A key area to encourage learning is to develop observational skills in children. Encourage the use of all five senses -- seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting -- in order to determine the characteristics of an object. You can take them to a field and ask them to record observations regarding their surroundings or you can present them with a set of objects and require them to give characteristics of those objects based on their observation. Common guide questions include "What is the color of the object?" and "Does it have a smooth or rough surface?"
Classification is important in building science skills because it requires students to use the information they derive from observation to group together different things based on a given criteria. You can give the children leaves of various colors and ask them to classify each leaf by placing them on a mound of leaves with the same colors. The mounds should sit side-by-side to highlight the contrast between the colors of the leaves in each mound.
Numbers are an integral part of science because it is needed to quantify the information that is gathered. Use cookies in a counting numbers game. You can also teach basic addition and subtraction skills using the cookies as a means of developing interest in mathematics and science. Take three cookies and have the children count them one by one. Then cut one cookie into two halves. Arrange two sets of one and a half cookies and then combine the two halves. This will demonstrate the scientific principle that one and a half when added to another one and a half is equal to three. Another activity that can be done is forming groups through counting. You can then make them count the number of members in each group and ask if all the groups formed have the same number of members or not. This will teach your students real-world applications of counting.
To reinforce the learning, make sure to design activities that are meant to integrate all the things that they have learned. For example, ask each group to get two types of blocks, 10 of one type and 8 of another, from a pile. The selection of block types must be based on color. The selection of the blocks will help improve their observation skills while choosing more than one unit of one type will improve classification. Lastly, counting the number of blocks for each type helps improve counting skills. This is an excellent way to integrate all the learning so that children can use these skills in real-world applications. Time how long it takes for each group to complete the task, and reward the winners for a job-well done.