Capillary Action at Different Ages
Books for Kids
- Snow Crystals
- Snowflake Bentley
- The Magic School Bus Lost in the Snow
- The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty
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Contact the Discovery Center and Living Lab staff at livinglab@mos.org
Capillary Action Snowflakes: Infants
Capillary Action Snowflakes 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 Capillary Action explorations at the Discovery Center’s Experiment Station, in the kitchen at home, or at school. 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, so 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 infants explore Capillary Action?
Explore - Infants
Any child who can hold a marker or pipette can participate in the Capillary Action Snowflakes activity- this includes many infants. Infants who are still in the oral exploration stage should be closely monitored during all science activities.
Holding and using markers and pipettes during this activity provides even the youngest children with the opportunity to practice their emerging fine motor skills.
The designs that children draw on the coffee filter needn’t be intricate or even attractive- dots and splotches are sufficient. However, be sure to use water-based, washable markers and be careful to ensure that infants do not put the ‘action-end’ of the marker in their mouths.