Welcome to our early science blog.

View posts by our early science blogger to gain valuable insights into the developing brain and learn about activities that you can easily incorporate into your early childhood curriculum to foster the development of early science skills in young learners.

Check back often so you don’t miss a single blog—and join in the conversation by asking questions or leaving comments at the end of each post.

About our blogger Diann Gano, M.Ed

Diann Gano

Diann Gano, M.Ed

Diann Gano—who opened her family child care program, Under the Gingko Tree in 1986—has long believed that “the earth gives us what we need to learn” and that nature is “the perfect environment for little brains to grow and learn in every day.” While conducting research for her master’s thesis on outdoor learning in early childhood settings, she learned about the Nature Explore Classroom Certification Program, which recognizes schools and other organizations that have made a commitment to providing outdoor classrooms and comprehensive programming to help children use the natural world as an integral part of learning. She enrolled in the Nature Explore Classroom certification program after completing her master’s degree in 2010, and Under the Ginkgo Tree was certified as a Nature Explore Certified Outdoor Classroom Program in 2011.

A member of the Erikson Family Child Care Portal Project Advisory Board, Gano has also participated in the Erikson Institute’s Early Childhood Leadership Summit and served as a webinar panelist for Town Square Illinois, an online resource and professional development tool for home-based providers. She has presented at the local, state and national levels on topics such as indoor and outdoor learning environments, the importance of loose parts in early math education and the impact of immersion in the natural world on brain development in young children. In 2016, Gano was honored as a recipient of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Child Care Innovator Award for creating a school environment that inspires children to become more active and engaged learners. In May 2019, she received the prestigious Terri Lynn Lokoff/Children’s Tylenol National Teacher Award, which honors 50 outstanding early child care professionals across the nation each year for making a lasting difference in the lives of the children they serve and setting them on a path to success in school and in life. She received her BS in liberal arts from Western Illinois University and her MEd in education from St. Mary of the Woods College in Indiana.

Early Science Matters is Now Multilingual!

  Hello, Hallo, Hej Hej, Hola, Ciao . . . well, you get the idea! To expand our reach to families and early childhood educators around the globe, we’ve added a translation option to our Early Science Matters website. With this new functionality, our readers can now translate Early Science Matters into more than 100 languages. Breaking […]

Investigating Snow Tracks

“Hey, Hudson, look!  Animal tracks! Let’s be detectives and see where they go!” Hudson and James are on the hunt. It’s one of those peaceful, quiet winter mornings when freshly fallen snow blankets our outdoor area and muffles the sounds of the morning rush hour. The sun is shining and the scene is so sparkly […]

Finding STEM on a Snowy Day

“Look, the snow packs!  Let’s make some snow people!” The sunshine and rising temperatures have transformed yesterday’s powdery snow into packable fun for an afternoon of playful math and science learning. This is a great time to pull out your camera to document the many foundation-building moments that find their way into winter play. This […]

Full STEAM Ahead With Clay Play!

“Look, look, I made a rainbow!” exclaims three-year-old Evelyn to the rest of the group gathered around our clay table. I look at her clay creation, which consists of a small orange arch supported by a yellow base decorated with gemstones, tree bark and Mardi Gras beads. “It is a rainbow!” Noa responds gleefully. “I […]

STEAM Investigations With Autumn’s Loose Parts

  “I found a buckeye!” exclaims Eli with delight. “They are finally falling!” Sure enough, after weeks of waiting for the buckeyes to fall, last night’s rain and wind has shaken some loose from the tree in our outdoor play area. We love buckeyes, which are dark brown nuts with a light patch resembling the […]

Wonder-Filled Science in the Flower Garden

“Hey! How did you make that sound?” Elizabeth comes running over to see what four-year-old Vera is up to. “I’m popping the flowers!” Vera replies. “It’s so fun!” Popping hosta flowers or opening the jaw of a snapdragon flower is a skill that has been passed down from child to child for decades in our […]

Insect Adventures

  “Look what I found!” yells Peter. “Rowan! Come quick! I think it’s a praying mantis!” “Wow! It’s so big!” says Parker. “That can’t be a praying mantis, can it? Is it a grasshopper?” Five-year-old Rowan comes running. Our class science expert and budding entomologist, Rowan really knows her insects. She’s the first person we […]

The Secret Agent of Bubbles

  “If you wiggle your hands like this, you can make lots and lots of bubbles!” exclaims Hudson. “Watch!” Piper and Hudson are elbow deep in a tub of water, splashing about happily as they investigate cause and effect in a moment of playful learning. Science begins with curiosity, which leads to discovery and exploration. […]

Toad-Ally Awesome Science

“Get him, Avery! Get him!” Auuughhhhh!  “Did you get him?” “He’s over there, Rowan, get him!” The children’s search is punctuated by high-pitched screams. Is it a snake? A grasshopper?  What garden creature could be causing such a stir on a lazy Monday afternoon? “I got him!” Rowan declares as she cradles a garden toad […]