Physics!

Many people think it's too difficult to teach toddlers Science. While my kids know the words for many things in nature, which is clearly Science, toddlers love to learn more. Many parents and teachers start with teaching how things grow. I have done this an it is an excellent set of lessons. Planting, watering, and seeing something grow is always special. The only issue is this is not a fast process in the life of a toddler. Seeds that sprout in just a couple of days are considered fast for adults, but if you have spent any time with a toddler you know they move much faster. A better fit for this age is teaching Physics.

This is the point where parents and teachers think, "I hate Science. I don't know Physics." You are forgetting, it still needs to be on a toddler level. We are talking about forces, velocity, acceleration, and reactions. These are all things you know. These are also things that kids will start experimenting with even if you don't do anything. All you have to do is provide the materials and vocabulary. In fact, you already have the materials and your toddlers are already learning Physics, so you really just have to talk to them about what they are doing.

Ride on toys are perfect for Physics. It doesn't take kids very long to figure out why it's more fun to go downhill than up. This is a great time to talk about acceleration and gravity. Kids (most often boys) will also want to crash. This offers different lessons if they are crashing into a wall or crashing into something that will move or fall down. In addition to talking about not crashing into people, we discuss velocity, transfer of energy, and reactions. These "lessons" keep the kids attention and they are much more likely to remember this new knowledge, than to remember to water a plant once a day. Bring out the toy cars and trucks for small scale versions of all the same lessons.

Balls are also great Physics toys. Rolling, bouncing, kicking, and practically everything else a child will do with a ball is a clear lesson in Physics. A train set is always a favorite and learning that if you go too fast you won't stay on the track is a tailor made Physics lesson.

If you want more formal lessons that you set up and initiate, rather than just following your child's lead, that can be fun as well. Set up an incline plane (ramp) and mark how far different toy cars will go before stopping. Why do some go longer? What if you cover the incline plane in carpet, sand paper, aluminum foil, or grass? What changed? Why are the answers different? What if you add more force (pushing rather than letting the car go at the top)? Kids love coming up with ideas to continue experimenting and even with short attention spans will play this game for a long time.

The other day my daughter set up a game that was an even better idea. She placed some cars on one end of the table, all facing the edge. She then took a truck to the other side. This is one of the trucks you can pull back and let go and it propels itself. She would let it go and when it hit one of the cars, that car would fall off, but the truck would stop in place. I immediately started talking to her about a transfer of energy. I also realized what a perfect set up this was and felt silly that  toddler came up with it when it had never even occurred to me.

In most of what we do, I follow their lead. This guarantees a level of interest and even if they act like they aren't listening, I later hear them teaching their babies or stuffed animals the same lesson. They say the best way to prove you know material is to teach it, so I love seeing them playing in this way. I hope this gives you some ideas for easy Physics lessons you can do with toddlers.