What You Need

Snow (If there is no snow on the ground you can use ice cubes or shaved ice)

A container that can go in the freezer

A pot to boil water

What To Do

Step One:

Have preschoolers collect snow from outside and put it in a small bowl or other container. If there is no snow on the ground you can use ice cubes or shaved ice. As the preschoolers collect the snow have them describe what the snow feels like when they touch it.

Step Two:

Bring the snow inside and talk to the preschoolers about what happens when snow gets warm. Leave the snow on a table for several hours while you do another activity then come back and ask the preschoolers to describe what has happened to the snow.

Step Three:

Ask the preschoolers what they think will happen if you make the water cold again. Write all of their guesses down on a piece of paper. Put the container of water in the freezer and leave it for several hours.

Step Four:

When the water has frozen let preschoolers touch it and describe what it looks like after being cooled down again. Put salt on the ice and see if it melts faster than it did the first time.

Step Five:

When the ice has melted, pour the water into a pot and boil it. Be sure that preschoolers stay far enough away from the stove that they will not be burned. Let the water come to a boil and point out the vapor that is coming out of the pot. Explain to the preschoolers that when water gets hot enough it turns into vapor and goes back into the air. Let the water boil until it all evaporates.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Mistakes are how children learn. A classroom and home that treat mistakes as information rather than failure produces more confident, persistent learners.

• Field trips — even to the grocery store, the post office, or the library — are powerful educational experiences. Real-world contexts anchor abstract concepts in memory.

• Involve children in planning: menus, weekend activities, family projects. Decision-making and planning are executive function skills that predict long-term academic success.

• Model learning yourself. A parent who reads books, asks questions, visits museums, and says "I don't know, let's find out" teaches learning as a lifestyle, not a chore.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the role of technology in preschool education?

High-quality educational apps and programs (PBS Kids, Khan Academy Kids, Starfall) used in limited, adult-co-viewed sessions can supplement preschool learning. However, interactive human experiences (conversation, shared book reading, hands-on experimentation, social play) remain far superior as primary learning modes. Screen-based learning is most effective when it is: co-viewed with an adult, limited to 30–60 minutes per day, followed by extension activities in the real world (after a nature app, go outside), and consistently educational rather than commercial.

How do I support a gifted preschooler who seems to need more than peers?

Gifted preschoolers benefit from depth rather than acceleration — instead of teaching next-year's content, provide deeper engagement with current concepts. A preschooler fascinated by numbers doesn't need grade-school arithmetic; they benefit from mathematical puzzles, spatial reasoning challenges, and mathematical exploration at their own depth. Social-emotional support is equally important: gifted preschoolers often have asynchronous development (advanced intellectually but emotionally typical for their age) and need appropriate peer interaction alongside intellectual challenge.

Related reading: See also our vocabulary building guide and our counting activities for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 📚 Pre-Reading Skills — Activities that involve letters, sounds, rhymes, and print directly build the phonological awareness and letter knowledge that are the two strongest predictors of successful reading development.
• 🧠 Memory & Recall — Remembering rules, retelling a story in sequence, and practicing skills to automaticity builds working memory and long-term recall — the cognitive foundation that learning in every subject depends on.
• ⚡ Executive Function — Planning, sequencing steps, holding rules in mind while acting, and stopping a prepotent response all build executive function — the cluster of cognitive skills most strongly predictive of long-term academic and life success.
• 🤔 Critical Thinking — Being asked "why do you think that?" and forming and defending an answer develops the analytical reasoning children need for reading comprehension, mathematics, and evidence-based argumentation.

Science is exciting for preschooler when they can see it in action. Preschoolers can learn about the properties of water by experimenting with some winter snow.

This simple experiment will allow preschoolers to see water transform before their eyes into ice, water, and vapor.