When you teach science with hands-on lessons, kindergarten students can see, touch, hear and experience the wonders of science. Because magnets involve invisible forces pushing and pulling, you can demonstrate magnetic force in a variety of ways to teach science lessons. Present kindergarten science lessons on magnets for eager students to begin learning about magnetic power.
Introduce Magnets
Spend some time introducing magnets to students. Most kindergarten children will be familiar with magnets at least to some degree. Mention drawing pictures for Mom and Dad and sticking the pictures to the refrigerator with magnets. Ask students what makes the pictures stick to the refrigerator. When students answer "magnets," talk about how magnets attract steel and iron items. Tell students that a magnet has a north pole and south pole and that these poles are the points with the most magnetic power.
Pick-Up Activity
Make several stations around the room with an assortment of items placed on trays. Include both items that magnets will attract and items that magnets will not attract. Suggestions include paperclips, nails, washers, screws, buttons, rubber bands, pennies and marbles. Divide students into smaller groups and have the student groups stand around the stations. Lead a prediction activity in which students will predict whether the magnets will attract the items or not and list the items and the predictions on the chalkboard. Instruct students to take turns in their small groups trying to pick up each item with a magnet and to record the magnetic results beside the predictions on the chalkboard. Compare the predictions and the actual results together.
Magnet Treasure Hunt
Make a list of items on handouts using pictures of the items for pre-reading students. Include both items that magnets will attract and items that magnets will not attract. Pass out magnets to two-student teams and instruct the students to find the items on the handout around the classroom. As the students find each item, they should place check marks beside the items that magnets will attract.
Magnetic Strength
Set up stations around the room with an assortment of different magnets (bars, horseshoes and discs) and paper plates filled with paperclips. Instruct the children to experiment with the different magnets to see which magnet will pick up the longest paperclip chain. Record results and compare the results of each team to see which team achieved the longest paperclip chain with the different magnets.
