This hot and cold activity lets children sort 12 picture cards onto a Hot and Cold mat to learn about temperature. For kindergarten to 2nd grade, answer key included.
This states of things states of matter activity has Kindergarten to 2nd Grade students sort 12 picture cards under Solid, Liquid, and Gas headings, with a sorting chart, practice page and answer key included.
Solids, liquids and a whole lot of wonder
Kindergartners learn that everything around them is made of matter, and that matter comes in different forms. Solids keep their shape (a block), liquids pour and take the shape of their container (juice), and gases spread out to fill a space (the air in a balloon). They also notice that heating and cooling can change things: ice melts into water, and water can freeze back into ice. The click moment is watching an ice cube melt on a sunny windowsill.
Little scientists learn matter best by touching, pouring and watching things change.
Give kids a tray of everyday items: a rock, a cup of water, a crayon, a balloon. They sort each one into solid, liquid or gas and say why. "It keeps its shape, so it's a solid!" is the sentence frame we want.
Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.
Try it withStates of Things States of Matter ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Show pictures of soup, snow, a campfire and a popsicle, and kids decide which is hot and which is cold. Then talk about what happens when something hot cools off or something cold warms up. It is a gentle first step into how matter changes.
Why it works: in a well-known study, a few short sessions of a simple number board game measurably boosted young children's number skills (Ramani and Siegler, 2008).
Try it withHot and Cold ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Put an ice cube on a plate and have kids draw it every ten minutes. By the end, their drawings show a full story of melting. Ask: "Where did the ice go?" and listen to the great theories.
Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).
Teacher favorites right now: Hot and Cold Activity and States of Things States of Matter Activity.
Matter is anything that takes up space. In kindergarten, kids learn the three main kinds: solids, liquids and gases. A rock, water and the air in a balloon are all matter.
A solid keeps its shape, a liquid pours and takes the shape of its container, and a gas spreads out to fill a space. Showing a block, a cup of water and a blown-up balloon makes it clear.
Melt an ice cube. Kids watch a solid turn into a liquid, and you can freeze the water again to change it back. It is simple, cheap and memorable.
Yes! Air is a gas, and it takes up space. Blow up a balloon to show it, then let the air out and watch the balloon shrink.
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