Quick Answer

Air and Wind Investigation is a printable preschool science resource for exploring moving air through pinwheels, fans, ribbons, bubbles, and simple building challenges. The resource includes picture vocabulary cards, visual prompts, observation sheets, and a teacher’s guide to help you prepare hands-on experiences for your group.

Description

Air is invisible, but children can see a pinwheel turn, a ribbon move, or a pom-pom travel across a table. Air and Wind Investigation gives those everyday discoveries a place in your science plans.

Children use familiar materials to test what moves, build a wind wall, and compare what happens when they change their approach. The picture prompts keep the focus on trying ideas and talking about the results.

The activity signs are reusable prompts to place beside real materials. Children investigate with the materials; they do not need to write answers on the signs. Full-page and half-page options let you choose a size that fits your table, tray, or classroom display.

Use this resource for science centers, small group investigations, classroom theme activities, or homeschool preschool. You can offer one setup at a time and return to familiar activities as children develop new questions.

What’s Inside

This resource includes:

• Air and Wind Investigation display and Explore Moving Air reference page

• 12 picture word cards in four-per-page and two-per-page formats

• Six full-page and half-page activity signs: Pinwheel Power, What Will Move?, Wind Race, Ribbon Dance, Build a Wind Wall, and Watch the Bubbles

• Two picture sorting mats: Moved and Stayed Still

• Half-page My Wind Observation drawing sheet

• Teacher's guide with setup ideas

How to Use

Start with a hand fan, a ready-made pinwheel, and a few lightweight objects. Display Pinwheel Power or What Will Move? and model how to aim the moving air. Let children test objects from the same starting spot, then change the distance or fan movement.

Add a Wind Race lane, ribbons, or a block-building challenge as children are ready. Use Moved and Stayed Still to sort the results of the current test. Revisit the same object with a different setup; its result may change.

Display a few picture word cards beside the materials, or laminate, hole-punch, and place them on a ring for children to flip through. Use the words during conversations about what children notice.

Offer the half-page observation sheets when children want to draw their discoveries. Writing is optional; an adult can record a child’s words. Follow the included teacher’s guide for setup ideas and adapt materials and supervision to your group.

Why It Works

Children have concrete materials and visible actions to connect with new ideas. Repeating an investigation gives them opportunities to compare results, describe changes, and try another approach.

This resource helps:

• Connect an invisible concept with visible movement

• Encourage predictions and repeated testing

• Compare how different objects respond to moving air

• Practice building and improving a simple wind wall

• Support conversation and observation without requiring written answers

• Give teachers flexible visual prompts for different setups

Perfect For

• Preschool

• Pre-K

• Kindergarten readiness

• Science centers

• Small group investigations

• Wind and weather themes

• Cause-and-effect exploration

• Simple building challenges

• Homeschool preschool

Preschool Vibes Standards

• 6A. We can observe using our senses and describe what we notice.

• 6C. We can make predictions about what might happen.

• 6D. We can test ideas and notice what happened.

• 6E. We can use simple tools and materials to explore (magnifiers, droppers, ramps, magnets, balance, light).

• 6F. We can compare and describe materials and their properties (hard/soft, heavy/light, float/sink, transparent/opaque).

• 6I. We can build and try solutions to simple problems (design/build/test/improve in play).

Digital Download & Terms of Use

This is a digital download only. No physical product will be delivered.

This resource includes printable PDF pages. Investigation materials and tools shown in the activities are not included.

This resource is for personal and single-classroom use only. You may not resell, redistribute, share, upload, or claim this file as your own.

Due to the digital nature of this product, all sales are final.