About Early Science

What is Early Science?
Children’s Scientific Thinking
Communicating Discoveries
Early Science Experiences

Science is everywhere! Children are natural scientists, impelled to dive into the muck with all of their powers to make sense of it all — to taste and twist and hurl the elements against each other and themselves.

To a young child, the world is full of materials to discover and explore. To feel, see, find, collect, sort, and use materials with children is to embark on a special kind of adventure. Children possess a natural openness to the potential of living things and the materials around them. Children and adults become collaborators as they discover, observe, experiment, construct, and think about what they are experiencing.

In today’s world, children’s experiences and their opportunities to see and understand how the world works are often limited to passive experiences or adult-directed activities. With modern technology, children may not see or engage in the actual process. Food comes from stores, and few children see how food is produced. Simple toys that were once pushed or pulled now have hidden motors and batteries to drive them and a switch to turn them on or off. Many children have limited exposure to the natural world; even backyard free time is often scarce.