Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

This is a clear and concise book with twenty science based activities for children in the Early Years. It had a nice range of investigations that encourages children to think critically and form links with their own experiences, using simple equipment so these experiments can be conducted at home.

The activities themselves are nothing new and I wouldn't recommend this to a practitioner when most of these can be found on twinkl or other planning sites, but this might be better suited for parents to carry out at home out of term-time.

I am always interested in educational children's books. I saw the title of the book Busy Little Hands: Science Play by Susan Edwards Richmond and wanted to read it.

Busy Little Hands is filled with quick experiments for preschoolers to try either at home or in a classroom. From Creating a Volcano to Polar Bear Paw, to the Biodiversity Hoop - all these activities are trimmed down enough for preschoolers to do, understand, enjoy, and possibly learn from.

The activity I loved most was the Animal Trackers. I never thought about doing that with the animals you can buy in a store. I need to look at their feet more closely. Loved the ending graphic of creating a Science Field Kit.

This book is a little gem to help parents and teachers of preschoolers engage in fun, learning activities about science and nature.

Thank you, Netgalley!

Rolled to 4.5 stars.

This book is perfect for adding some science to your life! As a teacher, homeschooler, or just wanting activities for kids this book would be great to have around. I would say these activities could be adapted for ages preschool through elementary.

A variety of science activities that are just FUN. Children learn best through play and this is the perfect combination of activities to get them there. The pages are not cluttered or over stimulating - there's a section for adult prep work, simple instructions your child can follow along with, and a variety of real and drawn graphics. Definitely recommend.

Here we have a perfect book for us parents that have kids who loves to learn and play.

For me who have a soon 4 yo I found stuff we could do together and have a great time :)

Thank you so much for this book :)

Ideas for parents to engage young children will always be popular. I didn't see anything truly unique, but this book will be popular nonetheless.

I love this book! I really appreciate the the book was made with young readers in mind. This is not just a book of activities with dense instructions for mostly adults to engage with and then implement with kids later. There is a small area that describes adult set up, but most of each page is dedicated to simple pictures and step by step instructions that children can follow with more independence than is often possible with this type of book. This is a great resource for families and teachers. I am just so impressed by how developmentally appropriate this is for young readers.

I absolutely love this book. This is a great introduction to learning science. I've noticed my kids learn best with multi-sensory activities and this book delivers. Parents will appreciate the tips from setting up projects. The step-by-step directions have easy to follow pictures with "real children '' completing steps. It's great that most experiments found in this book are done with household items. This book is done well and worth buying and is a great addition to any library.


Thanks, NetGalley and Storey Publishing LLC, for providing me with the digital ARC for an honest review.

This book is perfection!!! I cannot wait to try out some of the ideas as a teacher and as a parent of young children!!! I love how these science concepts are grounded in play. Really well done!

I absolutely loved this book. As a 1st grade Science teacher, this book is perfect to recommend and buy for my students. I liked how in each activity, they have a step, by step instructions with pictures on what to do and how to accomplish the activity. Pictures were great. Very kid friendly. Not too easy, not too hard.

Will track down other titles in this wonderful series! Great photos, provides instructions without being too wordy. Perfect to pair as activity after toddler storytime.

Easy to do experiments for kids. My kids would love it. Some experiments are no mess (like making a pulley system with a bucket and rope). Some are best done outside. Nice graphics and a breakdown of what each one teaches is printed in the back of the book. This would be good in the classroom too.

Thank you to Storey Publishing for providing an advanced copy for my honest review.

Science Play is brilliant, filled with amazing activities to learn how things happen. This book is great and I think children will love it because it has real photos and lots of information. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

We ADORE the books in this series, and Science Play is another fantastic one!

The tiny scientists at my house (3, 4, and 7) love the real life pictures and overall design, and I love how engaging and simple the ideas are. If you like easy-peasy experiments with manageable prep and little-to-no mess, you’ll be set.

Thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for this sneak peek in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book filled with fun experiments for young children! It has clear photos and instructions, and most of the experiments can be done with household items. I tried a few of the activities with my 4-year-old and he enjoyed them! I love the emphasis on making observations. This book is a great way for young children to use the scientific process in an age-appropriate way!

I highly recommend this for families with young kids, or even PreK/K teachers!

Thank you to Storey Publishing, NetGalley, and Susan Edwards Richmond for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Great book for young kids to learn and play. Aimed more at Pre-K-2nd grade, but could be fun for older kids, especially with siblings. Lots of projects are also simple enough I would be comfortable having an older kids show the youngers.

This was a lovely little book! I could definitely see myself picking this up as a gift for little friends.

This is a book of experiments for preschoolers to learn about physics, earth science, biology, and chemistry. All the experiments and science concepts are absolutely on target for the preschool age range. The book is colorful and attractively laid out with illustrations and photos of children doing the experiments. The experiments are very doable and there is a section at the end for the adults to understand the science concepts behind the experiments. I love that this book focuses on teaching preschoolers to be scientists at a level they can understand. Kids are naturally curious and explorative. This book teaches the scientific method and encourages kids to use their observation skills.

Busy Little Hands: Science Play
Learning Activities for Preschoolers
by Susan Edwards Richmond

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a mom to 8 and 5 year old children who have been big fans of science for many years. We have read a lot of kids science books. While this book is bright, colorful and engaging the organization and thoroughness of explanation could be improved.

The science explanations for each experiment are separate, in the back of the book and divided by science subsection. They’re also brief and not phrased in a child accessible way. One of the primary benefits that a childrens science book can provide to families is not only the idea for the experiment but the language to explain it to the child in a way that they can understand. Not all parents will be able to answer all the questions easily or provide further examples to help the child get it. Which begs the question if a parent is finding it necessary to google answers to questions posed by a book why not just stick with the free internet information in the first place? To sell me on the value of purchasing a book it needs to provide information and experiences that are not available for free on the internet. The information that is in this book is also available on Pinterest and I’m sure many other places.

It also presumes too much on accessible resources. Like prisms. Without an antique chandelier on hand where would one even find a prism? Many people do not know someone that lives in a completely different part of the world with a different climate and proposing a “climate penpal” may be setting parents up for failure. When it could so easily be changed to think of a person or character from your real life or a book or movie that lives in another part of the world. This makes it easy to imagine what kind of weather is the Queen of England having or a very popular Australian blue cartoon dog.

The ideas for experiments are good but the presentation could be improved to better serve a more varied audience.
3/5

This is such a wonderful book! I love the activities. There are everyday, simple ingredients, clear instructions are given, as well as pictures. Although it is intended for preschoolers, the activities in this book are also very suitable for children into grade school, and can be easily adapted for children with special needs. Recommended!

Busy Little Hands is such a fun way for families to explore science by using simple household items or items found in nature. It is also a great resource to help introduce science through exploration and play into young classrooms. This book is easy to read and understand both by written instructions and through the big, bright pictures. It is engaging, well thought out and an overall wonderful book.

I purchased Food Play and that was a hit. This is another great title in the series. There are colorful pages with step-by-step instructions for experiments in physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology. Wait! We are learning? I thought we were just having fun! I like the Notes For Big People at the end that explains the scientific method what is being learned in each experiment. A great title for STEM based learning.