Mix, Stir, Observe
14th February 2025
Curiosity drives learning in Early Years, and our little scientists have been actively exploring the world through exciting hands-on experiments.
This week, they investigated what happens when different materials mix with water, uncovering the fascinating process of dissolving, where some substances seem to vanish before their eyes.
The children began by making predictions: Will sugar disappear? What about flour? Through testing, they stirred various substances into water, closely observing the results. They quickly discovered that sugar and salt dissolved, while flour and sand did not.
As they experimented, the children expanded their vocabulary with words like mix, melt, disappear, and dissolve. They also learned that stirring speeds up dissolving and that some materials, like oil, do not mix with water at all! Taking their exploration further, they created different solutions using water, vinegar, and oil, then investigated ways to separate them through sieving and filtering.
You can continue this learning at home by trying some simple experiments:
- Dissolving Race – Stir sugar into one glass of cold water and another of warm water. Which dissolves faster?
- What Will Dissolve? – Test different materials like coffee, salt, flour, and rice to see what disappears in water.
- Making a Magic Potion – Mix different coloured drinks or juices and see how they blend together!
Investigations like these encourage children to ask questions, make predictions, and observe changes, helping them develop early scientific thinking.
