projects can be done with parental help even by little kids, but older kids can handle doing some of them on their own.

A random sampling of projects includes:

fluffy slime
making a mobius strip
drinkable density experiment
wall marble run
spinning pencil
potato skewer balance
DIY fire extinguisher
wet and dry painting
make a sunset
sound you can see

Lots of these experiments are classics but there are some you might not have seen before. This book is a great reference for when kids want to do something but you don’t have anything particular in mind. It also allows you to slip in some science whenever you want. You can talk about what kids think will happen when you try different experiments, and because why they work the way they do is included in the book, you’ll be able to explain it to kids even if you don’t remember your own science classes!

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 100 projects. Published in July 2022 by Page Street Publishing. Suggested retail $22.99. Buy on Amazon.

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Printable Letter Books for Preschoolers

I did a post earlier this year with activities and ideas for teaching the alphabet, but a lot or learning letters and recognizing them just has to do with seeing them and working with them a lot.

That means coloring, tracing, identifying things that start with different letters and more.

One way to reinforce the letters is through little activity books like these cute printable alphabet books from Life Over Cs.

These are available for free when you subscribe to her newsletter, and I’d say that’s well worth it if you have a little one (or a group of little ones!) working on the alphabet and letter recognition.

Each mini book includes a collection of things that start with that letter to color, color and read with words that start with the letter, tracing the letter, finding the letter in a grid and other coloring pages with objects that start with that letter.

These little books are super useful reinforcing the different letters and giving kids different activities related to the letters.

If you do a letter of the day or letter of the week you can use a new book for each one, and then keep the copies in your reading center or in a basket where kids can look at them again.

And of course you can add in all the other letter activities you like, go on a scavenger hunt for items that start with that letter, read alphabet books, practice writing letters in rice or with pompoms or playdough or whatever sensory activities you like.

You can grab the free printables when you enter you email address at Life Over Cs, and check out her other great alphabet resources and activities while you are over there.

Do you have favorite activities for teaching letters to kids? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Life Over Cs]

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