• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fantastic Fun & Learning

Fun learning activities and things to do with kids

  • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy and Disclosure
  • Themes
  • Holidays
  • Printables
  • Concepts
    • Alphabet
      • Letter A
      • Letter B
      • Letter C
      • Letter D
      • Letter F
      • Letter G
      • Letter I
      • Letter J
      • Letter K
      • Letter M
      • Letter N
      • Letter O
      • Letter P
      • Letter Q
      • Letter R
      • Letter S
      • Letter T
      • Letter U
      • Letter W
      • Letter Z
    • Art
    • Crafts
    • Fine Motor
    • Gross Motor
    • Phonemic Awareness
    • Phonics
    • Math
    • Outdoor Play
    • Science
    • Sensory
  • By Age
    • Baby
    • Toddler
    • Preschool
    • Kindergarten
  • By Month
  • Books
    • Books and Activities
      • Book Lists
      • Book Related Activities
  • Shop
You are here: Home / By Age / Kindergarten / Rock Demo Science Fun for Kids

Rock Demo Science Fun for Kids

By Shaunna Evans 18 Comments · This content may contain affiliate links.

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

Kids love to use real tools, so as part of our preschool rock theme activities I decided to let the kids learn about the properties of rocks by smashing them with real tools. Keep reading. I haven’t lost it.

If you already let your young kids use tools, that’s awesome. But if you are like me, you may be very hesitant about the idea. I remember the first time I heard of giving kids real tools instead of small plastic (safe) versions. I was a kindergarten teacher, and our lovely science specialist wanted to give my 18 students hammers and nails. Well, I was beyond surprised and relieved at how excited the kids were, how safely they behaved, and how awesome their creations were. I was an instant believer. So go ahead, give it a try…with proper supervision and a little discussion of safety before getting started.

Breaking Apart Rocks

To get ready I chose a few rocks from our collection. I knew some would break apart more easily, so I picked more of those than anything else. However, I did grab a few rocks that would be more difficult to break so that we could discuss the different properties. Depending on the age of your kids and the learning goals you are working on, you could also introduce some of the names for the different types of rocks.

I didn’t have safety goggles for all of the kids, so we all put on sunglasses to protect our eyes from any pieces that flew into the air. We also talked about holding the hammer with two hands so that we could have more control of it and to keep them from hitting their hands.

Each child had an individual work surface, a tool, and rocks. I let them work on old plastic lids from storage bins because I wanted the lip around the edge to keep some of the pieces from scattering on the ground. It helped for the most part.

For tools I had some smaller hammers and a meat tenderizer. I know a meat tenderizer is not technically a tool, but it actually turned out to be the best one for breaking up rocks. The large surface helped keep the kids from missing the rocks.

Rock Demo

 They were eager to get started, and all three kids (Ages 2-4) had fun. Big Buddy enjoyed the project more than both of the girls, and he continued to break apart rocks long after they finished.

When we were done we scooped all of the pieces together and saved them for more of our R is for Rocks projects. I’ll share more about some of those activities with you next week.

Rock Bits

 So what do you think? Do you let your kids use real tools? Would you give this activity a try?

You can find more activities and ideas for teaching kids about rocks on my Pinterest boards.

Get a full week of playful rock theme ideas!

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Get Your Copy

Home Preschool  Rocks Theme Lesson Plans

Preschool Classroom Rocks Theme Lesson Plans

More Math and Science Activities with Fizz, Pop, Bang!

Fizz, Pop, Bang! Playful Science and Math Activities is designed to bring hands-on fun to math and science play. It’s full of engaging and powerful learning opportunities in math and science, shared through ideas that incorporate art, play, sensory learning and discovery, for a whole-brain approach.

It includes 40 educational projects and 20 printables including a set of build-your-own 3D shape blocks, engineering challenge cards and a range of math games.

Learn more about Fizz, Pop, Bang! or you can buy it now!

Buy Now-Fizz Pop Bang ebook with 40 projects for ages 3 to 8 and 20 free printable resources

 

Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

Filed Under: Kindergarten, Letter R, Preschool, Rocks, Science, Uncategorized Tagged With: facts about rocks for kids, learn about rocks, preschool rock theme, r is for rocks, rock activities for kids, rock theme

Previous Post: « Rainbow and Bits of Gold Streamer Craft for Kids
Next Post: Poppins Book Nook~Knights, Princesses, & Castles Coming Soon »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gina

    April 7, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    I was a nanny in my previous existence and never let the kids near anything dangerous for years until a parent asked how I thought they would learn to use tools safety. Feeling dumb and scared, I gave it whirl and it was great.

    My kids are very safe and confident around tools and ‘helped’ their dad brick a wall today. They saw, hammer, drill and glue allsorts. They made me an almost square spice rack for Christmas. We are starting geology so rock banging is on our list as well as rock painting – that looks like fun! Terrifying for grandparents, though!

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      April 8, 2013 at 5:51 am

      What great inspiration for encouraging kids to experiment with tools. I’m sure it gives them a sense of pride knowing that they can use them correctly and create new things. I hope you guys enjoy the rock banging and rock painting activities!

      Reply
  2. Erin

    March 25, 2013 at 11:56 am

    ooh, my kids love pounding things with hammers. Looks fun.

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 28, 2013 at 1:26 pm

      It really was fun! And being able to use the bits of rock for other projects was very neat for the kids, too.

      Reply
  3. Allison

    March 22, 2013 at 11:42 pm

    What great fun! I’m featuring this on The Sunday Showcase tomorrow.

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 24, 2013 at 7:24 am

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
  4. Beth

    March 22, 2013 at 6:43 am

    What a FUN study!

    Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Don’t forget to update your button on your party page ~ thanks =-)

    Hope to see you linked up again later today! Have a great weekend,
    Beth

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 22, 2013 at 12:33 pm

      Thanks for the reminder! I updated the featured button last week, but forgot to update the other page. Sorry about that!

      Reply
  5. Ticia

    March 17, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    I do, probably not too surprising. The kids love to try out different tools, and they always come up with so many ideas of what they want to do after they’ve used them.

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 19, 2013 at 12:58 pm

      You’re right! I’m not too surprised. 🙂 I can definitely see how using tools could inspire new creativity.

      Reply
  6. Phyllis at All Things Beautiful

    March 17, 2013 at 9:04 am

    My boys used to do this, too.

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 17, 2013 at 1:09 pm

      Thanks for sharing…now I know it’s been kid-tested by other too!

      Reply
  7. Mary Catherine

    March 16, 2013 at 12:54 pm

    Oh, something tells me my son would looooove this! Breaking apart rocks as part of a science experiment would definitely be interesting for him. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 17, 2013 at 1:09 pm

      If he’s anything like the kids around here, I bet he will love it! I hope you try it out!

      Reply
  8. Kristin @ OneOrganicMama

    March 15, 2013 at 6:32 am

    My 3 year old scientist is going to LOVE this, thanks for the inspiration!!

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 15, 2013 at 12:47 pm

      I hope so! We enjoyed it…and a really fun way to learn more about rocks.

      Reply
  9. Ann @ My Nearest and Dearest

    March 13, 2013 at 7:46 pm

    Peanut would LOVE this! We are definitely giving this a try!
    Good tip about the meat tenderizer.

    Reply
    • Shaunna

      March 14, 2013 at 5:36 am

      I bet he would! Big Buddy definitely went back again and again after figuring out how hard he needed to swing to actually break the rocks.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Search

Join in the fun!

Facebooktwitterpinterestinstagram

Subscribe via Email

Hi, I’m Shaunna!

Welcome to Fantastic Fun and Learning. Here you'll find plenty of great ideas for fun learning activities and things to do with kids.

Popular Right Now

Preschool Name Activities

Free Printable Scavenger Hunts for Kids

Make Germs Scatter Hand Washing Science Demonstration

Our Recent Posts

  • Pantry ABC Scavenger Hunt
  • Emotions Emergent Reader
  • Cardboard Tube Summer Crafts and Activities

Copyright © 2022 | Privacy Policy