The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.
– Marcel Proust

“Promoting Children’s Science Learning One Step at a Time,” an article on the National Association for the Education of Young Children website, has this to say about teachers’ and parents’ comfort level with science and young children:

“Two studies, one focused on preschool teachers and another on parents of 3- to 6-year-olds, suggest that many  adults lack confidence in supporting children’s science learning. In particular, they wonder about what science young children should be learning, how to answer children’s science questions, and how to support science learning with everyday materials.”

Here’s one of the ideas the article provides to help adults feel more comfortable:

“Shift your focus from explaining concepts to facilitating science inquiry.

“Children’s early explorations naturally bring them into contact with key science concepts. For example, when children play with blocks, water, and playdough, they are introduced to the physical science concept that the properties of objects and materials (e.g., soft, hard, squishy, sticky) can be observed and described.  When they mix different colors of paints or investigate ice cubes, they begin to think and learn about how materials can change when they are mixed, heated, or cooled. Instead of explaining these concepts through books or by doing experiments that guide children to a particular outcome (measuring specific amounts of flour and water to make ‘cloud dough,’ for example), try providing the materials (a bowl of flour, a bowl of water, an empty bowl, and a spoon) and watching what children do with them. As they work, talk with them about what they are doing (You added more flour to the mixture!), what they are noticing (How did the mixture change as a result?), and thinking about (Why do you think that happened?).”

In the Exchange Essentials collection, “Science Learning in the Early Years,” Cathy Meredith and Satomi Izumi-Taylor, in one of eight articles included in the collection, provide their own reassurance:

“Much of science learning takes place informally during everyday routines, including playing with blocks, listening to sounds, taking care of personal hygiene, observing plants, caring for pets, and preparing food. When children play, they engage in scientific thinking, because children observe, explore, predict, classify, identify, and interpret.”