How to Set Up a Science Center for Preschoolers in a Small Space

Little kids love science and exploring the natural world, but it’s not always easy to fit a lot of science materials in when you don’t have a lot of space at home or in a classroom.

Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds has some great tips for setting up a science center in a small space for little kids. She used the top of a bookshelf, as well as hanging some things in the window, which is brilliant.

There are plants, books, a poster on the life cycle of a plant and a magnifying glass for exploring materials. These things could change through the seasons but you can actually fit a lot of different stuff in a small space.

How do you bring the natural world into your home or classroom environment? I’d love to hear all about it!

[Photo: Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds.]

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Gardening Activities for Kids

Every year at my daughter’s school I think it’s the second or third graders do an activity where they have to disguise a turkey to keep it from being eaten at Thanksgiving. The kids draw the disguise and write a little bit about why they thing that would be an effective way for the turkey to hide. There were some really creative ideas, including one year one was dressed as an eraser for some reason?

If this is an activity you’d like to try with kids in the classroom or at home, check out these turkey in disguise printables to get you started.

If you want to keep it totally basic you can just print out a turkey in disguise coloring sheet like these from The Best Ideas for Kids. There are a few different options kids can use to decorate and they write in what their turkey is disguised as.

My Bored Toddler has a similar printable that just asks what the child will cover the turkey with to hide it. This one would be fun to use in a plastic sleeve or laminated, then you can use it with playdough, cover it with leaves or glass gems or draw on it and use it again.

Easy Peasy and Fun has a paper doll-inspired take on turkey disguises, with printable costumes you can take on and off to hide your turkey quickly. The disguise is attached to the regular turkey with a tab so you can flip it up and down to have a regular turkey or one disguised as a peacock, football player, astronaut and more. This one includes a writing activity so students can explain why they picked the disguise they did and why they think it will work.

Red Ted Art has a set of 12 disguises you can buy (or you can get six random costumes for free) that come in both color and black and white. Kids can just assemble the turkeys or they can color them and then put them together. The set includes a basketball player, pirate, chef, unicorn, mermaid, robot and more. It doesn’t include a writing activity but you could also have kids write about which character they picked and why.

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