In the next few weeks we are going to cover some science activities you can do with your pet cat.

Prior to getting started with the activities, I have to share this. When I started writing this post, I did a quick Internet search to check what science activities with cats were available. I found a website with instructions for a preschool activity on demonstrating how to wash a cat. If you have ever tried to wash a cat, you will understand why number 7 below made me laugh out loud.

(Please do not actually try this as an activity for preschoolers).

“Materials needed for the Activity:
1. Cat or Kitten, for demonstration purposes.
2. A Cat Brush.
3. Pet Shampoo.
4. Bucket or Baby Bath.
5. Jug.
6. Towel
7. Flee Powder.”

Although I did once have a cat that enjoyed a bath (or at least didn’t fuss), most of the cats I have tried to bathe act like they have been powdered by “flee powder!”

For our first real activity:

To start learning more about your cat, you might want to start observing its behavior closely. My son enjoyed taking his cheap digital camera and following the cat around taking candid shots. If your camera doesn’t do so for you, record the time and date of each photo. Take some notes about what you see your cat doing at different times of day. This is great data recording practice. If you get enough data, you can even graph your cat’s daily activity patterns. Let me know if you need some more information on this.

Here are some of the results. Can you tell what the cat is doing? Why do you think he might do these things? The answers will be posted next week.

1.

cat on bed

2.

cat by post

3.

cat on ground

4.

cat with grass

Big Note: Before I get 100’s of angry comments from bird lovers about how the cat is outside, let me assure you the cat in these pictures was in a tiny fenced area with plenty of supervision. I can personally attest that he never touched a single bird throughout his entire life.

And I can also assure you that he was not positioned, posed or harassed for any on the photos.