Product Review: Bite-Sized Science: Activities for Children in 15 Minutes or Less [Paperback] (Ages 3+)
Make Science Fun in No Time at All. Activities for Children in 15 Minutes or Less
I have a fantastic childhood memory of taking a trip to the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio with my Brownie Troop at age 7. Although my Brownie Troop attendance was less than stellar, I was always willing to go for a field trip and the 160 mile round-trip COSI experience was my absolute favorite time of being a Brownie. It was such a magical place for me and I remember hanging out in the Hall of Presidents, playing with electricity, panning for gold and taking home a chrysalis which I babied until my butterfly emerged and I proudly released her to the wild. Science to me is much more fun when you can use your senses and it is amazing that decades later I can still recall in precious detail my scientific day at COSI. These prized memories of science and learning are things I want to create with my daughter and I was looking for an activity book for the younger set that I could start with her sooner than later. Bite-Sized Science immediately caught my attention and I was intrigued to learn more about this book.
Bite-Sized Science is an exploration book for your little ones to look at all the wonders of our natural world and offers activities that will give young children a taste of the scientific method. You know, that time-tested scientific method of making a prediction, testing it and then looking at the results. Yes, that is the one! It is only the cornerstone of critical thinking and reasoning and even children (or especially children) use this method in our daily lives. This is what I imagine my daughter thinking on some days, “I don’t think that chair will tip over if I climb on it. I am climbing on the chair. Oops, it fell over. Guess I was wrong. Well, maybe I should try it again and get a different result this time. Oops. Guess not.” The great thing about Bite-Sized Science is that it helps parents facilitate the science experiments that are designed to organize, do, and clean up in just 15 minutes.
This science children’s activity book for the very young crowd is broken into five activity categories of ‘In the Kitchen’, ‘High Energy’, ‘Quiet Times’, ‘Bedtime’, and ‘Bigger than a Bite’. My favorite section of activities has to be ‘In the Kitchen’ since the science activities involve food (which I love), so it is a good idea to do these experiments close to your child’s snack time. Some of our favorites are “Tangy Tongue,” “Sounds of Chewing,” and “Clinks in the Kitchen”. We also enjoyed doing foil molds of toys and guessing echo sounds. There is even an interesting experiment where you can make a tree sweat. Yes, it’s true! Each activity also includes a Facts section that goes into more scientific details that parents can share with their children. For example, in “Cupboard Talk”, the Facts section starts off, ‘Containers are made of different materials. The materials will either absorb or reflect sound. When you shake a container, it may make a sound’. What a fun way to spend time with your child!
About Chicago Review Press: Founded in 1973, Chicago Review Press, Inc. is the parent company of Independent Publishers Group (IPG). Considered a cutting edge publisher of new ideas and among their many categories of books, Chicago Press has quite a number of award-winning children’s books for various activities. Check out their entire catalog of children’s activity books. For those crafty types, you may want to check out Kids Celebrate! which is a educational tribute arts and crafts activities for many Special Days throughout the year (think holidays, history, cultures and people).
Bite-Sized Science: Activities for Children in 15 Minutes or Less [Paperback]
List Price: $14.95 (Currently $10.17 through Amazon.com)
Momma's Bacon 