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You are here: Home / Play / Exploration Centers / Science for Kids: Rock Exploration Center

January 4, 2016 By Chelsey 3 Comments

Science for Kids: Rock Exploration Center

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Ignite your child’s curiosity in geology with a rock exploration center! Collect some rocks from outside and gather a few materials, and your’e ready to encourage all kinds of rock investigation. It’s such an easy and fun way to foster a love of science within young children!

Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board!

 

Science for Kids: Setting up a rock exploration center. Such a fun, hands-on way for kids to learn about geology! ~ BuggyandBuddy.com

 

I love setting up exploration centers for the kids based on their interests. (You can find all our exploration centers here.) It’s a great way to allow children to explore various subjects at their own pace and make their own discoveries. And I love that exploration centers are perfect for any age- both Theo (age 4) and Lucy (age 7) have benefitted from them! They can be set up both at home and in the classroom.

Both kids have been showing a huge interest in rocks recently. Lucy has been learning about geology at school in second grade and has been sharing all her newly acquired information with me here at home. And Theo has been collecting rocks we’ve found on walks and making observations about them. So, the rock exploration center has been a huge hit here at home! (This post contains affiliate links.)

 

Science for Kids: Setting up a rock exploration center. Such a fun, hands-on way for kids to learn about geology!

 

How to Set Up a Rock Exploration Center

Setting up a rock exploration center is super easy! Start by selecting a surface that’s accessible to the kids- like a table or countertop. Then place all the rocks you’ve found onto the table for kids to explore. We have rocks we’ve collected from walks, rocks Lucy has purchased to add to her rock collection over the years, and this rock set I found online. science for kids: Learning about rocks

 

Next, add some tools to help kids better explore the rocks. We added a magnifying glass, a tabletop magnifying glass, and a mini flashlight.

tools for a rock exploration science center for kids

 

Add anything else you think might make a great addition. I added some paper and colored pencils for kids to record their observations and some empty egg cartons for rock sorting. A book set would also make a great addition to the exploration center. Here’s a collection of our favorite fiction and nonfiction books about rocks!

 

Using a Rock Exploration Center

Theo started by diving into the rock set. He loved that the rocks were numbered and quickly placed all the rocks in a line in numerical order. He then asked me to read him the names of each rock as we went down the line. We talked about different things we noticed about each rock as we went through them.

exploring rocks with kids

 

Later, Theo enjoyed sorting the rocks in the egg cartons. He sorted by ‘rocks with spots’ and ‘rocks without spots’.

sorting rocks with egg cartons

Both kids loved examining the rocks using the flashlight and magnifying glasses.

geology for kids: learning about rocks

 

In the next few days I plan on adding some items like a nail and a copper penny for the kids to use when investigating rock hardness.

Science for Kids: Setting up a rock exploration center. Such a fun, hands-on way for kids to learn about geology!

 

Our rock exploration center has only been out a few days. I can’t wait to see what other discoveries the kids make throughout the week!

 

Science for Kids: Setting up a rock exploration center. Such a fun, hands-on way for kids to learn about geology!

 



 
 

Be sure to check out STEAM Kids book and ebook for even more creative STEM and STEAM ideas!

STEAM Kids: 50+ STEAM STEM activities for kids

 

Filed Under: Exploration Centers, For Teachers, Kindergarten, Preschool, Science Tagged With: exploration center, geology, rocks

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Trackbacks

  1. 30+ Cool Things to Do with Painted Rocks - Buggy and Buddy says:
    August 4, 2017 at 10:52 am

    […] Rock Exploration Center from Buggy and Buddy […]

    Reply
  2. How To Set Up Preschool Science Centers and Discovery Tables says:
    August 21, 2017 at 9:44 am

    […] love rocks. I know my son does. A rock exploration science center table is perfect for little […]

    Reply
  3. 20+ Hands-on Easy Ways to Teach Earth Science/Geology says:
    November 8, 2017 at 4:15 am

    […] rocks from different areas and create an exploration center, letting kids explore […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Buggy and Buddy! I'm Chelsey, a former teacher and parent living on the central coast of California. I love sharing crafts, science, STEM and STEAM activities, free printables and more! Read More…

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