Curriculum Overview

Kids Science Labs has developed innovative hands-on classes for kids aged 2-12 using our unique inquiry based LIFES Curriculum ("Learning Innovation, Fun Engineering, and Science").  All classes are led by amazing KSL science teachers and last between 60-75 minutes. Our curriculum is customized to meet your child's specific interests and abilities, through hands-on science, critical thinking, and creative design to explore the beauty of science all around us.  

All classes consist of discovery time (investigating questions), hands-on exploration (engaging curiosity), innovation and redesign (problem-solving) and conceptional understanding (reflection). In each class we have an 8:1 student to teacher ratio and kids can sign up at any time during the session. 

Our LIFES Curriculum approaches science by first asking a question a child is curious about, and we approach science through our five core science foundations below:

How Stuff Works - Explores everyday fun questions that engage a child's curiosity directly, such as How does a bike work? What's inside a toaster? Why do cars slide in the rain? What makes a cushion soft? and How a refrigerator works.  This foundation breaks down everyday questions into building blocks that all kids can relate with. 

Science FUNdamentals - Children fundamentally know the basic rules of their world, like apples fall from trees and sharp objects will pop a balloon.  Here we will investigate core science principles such as electricity, Netwon's forces, magnetism, properties of materials, water, properties of light, density and measurement. Some common questions would include Why does honey move so slow? What is a magnet? What is gravity and how does it work? What made that balloon rise up? 

Planet Earth & Green Technology -  Children wonder about the natural world every day. Understanding the relationships between our environment, the solar system, animals, humans and energy sources is what this foundation is all about.  Topics include How to clean up oil spills and water ways? Why beavers are so important to ecosystems? How to make their own rechargeable batteries?  What's different about organic strawberries? 

Creativity & Design - If your child likes to build and solve prolems, they will love creativity & design. While How Stuff Works breaks things down, Creativity & Design builds them back up. This foundation is all about how things are made, construction, aeronautics, and accessing their true creativity with hands-on science. Example questions explored would be how could you live in a mountain? Can planes fly up? How to build skyscrapers? 

Physiology & Food Science - Does your child wonder why her heart beats, how her stomach works, or is she curious about why she needs to eat healthy foods?  Kids will turn these questions into hands-on experiments that teach them the mechanisms and functions of the human body as well as the relationship between food, nutrition and energy. This series brings the concepts together to explore topics such as Where did the burger go? What does our heart look like? How to dissect a bug? Why does bread get stale? What is a cinnamon and why does it smell so good? What exactly is "taste"?

In addition, to our five core foundation areas, which we call the "KSL Program", we also teach Toddler Discovery Science, which offers individual discovery stations for toddlers to explore science, as well as theNexGen Design Lab NexGen Design Lab, which allows kids 8+ to actually spend several weeks building sustainability projects, designing and creating bags from full recycled materials, constructing remote controlled toys, and other advanced project applications of the hands-on science in the KSL Program. 

At KSL, we believe that mixed age classes are the most beneficial learning environment for hands-on science education, as it allows for collaboration, reinforcement of key science principles, and overall enrichment of the learning environment for kids.  Our classes are taught to the following age groups:

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Click our class schedule to see our detailed daily class offerings at KSL or here to see some sample classes.