Activities

What is the Shape of Water PDF FACEBOOK SHARE ICON.

You can encourage STEM learning by encouraging your toddler to be curious and ask questions.

What You Need:

• Container of water


• Clean, empty plastic containers of different sizes and shapes (e.g., yogurt cup, tofu container, soap dispenser, honey bear bottle)


• Shallow pan


• *Optional: food coloring

What To Do:

1. Ask your child to fill the containers with water. If using food coloring, add a drop to help the child see the formation of the water. Encourage him to describe the shape that the water takes using words such as round, circle, and square.


2. Explain that you are going to explore what happens to the shape of water when it is poured onto something flat. Carefully empty one of the containers into a shallow pan. Draw his attention to the way the water spreads when poured onto a flat surface. You can ask, “Is the water the same shape as before? What was its shape before? What is its shape now?”


3. Explain that water has no real shape, but rather takes the shape of whatever it is in. Have your child pour the water back into the container. Talk about how the water now has the shape it did before.


4. Repeat the activity using other containers of various shapes and sizes. Discuss and describe the shape water takes in these containers.

Adapted from “Investigating Water” by the Center for Informal Science Education