Introduce your students to the concept of absorption. Explain to your students what absorption is, then set out water, eye droppers and a variety of materials for students to experiment with absorption. Items to consider using for this activity include sponges, rocks, leaves, tissues and fabric. Ask students to predict which items will absorb water and which items won't. Show them how to fill the eye droppers with water and tell them to squirt the water onto the different materials. Discuss the results of the activity and compare children's predictions with what actually happened.
This activity allows children to explore sound waves. Fill different sized and shaped glasses with varying amount of water. Set the glasses out and provide children with spoons. Instruct children to gently tap the spoons onto the surfaces of the glasses and encourage them to listen to the sounds that are created. Prior to striking the glasses, ask children to predict what they think will happen when the spoons hit the glass. Ask them which glasses they think will make high sounds and which will make low sounds. Talk about how the sound waves travel through the water in the glasses, creating different sounds.
Children learn how primary colors create secondary colors with this science activity. Set out red, yellow and blue finger paints and white paper. Encourage children to dip their fingers into the paint and spread them together. Encourage them to mix specific colors together to create specific secondary colors: red and yellow for orange; blue and red for purple; and yellow and blue for green. Allow children to make pictures with the new colors they have created.
Explore how rainbows are made with your pre-K students. Fill a clear glass with water and set it on a sunny windowsill; make sure that the edge of the glass sits slightly over the edge of the sill. As the sun shines through the glass, a rainbow will appear on the floor. Explain to students that rainbows occur when light bends and that water causes light to bend.