The kids love to do sink or float experiments so I decided to do another science activity related to buoyancy. If you missed it, we did a ‘corny science’ experiment using different types of corn in carbonated and still water. This time, we used various nuts and seeds and a combination of salty and plain water.
Nutty Science Experiment:
You will need:
- A combination of unsalted nuts and seeds
- two glasses
- warm water
- table salt
- spoon or knife to mix in the salt
Have your children or students arrange the nuts and seeds by size. We used almonds, peanuts, pine nuts and sesame seeds. Then, fill two glasses with warm water. Add salt to one glass and stir to dissolve as much as you can. I used 1/4 cup of salt to one cup of water. I discovered this was probably about twice as much as I needed. I suggest that you use about 1/8 of a cup to one cup of water. Have your children predict what will happen when they drop the nuts and seeds into the two types of water. Next, have your preschoolers drop one each of the same kind of nut or seed into the water and discover if the nut or seed sinks or floats in the salted vs. plain water. They can keep a simple chart or tally to see if their predictions are correct.
The kids loved dropping the nuts and seeds into the water and, for the most part, were accurate in their predictions as to what would happen with each test. They were eager to do nut and seed taste tests after the experiment. The only unsalted peanuts I could find were in the shell. They had a great time cracking open the peanut shells for a post-experiment snack. It turned out to be a nice hidden fine motor skill building activity. They made little finger puppets, at my suggestion, with the empty shells using funny voices to make their peanut shells talk. Just for fun, I also cracked open a few peanut shells, unbeknownst to them and took out the peanuts. I hid gummy fruit snacks inside the shells and had them break them open to find something other than the peanuts. I acted very surprised at their discovery. They were pretty sure I was the culprit behind the mystery nuts, but I think there was a part of them that wondered if these ‘special fruity nuts’ really existed. Have you done buoyancy experiments with your children or students? Have you tried any activities with the nut and seed theme? I would love to hear from you in the comments.
Plan Your Nut and Seeds Learning Week With Activities from the #PlayfulPreschool Team
Nuts to You!: Squirrel Feeder by Mom Inspired Life
Nuts and Seeds Theme: Listening Games with Sensory Sound Shakers for #PlayfulPreschool by The Preschool Toolbox Blog
Number Word Punch: Counting Nuts by Tiny Tots Adventures
Turkey Patterns with Pistashio Shells by Still Playing School
Seed and Letter Sensory Bin by Growing Book by Book
Growing Seeds by Learning 2 Walk
Exploring Chia Seeds by Powerful Mothering
Nutty Science–A Lesson in Buoyancy by Capri + 3
3 Fun Activities with Seeds for Preschoolers by Life Over C’s
Easy Sight Word Acorn Game by The Educators’ Spin On It
What a cute activity! I'm sure the kids loved the fruity mystery nuts!
Fruit snack peanuts are brilliant! You are so much fun!
Hi Kim.
They did enjoy the mystery nuts. Peanut shells are a lot of fun.
: 0 ) Theresa
Thank you Devany.
: 0 ) Theresa
What a fun idea! We've done float-and-sink experiments but never with nuts!
Thank you Emma.
They had a lot of fun. There was one item that floated in both types of water…and it wasn't the smallest one which was interesting.
: 0 ) Theresa
How fun! I love buoyancy experiments! I'll have to try this with my kids. I need to pick up a few more types of nuts. =)
Hi Melissa Matters.
I hope your children enjoy it. I found out by doing this that our kids do not even notice that there is no salt on the nuts when they have them for snacks! This ended up being a great discovery on how to make nuts snacks even more healthy.
: 0 ) Theresa
This a great science activity for preschoolers! Love that you put fruit snacks in some of the shells. 🙂
Thank you Danielle.
: 0 ) Theresa
A little science, finger puppet play, and after a surprise fruity snack hidden in a shell. Sounds like a great activity!
This looks so cool, it makes me want to try it!
Thank you Natasha.
You always crack me up!
: 0 ) Theresa
Thank you Shaney.
I hope you get the chance to try it out.
: 0 ) Theresa
The "special fruity nuts" cracked me up! I like this twist on the sink or float experiment!!!
Thank you Mary Catherine.
Last night, I served them some of the unsalted almonds with their dinner. They immediately dropped them in their water! I could not really say anything about it as I taught them to check the buoyancy!
: 0 ) Theresa
Great idea to explore nuts! Using the fruity peanuts was an awesome idea! FUN experiment!
Thank you Preschool Toolbox.
We had a lot of fun exploring nuts and seeds.
: 0 ) Theresa
Well, I know what I'll be doing when my boys wake up from their naps! Anything involving water is a favorite around here! #laughlearnlinkup
Thanks for sharing at #laughlearnlinkup. We are featuring you tomorrow. Please stop by and check it out 🙂
Thank you so much Tina Marie.
I will head over there now!
: 0 ) Theresa
Hi Katie.
Kids do love water!
: 0 ) Theresa