Bienvenido

Science lives in a baby following a sunbeam across the room or dropping his spoon from a high chair over and over; or a toddler floating soap in the bathtub or putting her nose to a frosty window; or a preschooler baking a cake, building a tower, or collecting and sorting leaves, rocks, or bugs. The desire to make sense of the world and know how everything works, combined with the need to use all their newly emerging skills, compels children to be “messy little scientists” who search for answers to their “whys” and “hows.”

Wonder leads to exploration and discovery, analysis, and reflection, which leads to more wonder...and on and on. Curiosity and the drive to explore are inborn, but science requires more: noticing, questioning, and the discipline to follow through. The scientist needs to be nurtured and mentored by caring adults genuinely interested in the child’s questions and experiments, whose encouragement and questions provoke new investigations.

The Growing Scientists Web site contains information, ideas, and resources for children, parents, and teachers to find the science in everyday life and grow the scientist in every child.