Bring Science to Life with Timberdoodle

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this kit from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Science is one of those homeschool subjects that I both love and dislike. When I can teach about animals, habitats, or nature, I am in my element. I worked for many years, both part-time and full-time, at a metropolitan zoo in the education department. But when it comes to the other areas of science, I often feel I am at a loss. So when I get the chance to use a kit to help teach science, it makes my homeschool day! 

We have been using the Stepping into Science Kit, which is part of the Kindergarten Curriculum Kit from Timberdoodle. While we have a set science curriculum for both our second grader and our fourth grader, I love bringing science to life with additional experiments. This kit provides new ideas and experiments for relaxed summer homeschool days. 

What is Part of the Stepping into Science Kit? 

This science kit contains an experiment manual and 28 separate types of materials for the experiments. These experiments fall into five different categories: 

• Experiments in Nature 
• Experiments in Physics
• Experiments in Air
• Experiments in Water
• Experiments in Chemistry 

Some of the experiments require items both in your house and ones that you might need to purchase, such as a scrap of wool or a house plant. Since you don't really need to complete the science experiments in any specific order, you can skip those if you don't have the materials. 

A sampling of specific items in the science kit includes: 

• garden cress seeds
• clay pot
• modeling clay 
• small polystyrene soap boat
• funnel 

A Look at Some of the Experiments 

Experiment 1: The Cress Garden 

Our daughter really enjoyed this first experiment. She took joy in making sure the cress seeds had water each day. We even did the experiment a second time where we set up two small plates - one with water and one without water to observe the differences. 

Experiments 8 & 9: The Confetti Magnet and Salt and Pepper 

These were fun experiments to look at electrostatic charge. We did need to reach out to a family member for a scrap of wool as we didn't have wool fabric in the house. 

Experiments 15 & 16: Paper Airplanes 

All three of our children enjoyed taking the paper airplanes outside to test. They discovered that one flew farther and faster than the other while testing them. 

Experiments 24: The Soap Boat

Not all of the experiments worked out perfectly. When we tried to move the small boat by dipping the soap-tipped drinking straw into the water, nothing happened. We hypothesized that it was because our straw had a hole in it. We will be conducting this experiment again with a new straw. And then maybe with different soap to see if that makes a difference. 

Our Thoughts 

I always appreciate kits where everything is included. While I know that Stepping into Science can't include live plants or water, there were a few things that I wish had been included to make preparing the experiments easier. For example, finding a scrap of wool was not easy, and we haven't been able to find sugar cubes yet. 

I thought the manual was very well-organized. I especially appreciate the kit contents with the photograph and list of all the items so I could check them off. And while I know that the manual was written to younger children, I wish there had been longer explanations for some of the experiments. Or maybe even an online resource so we could find out more information. 

Our daughter and son both loved when I said it was time for science. And they are eagerly awaiting the completion of the rest of the experiments. Stepping into Science really helped bring science to life this summer. 

I would recommend this kit to families with younger children (preschool-first grade). It is a great way to introduce experiments to children. It doesn't matter if you homeschool your children or not. You could easily complete a few experiments over the weekend to reinforce what your children are learning in their public, private, or homeschool lessons. 

We still have experiments left! Which one should we try next? 

• The floating paper clip 
• Super soap bubbles 
• Color detective 

If you want to see what else Timberdoodle has to offer families, please check out my following reviews: 

• Learn to Code in Your Homeschool
• Art History for All Ages: A Review of Have I Got a Story For You! Downloadable Art History Video Series (Renaissance)
• Dice, Decks, and Boards: Challenge Your Mind With Horse Academy
• Documenting Memories with Your Homeschooled Children: A Review of Me: A Compendium