The study of science is interesting, thought provoking, fun and best of all you're interacting with your child. When you make and do experiments together teach your child how to observe, predict, analyze the results and transfer the information to other situations. Here you'll have 5 science experiments for challenging and questioning times with your preschooler.

Let's Get Closer
This experiment is fun because children like to try different things and most of the items you have around the house. All you need is a magnet, a crayon and two boxes (tissue boxes).Take a box and write 'YES' and on the other write 'NO'. The 'YES' box will be used for the items that stick to the magnet and the box with the 'NO' will be used for the items that don't. Have you child go around the house and find 10 items for each box. Suggestions of items can be: a marble, a penny, a dime, a nickel, a paper clip, a button, a hair clip, a safety pin, a pencil, an eraser, a comb, a piece of paper, a bead, a feather, a stamp, a toy car, a small teddy, a sock, an action figure and a bottle cap. After the hunt ask questions to your child about what sticks and what doesn't and what type of scientific reasoning can they make of it? Be careful with this experiment if there's a younger child in the house, small items can be potential choking hazards.

Salty Sweet & Sour
For this activity you'll need to do a little research inside your fridge and food cabinet. Take out various foods that fit into the categories salty, sweet and sour and set them out of your kitchen table. Set out three empty plates with place cards written the words salty, sweet and sour (you can also draw an example on the card). Cut a piece of each food and have your child identify what type of food is he tasting and into what category does it fit in.

Dehydration
All you'll need for this dehydration experiment are grapes and a few sunny days. Have your child set out the grapes on a plate. Cover the grapes with a paper towel and set the plate out in the sun. A few days later the grapes will have dehydrated into raisins. Ask your child to explain what happen. What other fruits or vegetables could you do this with?

How Much Do You Weigh?

With your child, take a piece of paper and make two columns. The first one is the write down the name of the object and the second column is to write down how much it weighs. Have your child be the first thing you weigh and then weigh yourself. Ask your child some questions such as; who's heavier and who's lighter? Then go about the house and weigh anything your child wants to find out the weight. Compare the weights. Can you add more objects to equal your child's weight? Let your child decide how and what to weigh and always ask why?

Colored Celery
Take a celery branch with the leaves still on and place it in a glass. Inside the glass add some water and some drops of blue or red food coloring. Look and observe the celery every hour for a few hours and then again the next day. What has happened to the celery stick? Did it change color? Why? The insides of celery sticks are little tubes that carry the food to the top of the leaves. Now this food was colored. Ask your child what else would work in the same manner? Have any flowers and try again. suite101