Over the summer, I have been reviewing the Stepping into Science Kit by Kids First from Timberdoodle. It was an excellent opportunity for me to do some fun, hands-on science activities with my five-year-old son when the weather was too hot for outdoor play.
What Is Stepping Into Science?
This kit is designed for students ages five to seven (though I think some of the experiments would be great for any elementary age). The kit includes directions and supplies for 29 different experiments. However, there were a few household supplies you are required to provide—for example, water, paper towels, a bowl, a mirror, etc. Most of the items were readily available, though we did have trouble one day with needing a piece of wool fabric.
My five-year-old is just entering kindergarten and cannot read, so we did them together, but a student who could read proficiently could have done many of the experiments independently. Some days my nine-year-old joined the fun, and a family or an individual child could use the kit.
Experiment Categories:
- Experiments in Nature
- Experiments in Physics
- Experiments in Air
- Experiments in Water
- Experiments in Chemistry
At the beginning of each experiment, a list of needed materials is divided by what the kit includes and what needs to come from home. The instructions have step-by-step pictures to help younger students and some written instructions to ensure the directions are clear.
Also, there are tips and ideas for continued experimentation at the end of each experiment.
How Did We Use Stepping Into Science?
You can complete the experiments in any order, so for our situation, I let my son look through them and pick out the ones he wanted to try each day.
Most of the experiments only took a few minutes, though some plant experiments needed to be done over a more extended period due to wait times. For example, a seed sprouting experiment took only a few minutes of active time but several days to see the results.
We have done many (though not all of the experiments), and overall they were easy to complete and worked well. We struggled with getting the hovercraft activity to work well, but I am unsure if that was a flaw in the experiment or an operator error.
What Did We Think?
My son enjoyed all of them but was particularly fond of the water experiments. He learned how to use surface tension to float a paperclip and about buoyancy by making balls and boats out of clay to see which one floated.
While I recommend looking ahead to ensure you have any additional materials for the particular experiment, most of them are very open-and-go and easy to implement.
There is a list of additional needed materials at the front of the manual in addition to the individual list for each experiment.
Conclusions
Overall, this is a great kit if you have a young elementary student and want an easy way to add some hands-on science experiments without a lot of prep work or extra time. It could be used as a standalone program if you want to wait on a more formal science curriculum or use the experiments to supplement your traditional science curriculum.
Be sure to go to the Timberdoodle website to learn more about this Stepping into Science kit and the other great products that they offer.
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