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Sink or Float Experiment
Will it sink? Will it float? There's only one way to find out!
EARLY CHILDHOOD ACTIVITIES
8/30/20262 min read
Sink or Float Experiment
Will it sink? Will it float? There's only one way to find out!
Sink or float is one of those perfectly simple activities that delivers something genuinely profound - the moment a child makes a prediction, drops an object into water and discovers whether they were right or wrong is one of early childhood's great small scientific moments.
It sounds simple because it is simple. And that simplicity is exactly what makes it so powerful for children aged 4–6. A bowl of water, a collection of household objects, and an enormous amount of focused, delighted scientific thinking - this is learning at its most natural and most joyful.
Why This Activity Works
Predicting and then testing is the very foundation of scientific thinking - and sink or float introduces that process in a way that is completely accessible to young children. At this age, the predictions are wonderfully confident and often completely wrong, which produces both surprise and the important understanding that being wrong is part of learning.
The sensory element - hands in water, objects handled and examined - makes the learning stick in a way that no worksheet ever could. And the excitement of each new object is completely genuine every single time.
Activity Details
Age Range: 4 – 6 years
Time: 20–40 minutes
Mess Level: Wet! Have towels ready 💧
Supervision: Active supervision around water
What You'll Need
A large clear bowl or tub of water - clear is best so children can see objects underwater
A collection of household objects to test — see suggestions below
Two labels or bowls labelled "SINK" and "FLOAT" for sorting predictions
Optional: a simple recording sheet to draw or tick predictions
Good objects to test:
A cork, a grape, a coin, a pencil, a rubber eraser, a small rock, a leaf, a feather, a plastic toy, a metal spoon, a wooden spoon, a sponge, a marble, a small piece of foil, an apple, a lemon
How To Do It
Set up the bowl of water on a protected surface or outside.
Lay out all the objects to be tested.
Pick up the first object together and ask - "what do you think? Will it sink or float?"
Place the prediction in the SINK or FLOAT bowl before testing.
Drop the object into the water and observe together.
Were they right? Talk about it - why do they think it did that?
Move through all the objects, predicting and testing each one.
At the end, look at the results - what surprised you most?
Try some variations - what happens if you scrunch the foil into a ball? What if you flatten it out?
Kim's Tips 💕
A clear bowl or tub is so much more engaging than an opaque one - children can see the objects sitting on the bottom or bobbing on the surface.
The foil experiment is wonderful - flat foil floats, scrunched foil sinks - a brilliant discovery moment!
An apple and a lemon both float - this surprises children enormously and sparks wonderful questions.
Let children add their own objects from around the house - their choices are always interesting and often produce the best surprises.
This is a brilliant activity for grandchildren on a visit - sitting together at a bowl of water doing science is one of those quietly lovely shared moments.
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This post is part of my Tweens Activity Hub - packed with ideas for 4-6 year olds.
With love, Kim xx
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