Monday, March 31, 2014

Car Themed Invitation to Explore Magnets

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Science isn't my strong suit.  As a result, I often struggle to come up with unique and fun science ideas for my kids.  But, I think I may have surprised myself with this simple car themed science invitation.

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I mentioned a trip to my local teacher store the other day, where I found some awesome magnetic transparency counters and magnet wands.  As the boys were trying the counters out on the light table, three were lined up like a traffic light (you know...red, yellow, and green).  Then I thought that it would be fun to set up a car themed tray to explore what is and isn't magnetic with the boys.  They both enjoyed this science invitation, but toddler K was particularly enthusiastic about it.

Simple science for toddlers and preschoolers using magnets with a car theme from And Next Comes L

To set up this tray, I used the following:

J was drawn towards the magnetic cars and made up a little game of his own.  He would line up a couple of cars and then ask, "Where's the two?"  Then he would pick up the correct car with the magnet wand.  Every so often, K would pipe in, "There's the two.  Right there!"

Toddler science: exploring magnets with a car theme from And Next Comes L 

K, on the other hand, was very thorough in checking out this tray.  He lined up all of the wheels (both the magnetic and non-magnetic varieties).  He then tried to pick up each one using the magnet wand.  It was cute to see him discover that the milk jug lids were not magnetic.  K kept trying over and over to pick one up.

Toddler science: exploring magnets with a car theme from And Next Comes L

After the disappointing milk jug lid wheels, K tried the magnet wheels.  He was so delighted to see those work!

Toddler science: exploring magnets with a car theme from And Next Comes L

K also spent a lot of time with the transparent counters.  You can see below that he wanted the magnet wand to pick up all of the transparent counters, even the non-magnetic ones.  He sure tried to make it stick!

Toddler science: exploring magnets with a car theme from And Next Comes L

What a simple tray this was to set up, but boy, did it keep them entertained!

Looking for more car themed play?  There's plenty on my blog including:


Simple science for toddlers and preschoolers using magnets with a car theme from And Next Comes L