How it Plays

Half-fill a dishpan with water and set out a variety of objects of different densities on a tray next to it. You might want to include small pieces of cork, wood, paper, and plastic, along with a leaf, stone, sponge, bar of soap, and a tightly capped plastic bottle. Let your child freely experiment with the objects to discover which ones sink and which float. Encourage her to try to guess the outcome first and then test her prediction. Provide her with two small plastic containers for sorting her sinkers and her floaters.

What You'll Need

Learning and Growing

Exploring scientific concepts like buoyancy in a hands-on setting creates a natural opportunity for asking questions and testing theories about how the world works.