How to Set Up Science Centers at Home or in the Classroom

One of my favorite things in the little kid classrooms my daughter was in when she was younger (besides pretend play) was the science center. This space pretty much always had magnifying glasses (and probably binoculars because it was in front of a window), tweezers and other basic tools, but the content of the things they were studying would change every so often.

It might be the table was covered with rocks. Or flowers the kids picked when they were outside. Or fall leaves. Once they had tadpoles harvested from a puddle outside.

Because there’s so much to explore when you’re little, the ideas for science tables are almost endless. It could be about any kind of animal you’re learning about in class, the weather, parts of a plant, space, holiday related activities like weighing and measuring pumpkins, it goes on and on. If you’re doing this at home (or even in a classroom) you can let the interests of the child/children drive what’s on the table and how often it changes.

If you need help with what to put on your science table, or if you’re wondering why having one is a great idea, at home or in the classroom, check out this post from Little Bins for Little Hands.

They happen to have a whole series of printables for science centers that you can buy, but there’s also a free printable of basic science tools in this post, and it’s full of good information on the hows and whys of science tables, even if you don’t buy anything.

The article notes there are all sorts of great things kids learn at science tables in preschool, including a basic understanding of science tools and the scientific method, ways of measuring and classifying things, observation, problem solving, teamwork and more. Lots of these skills have applications outside of science, as they can also help improve vocabulary, critical thinking skills and more.

Check out the post for more great information on science tables and why you might want to set one up today. Have you ever had a science table in the classroom or at home? I’d love to hear about it!

When my daughter was younger I would spend a lot of time trying to come up with activities she could do in the car on long road trips and things to entertain her when we were waiting at restaurants and things that didn’t involve screens.

But it turns out there are a lot of great activities you can do with just a piece of paper and a pen.

What Do We Do All Day has a great collection of pen and paper games, including some that can be done with just one person, though they’re all more fun if you have at least two.

There are some classics on here like hangman and dots and boxes, but there are also quite a few I hadn’t heard of before.

I don’t want to spoil the whole list for you because you should definitely click over there and look around, but I will share about the one that you see pictured above.

This game is called Bridges, and you start by making the big random shape and the dividing it into a bunch of sections (the post says 30-50 sections is ideal but I think this one is smaller than that).

Each player gets their own color marker and you take turns drawing bridges from one space to another, crossing a third. Once there’s a bridge, no other bridges can start, end or cross in those spaces. Keep going until no more bridges can be built, and the person who makes the last bridge wins.

Check out the post over at What We Do All Day for more great ideas for no or almost-no prep games you can play with your kids or that kids can play together. I’d love to know if you have a favorite paper and pen game, whether it’s on this list or a different one.

[Photo: What We Do All Day]

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