States of Matter Worksheet: Exploring Solids, Liquids, and Gases!

How to use this worksheet

Look at each image on the worksheet together and describe what it is and how it behaves — does it hold its shape, flow, or float freely in the air? Ask your child to decide whether each image shows a solid, liquid, or gas, and match or sort it into the correct category. For hands-on reinforcement, use playdough to represent a solid and let your child feel how it holds its shape unlike water. Review all the sorted images together, restating why each one belongs in its group.

Materials needed

• Pencil
• Playdough
• Grains

Extension activities

• 1Watch an ice cube melt into water, then boil the water and watch steam rise, observing all three states of the same substance in one sitting.
• 2Sort household items into solid, liquid, or gas groups, like a block, juice, and a balloon full of air.
• 3Use playdough to build a 'solid' shape and compare how it differs from pouring water into a cup.
• 4Draw a picture of the same substance (like water) in all three states side by side.