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535 preschool activity ideas. I read every one before it went in, and any of them is yours to take. When you want one written up into a full lesson plan, built around your age group and framework, tap Plan this one. Planella writes it up, ready to customize, in about a minute.
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Science & nature activities for preschoolers
These are 27 science and nature activities for preschoolers, simple experiments included. Some are over in one sitting, like sink or float with a prediction mat, two things dropped at the same time or which ice cube lasts the longest. Others take days of watching, like bean roots in a bag on the window, a worm hotel you can see into or a rain gauge marked after every rain. Tap Plan this one on the one your class would wonder about and Planella writes the lesson plan.
Rain gauge marked after every rain
A clear jar left out in the open, a line marked at the water's edge after each rain, then emptied for the next one.
Plan this one →Sound eggs matched by ear
Plastic eggs all one color, filled in pairs with rice, beans and pennies, taped shut and shaken to find the twins.
Plan this one →X-rays taped up on the window
Hand, arm, knee and foot x-rays taped on the glass, and a real hand or knee pressed flat against the matching one.
Plan this one →Bean plant maze in a shoebox
A cardboard wall taped inside a shoebox, one hole cut at the far end, and a sprouted bean bending around to it.
Plan this one →Water cycle in a bag on the window
Blue water sealed in a bag taped to a sunny window, and by the afternoon droplets are running back down inside.
Plan this one →Same ramp, three different surfaces
Felt, sandpaper and foil taped in three lanes down a board on blocks, and three cars let go from the top together.
Plan this one →Bird beaks and a tray of food
Tweezers, tongs, spoons and a dropper tried on seeds, yarn worms and a dish of water.
Plan this one →Four bags of yeast, four different foods
Yeast and warm water in four bags, fed sugar, flour, salt and nothing, flattened and sealed, and only some puff up.
Plan this one →Which ice cube lasts the longest
Ice cubes the same size, one in the sun, one in the shade and one wrapped in foil, checked until only one is left.
Plan this one →Sun prints of leaves and keys
Sun print paper in the shade, leaves and keys on top, carried into the sun, and the picture turns up after rinsing.
Plan this one →Shadow traced in chalk through the day
A chair or anything big, chalked around the base so it stays put, and its shadow outlined again every hour or two.
Plan this one →Frozen arctic animal rescue
Plastic animals frozen in a shallow pan of ice, with droppers of warm water and salt to free them.
Plan this one →Rock sorting with a magnifying glass
Rocks from home and the yard on a tray, a magnifying glass each, and the piles the children name themselves.
Plan this one →Worm hotel you can see into
Worms in a clear jar of layered soil and sand, kept covered, tunnels down the side, then back outside.
Plan this one →Chalk line around the shrinking puddle
A chalk line around a puddle or a marker line on a jar of water, redrawn each morning as the edge creeps in.
Plan this one →Opening a soaked lima bean
Lima beans soaked overnight, skins slipped off, halves opened with a thumb, and the tiny plant curled up inside.
Plan this one →Color mixing predictions with pipettes
Red, yellow and blue water in three cups, a guess said out loud, and then two of them dropped into an empty cup.
Plan this one →Bean seeds in a clear cup of soil
Beans pressed against the side of a clear cup of soil, roots showing down the plastic and a stem pushing up.
Plan this one →Bugs and snails in a magnifying jar
Roly polies and snails in a magnifying jar, a long look at how they move, then back where they came from.
Plan this one →Which apple slice turns brown first
Three slices off the same apple, one brushed with lemon juice, one with water, one with nothing, left out all day.
Plan this one →Sink or float with a prediction mat
A mat with a sink side and a float side, and everything gets set on a guess before it goes in the tub.
Plan this one →Color changing flowers and celery
White carnations and celery in water with plenty of food coloring, and the color turning up in the petals and leaves.
Plan this one →Four different seeds, four cups
Bean, radish, sunflower and grass seeds in four cups, watered every day to see which one breaks the soil first.
Plan this one →Bean roots in a bag on the window
Beans on a damp paper towel, sealed in a bag taped to the window, and white roots out before there is any leaf.
Plan this one →Colors stacked on the light table
Color paddles overlapped on the light table or held up to a sunny window, and a new color where two of them cross.
Plan this one →Two things dropped at the same time
A crayon and a coffee filter dropped together, then a flat piece of paper and a matching one crumpled up.
Plan this one →Moon craters in a bin of flour
Flour deep in a bin, cocoa dusted over it, and small and medium rocks dropped in to make craters with pale rims.
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New ideas go in all the time. If your class loves an activity that isn't in a bin yet, send it my way. I read every idea that comes in, and the ones that fit join the library.
These ideas come from the real world of preschool. I read each one and chose what went in, one at a time. No idea here was invented by AI. Newest ideas added September 2026.