Create a science center in your classroom, which will lend itself to a number of hands-on activities. Include helpful components in your science nook such as a water table, a sunny window and a touch-and-feel table with shells, leaves and other tactile objects.
Mary, Mary quite contrary plants a garden and watches it grow. Buy small flower pots, potting soil and seeds for your children and let them emulate Mary. This makes an ideal activity around Mother's Day since children can water their plant and observe its growth, then take the fully grown plant home to their mothers as a present.
Especially during Halloween, pumpkin activities fascinate children. They love to explore the seeds and "gunk" inside of the big, orange squashes. The rhyme "Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater" tells of a man who keeps his wife inside of a pumpkin shell. Hollow out a pumpkin, saving the seeds for further activities or for roasting and explore what really is inside of a pumpkin shell.
Read the rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" to the children and offer them each an egg. Gather a variety of materials such as blankets, pillows, cardboard, rubber mats and a table and allow them to choose a material and drop their egg onto it. Use a bar graph to record the results of their experimentation.
The rhyme "Jack Be Nimble" tells of a boy jumping over a candlestick. While the risk of fire prohibits your children from copying Jack, they can observe the effects of oxygen on a candle. Light a candle and let children investigate the different parts of the candle such as the flame and the wick. Place a glass jar over the top of the candle and let them watch what occurs when the oxygen is cut off.
Water activities instantly engage children, try reading "Jack and Jill" and determining which objects float or sink in Jack and Jill's pails of water. Allow children to brainstorm for ideas of objects to try, conduct the experiments, and then create a graph showing the results.
Some of the most beloved nursery rhymes are about stars. Create a keepsake memento of your nursery rhyme unit that also offers fun science potential by making a stardust bottle. Place glitter and star confetti into clean water bottles and have children add oil, water and food coloring to them. Seal tightly with packaging tape and allow children to shake them to witness their stardust bottle in action.