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Learning about hard vs. soft

15 Comments Toddler, Preschool

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This activity was a science and vocabulary lesson I did to help the kids learn about the difference between “hard” and “soft.”

I started by gathering up a tray of items that were either hard or soft. I included hard things like a book, a marble, a wooden instrument, a plastic cat toy, a wooden banana, and a nut and bolt set. I included soft things like a stuffed animal, an orange, a squishy ball, a bean bag, some play foam, a pom pom, and a balloon filled with play dough.

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I invited the kids to take turns selecting items from the tray.

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Then they felt and squeezed and banged on the objects to determine if they were hard or soft. While they did this, we talked about how soft objects can be squished in our hands, but hard objects cannot.

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And we compared how hard objects make a loud sound when banged against the floor but soft objects do not.

Learning about hard vs soft srcset=> Gift of Curiosity” width=”432″ height=”324″>

As the kids determined whether each object was hard or soft, we placed them into separate “hard” and “soft” piles.

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Here are what our final piles looked like!

Learning about hard vs soft srcset=> Gift of Curiosity” width=”432″ height=”160″>

Filed Under: Toddler, Preschool, Science, Sensory Tagged With: hard, soft

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Reader Interactions

15 Comments

  1. Tracey@We-Made-That

    April 3, 2013 at 4:49 am

    Oh this is great! I want to try this with my little one. Thanks so much for sharing all your awesome ideas with us at We Made That!

    Reply to this comment
  2. Savannah

    April 3, 2013 at 9:50 am

    What a cute and creative lesson!

    Reply to this comment
  3. Nicole @ The Kavanaugh Report

    April 4, 2013 at 4:45 pm

    Great idea! I think I’ll have to try this with my toddler!

    Reply to this comment
  4. Amy

    April 5, 2013 at 5:30 am

    How fun! What a great, simple idea! I did this with pinecones and cotton balls a couple of months ago, but should do one again with my son 🙂

    Reply to this comment
  5. Coombemill

    April 5, 2013 at 6:55 am

    Practical learning is always the best and most fun

    Reply to this comment
  6. Marla

    April 5, 2013 at 7:54 am

    What a great way to present the concept of hard vs. soft. My toddler will love this!

    Reply to this comment
  7. Ashley

    April 5, 2013 at 11:47 am

    This activity would be great for my toddlers, thanks!

    Reply to this comment
  8. Amy @ No Greater Honors

    April 7, 2013 at 12:32 pm

    I love the idea of playdough in the balloon, and think maybe it would be great to expand that to a textured sorting, filling the balloon up with different things (beans, rice, etc) and having them feel to see which two match! Great post!

    Reply to this comment
  9. Blayne

    April 9, 2013 at 1:15 pm

    This is an awesome lesson! I will keep this in mind when my son is a little older!

    Reply to this comment
  10. Monica

    April 9, 2013 at 9:37 pm

    What a great way to teach the difference. 🙂 Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday.
    Sincerely,
    Monica

    Reply to this comment
  11. Carrie

    April 12, 2013 at 1:07 pm

    What a great idea!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!

    Reply to this comment
  12. Sugar Aunts

    April 12, 2013 at 6:25 pm

    This is such a great idea for toddlers! I love it. We are featuring your post tomorrow on Share It Saturday 🙂

    Reply to this comment
  13. Ticia

    April 13, 2013 at 5:39 pm

    This is a great preschool science lesson. Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday!

    Reply to this comment
  14. Layla Word

    January 11, 2017 at 7:28 am

    Wow, I think I might have to use this! Stellar idea.

    Reply to this comment
  15. Deloris Spaulding

    January 21, 2018 at 8:09 am

    Great ideas…love it

    Reply to this comment

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