Teaching Science Without a Curriculum | Do This Instead

Kids are naturally curious about the world around them: they want to learn how things work, and to understand nature, animals, and the weather. Simply reading textbooks can quickly turn even the most exciting subject into a dreadfully boring one.

The best approach to teaching science without a curriculum is an “unschooling” one: let the child’s interests and curiosity about the world drive their learning, and instead of sitting inside reading textbooks, help them to explore the world of science for themselves!

The following ideas are fun ways to help your child learn about science in a way that is not only fun but informative as well. These ideas take an “unschooling” approach to learning science. This makes it natural, satisfies curiosity, and fosters a love of learning. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to come up with your own unique learning opportunities as well!

Field Trips

If I were to ask you what some of your best memories are from your own education (homeschooled or otherwise), I bet many of them would be of times you went on field trips! That is definitely the case for me. What better way is there to get out and explore than with a day of fun and exploration! The different kinds of field trips you can take are nearly endless. The more creative they are, the more memorable, too. Here are a few different ideas to help get you started!

The zoo is a great choice for learning about animals. Many zoos will even put on shows where trainers will show off a select animal or type of animal and teach the kids more about them in fun and sometimes even hands-on ways!
Aquariums are another excellent choice that can help kids learn more about marine life. Oceans cover about 75% of the earth, so learning about them is a big priority!
Planetariums help everyone to learn more about the stars and what lies beyond the sky. Many planetariums offer shows that will help you to understand the night sky from wherever you are. Who knows, your child may want to make stargazing a hobby afterward!
Science museums are everywhere, and almost all of them offer something unique for your child to learn. Some may focus on ancient history, some on dinosaurs, and some on everything at once! Museums were actually one of my favorite places to visit growing up, and I learned a lot during my visits to them. There really is a museum for virtually every topic you could possibly want to teach about, and they span the whole of the U.S.
Gem mining offers great hands-on opportunities to learn more about geology. Who doesn’t have a blast uncovering their very own gem! Reading about rocks can be quite boring, but cracking them open is great fun!
Fossil digging is an especially cool form of hands-on learning. Many museums also offer fossil digging, but there are also places solely focused on giving people the opportunity to dig up some fossils! This activity offers great insight into the fascinating world of paleontology, the process of discovering ancient history.
Factory tours are yet another excellent field trip option. Visiting these places will help kids learn more about manufacturing, engineering, science, and whatever that factory happens to be making.
Caves and mines are a bit of a more obscure field trip, but ones that yield great memories and a better comprehension of the earth. Cave and mine tours provide knowledge about rock formations, sedimentary and other types of rock, mining history, and other aspects of geology and science.
Apple orchards and farms that offer tours are a classic way to help kids learn more about agriculture. It is enlightening to find out more about where our food comes from. Most if not all of these places are very kid-friendly and they are excited to help them learn more and have a good time doing it.

Science Kits & Experiments

Almost everyone has made a baking soda volcano at some point in their lives (or at least seen one). However, there is virtually no limit to the number of cool science experiments that you can do with your child! As long as the proper safety precautions are taken based on the experiment, this activity is a great way to learn about virtually any aspect of any field of science. Something that can be especially informative for older children is having them design experiments of their own!

Experiments in general are a wonderful way to teach about the scientific method and to discover how the world works in a way that is hands-on, fun, and memorable. Experiments can be set up and created on your own or with the use of a kit, but both are great choices. Some ideas for science experiments include:

Baking soda volcanoes: These need very little explanation, and you can make your own volcano out of clay or other materials or buy a kit at the store or online.
Candy making/crystal growing: Growing candy crystals is a visually impressive chemistry experiment that can yield delicious results.
Make your own electrical circuits with batteries: This is definitely one which requires supervision but can be safely done with older kids. One of my favorite kits I had for this growing up was the Snap Circuits radio kit, in which you get to build your own working radio.
Chemistry kits: These vary in complexity, and the simplest ones can help you teach chemistry to even your youngest kids when done in a safe manner.
Robotics kits: I particularly liked using LEGO robotics pieces to design my own robots growing up.
Fossil kits: this one was another favorite of mine. The idea is for you to put together a miniature dinosaur or another skeleton piece by piece. The one I had had you use molds to create the bones, mimicking the way scientists recreate bones for museum displays in order to complete dinosaur skeletons. This is a very cool way to learn more about the bone structures of dinosaurs or other animals.
Planting kits: What better way is there to learn about plants than to grow one yourself? There are literally thousands of different plants that kids can grow on their own, although there is some variation in the amount of consistent attention they need to flourish. One of my favorite plants I had as a kid was a Venus fly trap. Alternatively, if your kid has a particularly green thumb, you could even consider giving them a little patch of ground to grow their own garden.
Frog or other animal dissection: Albeit a little morbid compared to some of the other items on this list, dissecting animals can be a very hands-on way to learn more about biology for older children.
Miniature dig kits: These are miniature versions of fossil digs, and are a fun piece that can grow your child’s interest in the field of paleontology.
Making yogurt: This is a super interesting way to see how a common food item is made that involves some cool chemistry/biology lessons.
Baking: Baking certain foods can be turned into a chemistry science experiment if you help teach about the reason for the reactions between different ingredients. The ratios used of different ingredients can also be used to teach about stoichiometry or the idea that chemical reactions occur much the same when using different but still proportional ingredients.
Taking apart and putting back together various appliances: The skills needed to do this can vary by appliance, and you definitely want to make sure beforehand that it’s safe to take apart any specific appliance (microwaves are a big no-no), but doing this can enable kids to glean a huge amount of knowledge regarding the inner workings of the machines around them. This helps kids learn about circuits, engineering, manufacturing, simple and complex machines, and also grants potential career skills (such as computer repair)!
Building their own computer/3D printer: This is definitely a more advanced skill, probably best for older children or teens, but it can be a huge boon to their computer science knowledge and mechanical skills. Plus, it can help you save money on things that are inherently useful anyways!
Have your kids help you with repairs or fixing things around the house. Fixing plumbing and other things around the house can be a built-in lesson about simple machines like levers and pulleys, how heat and cold affect water and airflow, and about different tools used in many different trades.
Popsicle stick bridges and towers are fun ways to teach about structural engineering, practical architecture, and even soft skills like teamwork and planning. I have good memories of building crazy bridges out of Popsicle sticks on a few occasions, and the best part of this activity is seeing how much the said bridges can hold when you are done!
Paper planes teach about lift and how airplanes work on the most basic level. Modifying them in different ways (such as by adding a stabilizing fin) can teach kids about airflow and how planes steer.

Learning in Nature

Some of the best learning can be done on-site where it all happens: in nature! Doing fieldwork can be hugely informative and provide exercise as well. Some great ways of learning about the huge world of nature while in nature include:

Traveling to different parts of the country and to National Parks to see different terrain.
Going on a pine cone collecting adventure. You can count the pine cones, read about their purpose, and use them in art projects or even as makeshift bird feeders!
Bug collection kits are hands-on looks into the expansive world of insects.
Take nature walks and have your children take notes of what they see in a nature journal!
Create your own rain collector and measure how much rainfall your part of the world gets!
Keep track of moon phases!
Bird watching. Some people make this a life-long hobby!
Leaf printing is an aesthetically pleasing hobby for your young botanists-in-training.
Collecting nature scraps from your nature walks and documenting them.
Sketching nature can combine art and science into the same activity!

Learning from Media

Just because purely studying from textbooks can be boring and unfulfilling doesn’t mean that reading is a bad choice for learning. In fact, there is a huge wealth of exciting and interesting reading material that is available for learners of all ages! Kids can read and study about scientists, inventors, dinosaurs, animals, and whatever else in the world of science interests them!

Self-chosen books tend to be the ones kids will pay the most attention to. Usborne Books and the traveling “Bodies” exhibits at museums can provide insight into how the human body works, as can your own answers to specific questions.

And while excessive screen time is generally good to avoid in your teaching, documentaries and videos can provide amazing tools for learning about science. There is a huge wealth of these online and at libraries.

The only caveat is that not everything online is necessarily accurate, so make sure to verify that the videos you are showing to your kids are up to date and age-appropriate! The BBC in particular puts out amazing nature documentaries that cover a huge scope of topics, and PBS also has some great programs, but there are many different sources that also have great things to teach!

When used selectively and sparingly, video games can also be a great tool for teaching about things like science and nature. There is an ever-growing selection of educational games that can help your youngsters grow their curiosity and knowledge in a way that is inherently engaging. Just make sure to vet out games beforehand, as some games are a deep learning opportunity while some are little more than a waste of time, providing scant knowledge at best.

Virtual reality technology is also an expanding area of learning technology! VR can display any place in the world, which can help to give the feeling of being in different biomes and natural environments that you might not otherwise be able to take your kids to visit in person. Something particularly crazy seeming to me is that you can do virtual dissections in VR now! This is definitely a less messy option that saves some poor frogs at the same time.

The possibilities really are endless when it comes to non-traditional learning or “unschooling”. Enjoy using these or your own ideas, and remember that keeping it fun also helps to keep it memorable!

Conclusion

Kids love learning about science, but sometimes it can be hard to find the right way to teach them. Curricula are great for some students, but others might benefit more from hands-on and interactive experiences. Luckily, there are many ways to teach kids about science without relying on a curriculum. Museums, nature walks, gem mining, dissections – the possibilities are endless! What have you tried with your kids? Tell us in the comments below.