Show kids the importance of washing their hands while they learn about the surface tension of water. One of our 63 Easy Experiments for Kids Using Household Stuff, this experiment went viral when the coronavirus hit and teaching kids about proper hand washing became essential. This super easy experiment is fun for all ages—especially the toddler set— and it couldn't be more simple. All you need is water, black pepper, and dish soap. Read on to learn how to chase the "pepper" germs away! You will need: A shallow bowl or dish (a pie plate works well if you have one), water, ordinary black pepper, and some liquid dish soap. Step 1 Cover the bottom of your shallow dish with water. Step 2 Sprinkle black pepper across the surface of the water. Note how the surface tension of the water causes the pepper flakes float. Step 3 Stick your finger in the center of the dish; did anything happen? Not much right? You probably just got some pepper flakes stuck to your finger. Now imagine that the pepper flakes are germs. Step 4 Now dip the tip of your finger into the liquid dish soap—you don’t need much. Step 5 Now stick that finger into the center of the dish. What happens? Your soapy finger chased those pepper flakes to the edges of the plate! Dish soap is formulated to break the surface tension of water, which is why it is so effective on greasy, dirty dishes. And it wasn’t until you added soap to the bowl that those "germs" were chased away. This is the reason grown-ups are always nagging you to wash your hands with soap! Find this science experiment and more ideas in our 63 Easy Science Experiments for Kids article or peruse our STEM Guide for Kids for more hands-on experiments. According to Piaget, children in the Preoperational stage of development build on skills learned and mastered during the sensorimotor stage. For a review of sensorimotor development, please click here. During this stage, young children's play becomes increasingly imaginary and filled with fantasies. As children develop cognitively, their play will move from simple make-believe to plots involving more characters and scenarios, games with sophisticated rules, etc. According to Piaget, playing isn't just fun; it is an important part of brain development. Preoperational: (begins about the time the child starts to talk to about age 7) Applying his new knowledge of language, the child begins to use symbols to represent objects. Early in this stage he also personifies objects. He is now better able to think about things and events that aren't immediately present. Oriented to the present, the child has difficulty conceptualizing time. His thinking is influenced by fantasy -- the way he'd like things to be -- and he assumes that others see situations from his viewpoint. He takes in information and then changes it in his mind to fit his ideas. Teaching must take into account the child's vivid fantasies and undeveloped sense of time. Using neutral words, body outlines and equipment a child can touch gives him an active role in learning. How to encourage metacognition How do you help your child start becoming more meta?” Metacognitive questions, says Rosier, will help your child begin thinking in a more reflective way. Questions should be: Open-ended. Give your child some space to reflect on his thinking: Can you tell me more about why you think that? Non-blaming. It can be hard to stay open when kids are acting out, but asking them to think about their behavior can help them learn to manage difficult situations in a better way: Why do you think you got so upset when Dad changed the channel? Solution-focused. Encourage him to think about how he can use his understanding to change things in the future: How could you handle that differently next time? Process-oriented. Ask questions that help your child get a better idea of how his thought process works: How will you know when this drawing is finished? Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development 4. Industry vs. Inferiority Erikson's fourth psychosocial crisis, involving industry (competence) vs. Inferiority occurs during childhood between the ages of five and twelve. Children are at the stage where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to do things on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life as they teach the child specific skills. It is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain greater significance and will become a major source of the child’s self-esteem. The child now feels the need to win approval by demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments. If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious (competent) and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher, then the child begins to feel inferior, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential. If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding (e.g., being athletic) then they may develop a sense of Inferiority. Some failure may be necessary so that the child can develop some modesty. Again, a balance between competence and modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of competence. School Industry School Children need to cope with vs. new social and academic Age demands. Success leads to a (6 to 11 Inferiority sense of competence, while years) failure results in feelings of inferiority. Initiative vs. Guilt Stage According to Erikson's theory, the first two stages of children's development are concerned with trust versus mistrust and autonomy versus shame and doubt. During these first two periods, the focus is on children forming a sense of trust in the world as well as feelings of independence and autonomy. Each of these foundational stages plays a role in the later stages that will follow. It is as children enter the preschool years that they begin the third stage of psychosocial development centered on initiative versus guilt. If they have successfully completed the earlier two stages, kids now have a sense that the world is trustworthy and that they are able to act independently. Now it is important for kids to learn that they can exert power over themselves and the world. They need to try things on their own and explore their own abilities. By doing this, they can develop ambition and direction.
