Beyond the Book: Baby Loves Gravity

Baby Loves Gravity by Ruth Spiro

 

Book Summary:

Ruth Spiro has come up with the most delightful way to share science concepts with the youngest learners. Follow along as Baby learns how to test gravity with his food and on the playground.

 

Age:

2 – 4 years

 

Pre-reading activity:

Discuss what you see on the cover of the book and have your child repeat the word gravity. Define the word gravity using the child-friendly definition below.

 

 

During the story:

Have your little one predict what will happen next based on the pictures and comment on the illustrations. Provide definitions and connections for any of the target vocabulary words listed below that may be unfamiliar. Ask questions throughout the story to help your child comprehend what’s being read. Have your child repeat unfamiliar words.

 

Example Questions:

• Tell me about a time you dropped something and it made a “plop” sound when it hit the floor?
• What happens when Baby tries to test gravity while sitting in his high chair?
• How do you think the dog feels each time Baby drops something?
• Which has more mass – the sun, Earth, or moon?

 

Target Vocabulary:

• gravity
• plop
• gobble
• matter
• mass
• Earth
• slurp

 

Post-reading:

Have your little one re-read the book in their own words using the pictures. Discuss other things you could do on the playground that involve gravity?

 

Activity

 

Which Drops Faster?

Gather various sized balls or round objects that can be dropped from a high location. The object of this activity is to see which balls hit the ground first. This could be done at the top of the stairs or at the park on top of the playground equipment, for example. Remind your little one that gravity helps objects fall to the ground. Ask your child to predict which ball will hit the ground first (i.e., the smallest ball, the biggest ball, the heaviest ball, etc.).

 

You can drop the balls one at a time, using a stopwatch to time each. Another option is to drop two balls at the same time. It would also be fun to roll each ball down the stairs. After dropping all of the balls, have a discussion about what happened, whether the predictions were accurate, and why some balls reached the ground faster than others.

 

Materials:

Various sized balls or round objects

Stopwatch (optional)

Download a printable copy of the Baby Loves Gravity Beyond the Book Guide here.