TEACH PRESCHOOL SCIENCE
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      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
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      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
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Tools Can Help Us Do Things


Core Learning Experience + Supplies and Equipment

  • ​Set out a selection of different tools and simple machines, such as scissors, spoon, manual can opener, pencil, brush, stapler, telescope etc.
  • Try to cut some paper with your fingers-prompt children to suggest what might work better. Do something similar with the other tools, encouraging as much predicting, suggestions, and guesses from the children. 

Possible/Expected Discoveries

  • ​​Tools are used to do things better or more easily, and to do some things that could not otherwise be done at all.
  • Most things are made of parts that work together, and if one of the parts is missing or broken, it won’t work as well, if at all. Discuss the different parts and functions of each tool.
  • When parts are put together, they can do things that they couldn't do by themselves, for example the handle and blade of a screwdriver, or the various components of a door handle. Have the children suggest and discover more.

Extended Learning and Other Curriculum Areas

  • ​​Set out some toys with different parts (cars, dolls, etc) and encourage discussion. Explain that with electronic toys, the different parts are working inside the casing even if we can’t take the toy apart to see them. With battery-operated toys, take out the batteries and talk about what happens.
  • Set out some creative materials, such as cardboard, clean cans, boxes, tape, pipe cleaners wire, springs etc. Have the children create their own tools and machines, and have them explain what they might be used to help us do. Of course they don’t really have to “work”, the more creative the better. 
Preschool science activities - simple machines
Picture

Activity Packs and Printables

Tools flashcards (12 cards)
Tools flashcards (12 cards)

Websites

​Tools and Machines Theme Activities for Preschool

Books

​Simple Machines by Jo Ellen Moor (an activity book)
Simple Machines by Allan Fowler

USEFUL LINKS

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This site is sponsored and supported by the preschool themes site www.KidSparkz.com
Activities written by (c) Susan Portman
Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Homeschooler - TeachersPayTeachers.com
Copyright © 2005-2023 Teach Preschool Science - Permission granted to reproduce for personal educational use only. Commercial copying or selling is prohibited. No part of this resource may be uploaded to, or published on, any other site for any reason.
  • Home
  • Lesson Plans Index
    • Life Science Plants and Animals >
      • Comparing Leaves
      • Exploring Pumpkins
      • Shucking Corn
      • Earthworm Observation
      • Parent and Baby Animals
      • Collecting Ants
      • Spider Season
      • Visit to a Pet Store
      • Living and Non Living Things
      • Animals Come in Many Shapes, Sizes and Colors
      • Ways Animals Move
      • Animals Need to Eat
      • Difference Between Wild and Tame Animals
      • People Can Use Products Provided by Animals and Plants
      • Animal Coverings - Hair, Fur, Feathers, Scales and Skin
      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Egg Science
      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact