Kindergarten Science Projects

Kindergarten science projects give kindergarten students the opportunity to explore science by making observations and predictions based on the observations. Concepts should be easy to understand and materials used in the science projects should be non-toxic and easy for small hands to manage. In many cases, kindergarten science involves group projects, so students can brainstorm ideas. Here are some examples of kindergarten science projects.

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Second Grade Science Fair Projects

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

• Experiment with Color
  Either offer students finger paints in the primary colors, clay, or food coloring solutions and ask them to predict what will happen when they mix two of the colors. What do they expect will happen when they mix ​an unequal amount of colors? What if they mix all three colors?​ If possible, offer colored transparent sheets or tissue paper. Mixing colors of light produces very different results from mixing paints! Ask students what makes light different. This exercise offers a good opportunity to discuss the concept of a hypothesis. Ask kindergarten students to predict what will happen when different colors are mixed. Explain that one different between a guess and a hypothesis is that a hypothesis is based on information gathered from observations.
• Blow a Bigger Bubble
  Ask students if they think all bubble wands produce the same size and shape of bubbles. Test various bubble wands to see if their predictions are accurate. See if kindergarten students can make their own bubble wands from materials such as straw, strings, rolled and taped pieces of paper, etc. Which bubble wand produced the best bubble?
• Liquids and Mixtures
  Prepare containers of oil, water, and syrup. Ask the kindergarten students to describe the properties of the liquids and to make predictions about what will happen if these liquids are mixed together. Have students mix the liquids and discuss what happened.
• What Makes Something Alive?
  Gather a collection of living and nonliving objects. Ask kindergarten students to decide what characteristics are necessary for something to be 'alive'. Do the living objects possess these characteristics? How about the non-living objects?
• Density Project
  Have students study density. Explain the concept of density. Collect small objects that can fit in a cup of water (e.g., coin, ​a piece of wood, plastic toy, stone, polystyrene foam). Ask the students to order the objects according to density, then drop each item into the water and see what happens.
• Explore Magnetism
  Talk about magnetism. Take a pair of bar magnets and ask students to predict which materials might be magnetic. Have the kindergarten students test objects for magnetism. Now ask ​a student to predict what will happen when two magnets approach each other. Discuss the results.
• Diffusion and Temperature
  Prepare a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water. Ask kindergarten students what they expect will happen when food coloring is dropped into a glass of water. Do they think there will be a difference between what happens if the temperature of the water is changed? Investigate what happens when the food coloring is dripped into each glass and discuss the process of diffusion.
• Describe an Ecosystem
  What is an ecosystem? This science project involves having kindergarten students come up with a definition for an ecosystem. Then, go outside, measure off a square meter of ground, and have students catalog what is in that particular ecosystem. The concept of a food chain could be introduced as well.
• Classification
  Scientists classify animals, plants, minerals, and stars according to similarities. Often, there are disagreements about the best way to group things. Offer students a variety of objects and ask them to classify them and explain how they were grouped. If students choose different groupings, open the discussion so students understand why it sometimes takes scientists hundreds of years to reach agreement. This exercise also demonstrates there may be more than one right way to accomplish a task in science.
• Star Versus Planet
  In the modern age, astronomers seek planets using high powered magnification and a variety of instruments that detect types of radiation. How do kindergarten students think early scientists knew the difference between stars and planets? Ask students to go outside and find at least one planet in the night sky. Many free apps are available to make this easy. Then, ask them to compare the appearance of a planet to the stars and identify differences between them. Ask them how reliable they think these criteria are.
• Make Observations
  Making observations is the first step of the scientific method. While a kindergarten student might not be ready to tackle the whole method, learning to observe the natural world is a great way to introduce them to critical thinking. Choose any object or event and ask students to make observations.

Ready for more? Check out some science projects for first graders.