Preschool Science Investigation~Create a Boat

For Discover & Explore this week we are sharing ideas about Boats, Water Fun & Things that Float. We set up an invitation to explore and the kids experimented with different materials to see which would make the best boat. Check out our investigation. Then don’t forget to share your own boat activities in the linky below.

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After reading a few books about boats the kids started talking a lot about different kinds of boats. One of them asked what makes boats float. I thought it would be the perfect topic to explore a little more, so we gathered a few small containers, bowls made of paper and plastic, shells, foil, wax paper, and a piece of an egg carton.

I set everything up outside next to our kiddie pool. Once I showed the kids the invitation, Lovey immediately said we needed to have passengers for our boat–agreed! We grabbed a few, and the kids were eager to get started exploring.

Tinker was so excited to make her “shell boat.” Imagine her surprise when it immediately plummeted to the bottom of the pool!

Lovey tried to use the wax paper first. I envisioned them trying to fold the paper to make a boat, but they preferred to leave it flat. I resisted the urge to get involved in their process, and instead I observed. At first the wax paper held quite a few people, and Lovey was pleased with her “boat.”

But soon she had to rescue the passengers as the wax paper began to sink.

Then she decided to see what would happen if she used the foil. This proved to make a better boat, and she played with it for a while.

Then she decided to move on to experimenting with the bowls. She found that the plastic bowl held the most passengers of all without sinking.

I really enjoyed listening to the conversations and thought behind each material chosen and the conclusions they were making as they observed whether each boat would sink or float. It will be fun to revisit this invitation in a while and see if there approach changes after they have more experience with boats and water activities.

And when they were done exploring, splash!! Investigation over. 🙂

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