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Foundation Stage Science

Science at nursery and reception

Early science is introduced indirectly through activities that encourage your child to explore, problem solve, observe, predict, think, make decisions and to talk about what they do and see in the world around them. It is called Knowledge and Understanding of the World. Early years science also helps children with skills in other Foundation Stage areas of learning, such as Physical Development and Creative Development.

Knowledge and understanding of the world

Children show curiosity by exploring creatures, people, plants and objects in their natural environments, for example, at a shop or in the garden. They observe and manipulate objects and materials to identify differences and similarities, for example they may look at an egg whisk, sand, paper and water to learn about things that are natural and made or function.

Children use their senses, for example by feeling dough or listening to sounds in the environment, such as sirens or farm animals.

Your child will be encouraged to ask questions about why things happen and how things work, while, for example, increasing the incline of a slope to observe how fast a vehicle travels, or opening a mechanical toy to see how it works. Your child will also be asked questions about what he or she is doing and what they think will happen, to help them communicate, plan, investigate, record and evaluate findings.

Children learn to identify key features and properties, for example, liquids, compost, gravel and clay.

Physical development

Awareness of space may be taught by encouraging children to make big and small movements to music together and alone, and to think about how much space they need. They will also learn to recognise changes that happen to the body when they are active.

Children learn about the importance of keeping healthy and the things that contribute to this, by cooking or identifying fruit and vegetables, for example.

Creative development

Children explore and respond to a variety of sensory experiences through music and art. In one setting the children collected a variety of materials, such as rough sandpaper, soft fabric and shiny bottle tops to build a sensory wall. They explore colour, texture shape, form and space by mixing colours, painting, modelling and dancing.

They learn to recognise how sounds can be changed and they practise imitating sounds they hear.

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Get ahead at home

  • Have fun around the house using your five senses. Listen out for the sound of the oven timer; look at an orange with a magnifying glass; smell a lemon; identify objects by feeling around in a bag; taste salty and sweet foods. Where are the sense organs you used located?
  • Talk about how the body works (it heals, the role of food, reproduction, digestion, our eyes, ears and speech mechanisms).
  • Do you have a houseplant that has outgrown its pot? Allow your child to help you re-pot it. Point out and discuss how the roots sustain plant life. Plant some seeds of your own.
  • Talk to your child about what happens when water is heated (in a kettle or on the cooker). With caution, show and discuss what happens to the water.
  • Ask your child to find things that need either a pull or push to make them work (doorbell, rocking chair, door, drawer, car). Together, stick labels that say 'push', 'pull', 'push and pull' to objects they find indoors.
  • Talk about electricity and its potential dangers, such as touching with wet hands. Survey the electrical appliances, plug sockets and lights in your home. Demonstrate how plugging out the television, for example, will stop it from working.
  • Explore the sound of music! Use whatever you have - pots and pans, a wooden or veneered table, glass utensils, hollow plastics and empty boxes. Suggest ways of describing the sounds (high, low, loud, quiet, rattling, ringing). Use reference and information books to help your child learn about how sounds are made.
 

Resource tips

Shapes

This novelty book is a masterful feat of paper engineering and a vibrant introduction to the concept of shape. Each brightly coloured die-cut page showcases a shape - circle, oval, square, rectangle, diamond and triangle - which, when you pull a tab, transforms into a familiar object (the circle becomes a balloon, the oval becomes a fish, and so on). On the reverse side of each page is an ever-decreasing selection of flaps that can be lifted to reveal clearly labelled pictures of other familiar objects (the circle page features a pizza, a ball, a clock, a steering wheel). Walker Books £9.99

All Shapes and Sizes

A nursery picture book featuring a lively toddler and her baby brother. It is designed to introduce the concepts of shapes and sizes to young children. Walker Books, £3.99