Busy Little Hands: Science Play!

Such a fantastic book! My little one is a bit too small for these activities at the moment but I can see this book coming in handy in the future. In fact I wish it had existed when I worked as a nanny!
Everything is clearly explained with text and pictures. It explains what parents need to prep and what kids can do so it would be easy to do any of the experiments.
There is also a huge variety so there really is something to keep all kids entertained. I also like that it encourages kids to think about the experiments as they do them and has prompts to do so.
Such a great book and one that I can see myself buying in future for parents.

Amazing book for teaching basics of science through experiments to little ones with lots of materials you likely already have at home! With lots of fun and bright pictures, the pages take you through simple experiments step by step, At the beginning of every experiment, there is a little setup guide for the grown up to prepare that is very straightforward. This book would also be great for a classroom! My 5 year old and I will be having lots of fun with these this weekend!

I received this for review. I was extra excited to review this one, as my son LOVES science and crafts. The book states it's for preschoolers, however, my 7 year old son enjoyed doing these activities. We've already done 6 of them! Most of the items it requires, you can easily find around your house and kitchen, which I absolutely loved! Also, these do have some parts parents need to help with (especially for younger children) but majority of these activities the kid will be doing most of the work. It's such a creative way to learn and play! I enjoyed doing these activities with my son. I look forward to trying the rest this weekend!

This ARC was given to me to review from the publishers and NetGalley. All comments above are solely my true opinion after reading this book.

I loved it!
My 5 year old loved it!
Can't wait to buy this book as a gift for a friend about to pop!

Awesome! A little kids are essentially baby scientists as they are exploring the world around them. This book has TONS of activities that you can do with them to help them explore and learn. The lovely thing about this book too is that the activities use things that you are likely to have in your house already, or sometimes you don't need any materials at all, and they are super easy to set up. I'm a tired mom, sometimes I don't have the energy to set up something complicated or that will make a big mess! I am definitely going to buy a physical copy of this in addition to the e-book version.

Thank you to Storey Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to access this free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Fun, engaging and easy to follow, this book is a perfect arsenal to entertain your tiny humans, without having to gather or buy an obscene amount of supplies (I’m looking at you Pinterest activities). My son is 7, and the book is still full of activities that are interesting for him. He especially enjoyed “washing water”, and making a shadow clock. We also revisited old favorites like a vinegar volcano and “mystery goo” (ooblek)- but, these experiences were like never before because this book actually offers easy to understand reasoning for the science behind the experiment, which really helped my guide his imagination!

Science Play by Susan Edwards Richmond is a fun and hands-on science book for young children!

As a Montessori teacher, I appreciate the hands-on learning approach and have done many experiments with my students. I can say from observation that children have so much doing science, and it helps connect them to the world around them.

The instructions are easy to follow, and a child around kindergarten/1st grade could do these independently with minimal assistance. It would also be fun for parents to share these experiences with their children.

I recommend this book in every home as well as every classroom!

Thank you, NetGalley, and to the publishers for an e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fun and cool experiments to do with your kids. A great way to engage with them that’s not related to electronics. Learning and bonding together! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to access this early!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

This book is great for young ones. The experiments are fun and creative, definitely things that children would really enjoy. The directions were very clear and easy to understand. There were also pictures that helped you understand it more as well. I definitely recommend this for parents and their children.

Science Play! is a great introduction to science experiments for kids with 20 experiments for preschoolers to do with their parents. These simple experiments cover four areas of science: chemistry, physics, earth science and biology. I would have preferred the Notes for Big People and Science Field Kit (tools for investigating science) sections to be at the front of the book as it might be beneficial for the adults to read prior to starting any of the experiments. I appreciated that the book includes a guide of the concepts used in the experiments for adults. This fun collection of science experiments would make a great Christmas gift for the preschooler in your life.

This is a perfect book for curious kids! The low barrier to entry lessons include simple steps for the adults and kids and require minimal materials. The lessons are labeled as one of the 4 principles of: physics, earth science, chemistry, or biology. They even include the classic baking soda and vinegar volcano (I think this is the first one I would do for nostalgia's sake).

Each lesson is easily adaptable to what you have on hand or easy to acquire. I can see this being a great way to inspire sensory play or continue learning when school is on break. Or even if you are running out of ideas to entertain the kids! Something really important is that questions to help guide learning are included so you engage your child in the lesson. At the end of the book there is a section that provides background for the adult to facilitate the lesson and explain the reasoning/scientific method.

I think this book along with the materials required for a few lessons (packaged and labelled individually) would make a great gift. Another exciting thing to do would be taking the child shopping for the backpack science field kit at the end of the book.

I can't recommend this book enough, its a great addition to any kid's library.

Thank you to Net Galley and Story Publishing for a free e-copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

#BusyLittleHandsSciencePlay #NetGalley

Science Play is a fun filled activity book offering 20 easy to follow experiments. Each activity delves into a different area of science such as Chemistry or Physics and encourages the reader to question the experiment to further challenge their thinking. The book provides step by step instructions to follow with minimal preparation and the experiments are complimented by clear photos. This is definitely a book that I will use at home with my 2 year old son and I would highly recommend it to EYFS & Primary teachers too. I can already imagine using 'Rain Rain Come To Stay' with a class of 4year olds and how excited they would be to check the measurements after a down pour! A fantastic and instructive book to get children up and out, challenging themselves and learning through the environment.

Thank you NetGalley and Storey Publishing for my ARC!

This is a great little science book! Though it is marketed as learning activities for Preschoolers, lower elementary students would also enjoy some of these activities and would like that they would be able to follow the simple directions more independently.

Each activity has a box that has “grown-up prep steps,” the items you need are shown in pictures and most of the activities have 4 easy to follow steps or less! The activities are simple, but would be engaging to children, and you probably already have most of the supplies needed! Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review

I love this book! I have a now first grader but these were fun to do. It made for good quality family time. He learned a lot which I love as a parent. Highly recommend.

Whether you’re homeschooling, looking for purposeful activities, or just trying to make it to naptime, Busy Little Hands Science Play is a gem for preschoolers. Even toddlers and older kids can enjoy these simple activities that introduce physics, earth science, chemistry, and biology principles.

My kiddos are excited for activities like Blooming Colors, Polar Bear Paw, Biodiversity Hoop, and the always-popular Vinegar Volcano. I’m excited for low-effort setups that yield big curiosity-promoting results.

The Notes for Big People offer a higher scope understanding of each activity and the scientific method. The suggestions for creating a Science Field Kit are wonderful for choosing your own adventure for further exploration and learning. This book is a great addition to a home library, and we’re excited to check out the other Busy Little Hands titles.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

We really enjoyed this book, I like that it is very easily read especially when you have more than 1 child to look after, it has a clear section for adult to prepare the things, pictorial guidance of how things should progress in the project and the outcome. It also has a section to help equip the preschoolers to enhance their experience while exploring the great outdoors.

I have yet to try it out with my preschooler as this is an ebook on my phone/iPad (we are avoiding device in front of children where possible), however I have memorise the first project to do with her today. Will update accordingly once done.

Many thanks Susan Edwards Richmond and Storey Publishing for this advance review copy via Netgalley in exchange for honest feedback.

This book is a great roundup of activities and the format is fun and engaging for kids, while still being easy to follow for adults. We especially loved the page on how to build a great field kit, and the reference pages for adults in the back were a great touch too! Definitely looking foreword to more books in this series.

This is a brilliant "everyone needs one on their bookshelf" type book! Full of interesting activities for rainy days, outdoor time, nature play, a spare 5 minutes, or just for when you or the kids want to do something fun to do.

Lots of notes for grownups to know how to set the activities up, but also lots of ways to engage children and get them thinking about and learning from the activities. Each activity is simple to set up and uses items mostly found around the house, so cheap and cheerful too.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This colorful book is filled with simple but fun activities for preschoolers to elementary students. The activities are described in detail with some notes for adult preparation and how science works. I think it's a wonderful book that teaches young children (and adults) to do simple experiments and learn from them.

This is a fun way to spend the day, parents and kids. To help the kids from boredom, or video games, this book can help you do stuffs with them. Testing how a color blooms, or how a seed becomes a plant. Or making volcanoes, collecting the rain, and so many more you can choose to explore.

This book is aimed at curious, budding little scientists. My children would love this. It Includes 20 hands-on experiments with every day items.

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.

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!

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.

This is an educational book chalked full of easy science experiments to do with your 3 - 5 year old. The experiments are relatively easy and can be performed at home with tools and ingredients that are found in most homes.

I’m impressed that basically you are teaching your child to follow the scientific method. I didn’t hear that phrase until I was in Freshman Biology in college. However, you might be surprised to know that most of us used the scientific method throughout our young lives when we tried various experiments in school!

I am a scientist, and it excites me that someone wrote a book of simple and fun experiments that can be done at home! I wish I had a preschooler at home to do these experiments with. Instead, I will let my mom friends of toddlers know about this fabulous book! The instructions are simple with set up instructions for big people and step by step graphic and written instructions for the child. Be sure to guess what the results will be before you do the experiment and chart the results to share with others.

I enjoyed everything about this book and think it is fabulous! It could be added to the child’s home library or could easily incorporated into science time at preschool, pre-K, or kindergarten class.

The author was extremely knowledgeable and cleaver, and I think many children would find these experiments to be fun to perform.

I want to thank Author Susan Edwards Richmond, Storey Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this Advanced Reader’s Copy. This is a voluntary review, and all comments and opinions are entirely my own.

This is an awesome Science experiment book for preschool and elementary-aged children. My son is super excited about Science right now and I can't wait for this book to be published so that we can carry it around while we conduct experiments.
The visuals are great. The incorporate both photography and illustrations. Each experiment is broken down into easy steps to follow. But most important to me, are the "Grown-Up Prep Steps" because this gives me a heads up of the labor required for each experiment. If you are working with multiple kids, you will love this feature. Sometimes I just don't have the capacity to do an intricate experiment, so I can quickly find out the level of effort each one will take. Lifesaver!
The actual experiments had me excited to try them out. I like the Notes for Big People at the end of the book, that breaks the experiments down into the four fields of science. The Science Field Kit, is something evergreen that you can supply your kid with and have them make inquiries in their own backyard for fun. Loved every part of this book!

I absolutely loved this book! It contains 20 activities that you can easily do with household items. Some of the activities include: vinegar volcanoes, shadow clocks, cleaning water naturally, and more! The easy-to-follow instructions are beautifully illustrated and captured with bright pictures. Towards the end, there is a section for adults on various science fields and methods. This is a wonderful resource for young families or teachers to have in order to grow their children's curiosity and love for the natural world. I am definitely putting this on my daughter's wish list for Christmas!

What a great introduction to science for younger children! Many tried and true experiments that are guaranteed to be a hit.

Science Pay is a excellent book for anyone with young children. For children, this book is very colorful, shows pictures of science related activities and questions, and makes wanting to do science fun. There are experiments for physics, earth science, chemistry and biology. For each experiment there are "grown up steps" and then the steps for the children to do, along with questions to ask during the activity. The pages are laid out very well. The end of the book there are notes about each area of science with questions and more information to help promote learning. As a Kindergarten teacher, this book will be very helpful to bring science into my classroom. This book will benefit any teacher or parents to start to do more science.

I received an advanced copy of this book.

I really enjoyed that this book provides colorful pictures that explain what everything is, and also what the experiment is doing while also providing written explanations. I also liked that at the end of the book it provided more information for adults to understand exactly what each experiment teaches. For example the break down of the seed start, listed page number, it is under the biology category and what the purpose is for this activity.

As a parent I think it is important for my children to have fun and learn at the same time. I think this book provides both! Each activity looks fun, easy, and simple for young readers and adults that aren't scientists to enjoy together.