Update: Age 2.5
Just wanted to share a nice set of science books that DS has been enjoying: Earlybird Start-Up Science 1-4. These are the recommended science curriculum for grades 1-2 from Singapore Science, but the material is simple enough to be accessible to a toddler or preschooler interested in science as a game. I was looking for a playful, storybook-like accompaniment to complement some of the topics we read about in our library books. I originally bought them because I was curious what material was covered in grades 1-2, but then decided they'd be wasted if I didn't use them now!
The books contain about 30 1-page "lessons" each, with full colour illustrations. Today, we played a game classifying living and non-living things and sorting animals (bird, mammal, fish) as an extension of a book we were reading. It took about 3 minutes for each page, and DS had fun playing along. We did the second "lesson" at his urging.
The early books have a good balance between life and earth science and run about $5 each. They are in a workbook format, but you can easily convert the activities to oral ones without losing the fun of the tasks (and resell them!) They don't contain any experiments, but there are enough good sources (I particularly like Vicki Cobb's Science Play books) that I don't worry about that, especially at this age where everything is supposed to be about play!
