I wasn’t always spending my days scraping peanut butter off the mini-blinds and counting out seconds for time-outs.  As many SAHMs do, I fondly remember a time where I was required to comb my hair and put on non-fleece-lined pants before 8am.  I used parts of my brain other than those dedicated to replaying the theme song to Paw Patrol or negotiating which child was holding the pink crayon first.  For 10 years I taught high school science in Chicago and Kansas City, and before that I was an Environmental Engineer. But now my colleagues are a 3-1/2 year old boy and his strong-willed 17-month old sister.

So when my local group of SAHMs asked me to start leading science programs for moms and preschool age kids, I was at first hesitant. Mostly because I didn’t know if I could string enough words together to form coherent sentences…but also because I wasn’t sure if I could make the activities science-y enough to be more than a ‘craft’.  But as I started putting some of these lessons together, I saw how excited these little kids were to experiment and learn, say ‘big fancy words’, and then even teach their new words and skills to others.

I want to share some of these activities with the rest of you moms (and dads!) out there who want to guide your toddlers and preschoolers endless curiosity (and need to touch everything) towards something more constructive and educational.  I want to make each activity easy to understand and follow.  I have formatted all the activities to include 2-3 science vocabulary terms, a materials list, step-by-step instructions, and a short (preschooler-friendly) explanation of the science.  I know that most hard-working moms don’t really want to read about my own daily life of diapers and hot wheels, so I will keep the narratives to a minimum after this post!  I’ll just include a few pointers on where to get supplies and tips on how to best facilitate the activities.  Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions! I am a beginner to the world of blogging and have plenty of room to grow!