Young children learn about science by engaging in hands-on activities. Creating a play-friendly environment where they can investigate carrots is a step toward developing inquiring minds. Use seeds and carrots with leaves to talk about how carrots grow. Let preschoolers' touch and feel the seeds, and discuss how the seeds need food, sunlight, air and water to grow. Plant a couple of seeds in a container and watch the first green leaves appear. Seeds take approximately one to two weeks to come up. Carrots come in a range of colors -- there are white, yellow, red and purple carrots. Let children compare different colored varieties and list other differences. Some carrot varieties are round while others are long and thin. Peruse the Internet for photos, if you cannot find any at the local supermarket.
Preschool math activities include measuring and counting. Put a selection of carrots in a basket, and let children line up the carrots and count those in different ways, starting with the longest carrot or the shortest, the thinnest or thickest. Use different colored carrots and let children sort them according to color. Count the carrots in each color group. The leaves of a carrot can be cut off and the carrot can be placed in a dish with layer of small pebbles. Pour in water so that it just touches the tip of the carrot. Watch the green top grow. Use a string and measure the length of the leaves every second day.
Carrots are healthy snacks, and healthy eating habits should be promoted in preschool. Let children listen to the sounds that they make while they are eating different types of foods, such as carrots, apples, crisp bread and soft bread. Cut carrots into sticks and grate a couple of carrots. Ask children to compare the texture, taste and crunch. Tell children to close their eyes, and let them smell different types of prepared carrots, such as carrots chopped into cubes, mashed and grated. Compare the taste of different orange fruits and vegetables, such as oranges, pumpkins and orange peppers. Talk about the taste, smell and differences in skin. Look for seeds in the different fruits and vegetables; carrots have no seeds since it is not a fruit. When the carrot is ready it sends up a tall stem, which produces flowers and seeds.
Hands-on printing activities are an engaging way to learn about shapes. Ask children to make a huge carrot with leaves using carrot pieces to print shapes. Cut raw carrots into different shapes, such as squares, triangles, circles and rectangles. Use the carrot pieces to dip into shallow dishes of paint and press them on white paper. The top of a carrot can be used to make fine patterns. Let children work in pairs telling stories about a carrot family. Peruse the Internet for carrot templates and let children color in and cut out a couple of carrots. Draw eyes and mouths on the carrots and invent names for the family members. Use the carrots as puppets for making up stories.