Museum of Science, Boston

Books for Kids

  • A Street Through Time (series)
    , by
    Anne Millard
  • Archaeologist Dig for Clues
    , by
    Kate Duke
  • Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past
    , by
    Richard Panchyk
  • Eyewitness: Archaeology
    , by
    Jane McIntosh
  • The Archaeology Handbook
    , by
    Bill McMillon
  • The Usborne Young Scientist: Archaeology
    , by
    Barbara Cork

Contact Us

Contact the Discovery Center and Living Lab staff at livinglab@mos.org

Archeology Excavation: Toddlers






  

    

  An Archeology Excavation can be a fun science activity for people of all ages. We provide these generalizations as guidelines about what children at different ages might do during an Archeology Excavation at the Discovery Center's Experiment Station, in a sand box or in their backyard.  Listed below are science and technology process skills that children may be practicing during their explorations. Please remember, each child develops at a different rate. Some children in each age group may be able to do some of the things described in the age group before or after their own.


How might toddlers explore an archaeological excavation?



  

      


  

    
Classify - Toddlers




Toddlers can sort the pottery pieces into piles of things that are 'similar' or 'different' (for example: pottery pieces that have the same relative size vs. other pieces). 


Toddlers can also identify and name a variety of basic colors (red, green, yellow, etc.) and group like-colored pottery pieces together.
  





  

    
Hypothesize - Toddlers



Toddlers have very limited ability as far as hypothesizing, but they can sometimes make guesses about what the different objects they find might be used for (especially if an object isn't missing any pieces).
  





  

    
Model - Toddlers




Children under three would generally have trouble drawing the 'artifacts' they find in the dig site on their corresponding spot on a grid paper or 'map', since they have generally not yet developed a symbolic understanding of how a small scale model relates to the specific place it represents. 


Children at this age can, however, make marks on paper for each piece they find and "draw" their discoveries-even if the drawings don't look like that object that was found.
  





  

    
Observe - Toddlers



Toddlers can touch the sand and pottery pieces and describe how these objects feel (powdery, soft, smooth, cold, scratchy) and look (shiny, scratched, dull, blue, spotted).
  





  

    
Use Tools - Toddlers




Toddlers enjoy searching for artifacts with brushes and shovels, and practice in using these kinds of tools helps them develop hand-eye coordination.  


Children at this age may not realize that each tool has a particular purpose- many toddlers like to use brushes as shovels- but if given a variety of tools to try, they may discover during their 'dig' that some tools are better for some jobs that others. 


Children at this age may have difficulty matching the ends of pottery pieces -and sticking them together with tape- all by themsleves. However, if a grownup holds the pottery pieces together, toddlers are able, and very eager, to apply masking tape to secure the pieces to each other.