Kide Science is a library of play and story-based lesson plans and professional development materials for teachers of three- to eight-year-olds. The research-backed, child-led activities complement any early learning curriculum and work with any ability level.
Kide Science is based on years of academic research in the University of Helsinki. The curriculum is correlated to most science state standards in the United States and supports many other areas of learning, such as literacy, mathematics, movement, and relationship skills.
Each Kide Science lesson includes an immersive story to set the stage, illustrations to captivate little learners, tips to adjust every lesson based on a child’s age and ability, printables (such as foldouts of story characters and wall posters), video instructions for teachers, and scientific explanations for all the phenomena.
The lessons use common kitchen supplies only, and 80 percent of the lessons can be done without these supplies.
Ten lessons from the Story Collection “Exploring the Wild with Esther” let teachers see what playful inquiry looks like in practice:
- Children jump into imaginary play. By stepping into the role of an investigator, they begin to think like one.
- A story letter arrives. Children are motivated by a message from an imaginary friend and start experimenting to develop inquiry skills.
- As their skills and understanding develop, children work together to solve an open-ended story problem.
- They then report their solutions back to the story world and help the story characters by telling them how to solve the problem.
- And finally, they celebrate learning together as a group.
Teachers can sign up for a free 30-day preview of Kide Science. Each week during the trial period, they will get to choose one lesson to stimulate children’s sense of wonder.