Penguins

Thanks to Happy Feet (Widescreen Edition) and March of the Penguins (Widescreen Edition), many preschoolers know that after the mother penguin lays the egg, she transfers it to the father's feet. And the father stays behind in the cold, protecting the eggs until they hatch. If you have any left-over Easter eggs, you and your preschooler can take turns trying to transfer the egg to each other's feet. You can also try this with a medium-sized ball. If you and your preschooler are interested in this process, check out this book.

Seahorses

Mother seahorses actually lay their eggs in the special chest cavity of the father seahorses. The fathers care for them until they hatch. Check with your local aquarium to see if they have an exhibit of seahorses. Seahorses are extremely fragile and difficult to keep in cavity. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has some information about seahorses. You can also find out more about father seahorses from Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle.

Deer Mice

In most mice species, the father mouse leaves the nest before the young are even born. But father deer mice help guard the nest after babies are born so the mother can hunt. Father deer mice may also help wash the young, and actually tuck nesting and bedding materials around the young.

Sandpipers

In most bird species, the female sits on the eggs until they hatch. However, father sandpipers actually do most if not all of the egg sitting until the eggs hatch. They'll even do all the care taking until the young are ready to leave the nest. The mothers are usually long gone before the eggs hatch.

Darwin's Frog

The father Darwin's frog actually guards the eggs after the mother lays them for about two weeks. Then he actually puts them into his mouth, in a special sack. The eggs actually hatch inside his mouth and stay there for until they develop into tiny frogs. The father releases them and they swim away.

Red Foxes

Father red foxes bring food to the mothers as they care for the young. Some researchers have even observed father red foxes teaching their young how to hunt and how to defend themselves.

Giant Water Bugs

Mother water bugs actually lay their eggs onto the backs of father water bugs. The fathers carry the eggs on their backs for a month while the eggs grow larger and larger.

Hi! I'm Theresa Halvorsen, the preschool science and nature writer for Preschoolrock.com. I have twin boys and am blown away by their fascination with preschool science and how the world works around them. I am always looking for fun and simple science activities so preschoolers can learn about science and the natural world. Please contact me with any suggestions, ideas or questions you have about this site.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Accept wrong predictions gracefully — "Interesting! The result was different from what we predicted. Why do you think that happened?" Models scientific resilience.

• Connect science observations to real-world applications: "This is why bridges are built this way" or "This is how your body does that." Application makes science relevant.

• Science fear is learned, not innate. Preschoolers approach science with natural confidence — protect that confidence by keeping science joyful and low-stakes.

• The best science projects are the ones children generate themselves by noticing something in the world and asking why. Adult-imposed experiments are valuable; child-generated experiments are extraordinary.

Frequently Asked Questions

What everyday household materials are best for preschool science?

The essential preschool science pantry: baking soda, white vinegar, cornstarch, salt, sugar, food coloring, dish soap, and water. These materials enable: acid-base chemistry (baking soda + vinegar), non-Newtonian fluids (cornstarch + water = oobleck), color mixing (food coloring), surface tension (dish soap), crystal growing (salt and sugar), and density experiments (sugar solutions). Beyond kitchen supplies: magnets, a flashlight, a magnifying glass, and ice are the other essentials. The best science lab is an accessible kitchen shelf.

Related reading: See also our weather science and our bubble experiments for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 😌 Patience & Delayed Gratification — Experiments with delayed results — growing plants, watching crystals form, tracking weather — teach children to wait for outcomes rather than needing immediate feedback, a skill that predicts academic and life success.
• 🔬 Scientific Method — Even a simple experiment teaches the predict-test-observe cycle that is the foundation of scientific thinking — and preschoolers who internalize this process approach problems with genuine scientific confidence.
• ⚖️ Cause & Effect Understanding — Seeing that one action reliably produces a specific result builds the logical framework children use in mathematics, reading (one event causes another in stories), and everyday reasoning.
• 💬 Science Vocabulary — Science introduces children to precise vocabulary — observe, predict, hypothesis, dissolve, absorb, transparent — that dramatically expands language range and supports the academic vocabulary children need in school.

Did you and your preschooler know that for many species, the father takes care of babies just as much or more than mothers do? For some in the animal kingdom, the father does all the caretaking while the mother does other things. For many animals, the father is the nurturer, not the mother. Find some great ideas for exploring this concept with your preschooler.

A wonderful book that talks about fathers in the animal kingdom is Hey, Daddy: Animal Fathers and Their Babies.