Behind CozyChemKids: Choosing the First Lab Tools to Teach

Behind CozyChemKids: Choosing the First Lab Tools to Teach

September 25, 2026

Dear CozyChemKids™ Families,

When I started planning CozyChemKids: Meet the Lab Tools, I knew one thing right away:

I couldn’t introduce every piece of laboratory equipment at once.

A real chemistry lab can be filled with beakers, flasks, test tubes, graduated cylinders, funnels, balances, stirring rods, burners, and so much more.

But CozyChemKids™ is designed for young learners ages 4–7.

So instead of asking, “Which tools can I fit into the book?” I asked a different question:

“Which lab tools will give a young child the best first introduction to a chemistry laboratory?”

That question helped me choose our first CozyChemKids™ lab-tool family.

🧪 We Started With Familiar Shapes

For a young child, recognizing what something looks like comes before remembering a complicated scientific name.

That is one reason I chose beakers, flasks, and test tubes.

Each has a shape that children can learn to recognize:

Beakers are wide and open at the top.

Erlenmeyer flasks have wide bottoms and narrow necks.

Test tubes are small, narrow tubes used for working with small amounts of material.

And, of course, our test tubes needed a test tube rack to help keep them standing safely upright.

These tools gave me an opportunity to introduce several important ideas without overwhelming young learners.

🧪 I Wanted Every Tool to Have a Purpose

I didn’t want children to simply memorize the names of laboratory equipment.

I wanted them to begin understanding that scientists choose tools for a reason.

Benny and Bella Beaker can help children learn that beakers are useful laboratory containers—but they are not designed for highly precise measurements.

Frankie and Flora Flask introduce different flask shapes and some of the ways scientists use them.

Ruby, Grayson, Ollie, and Sky Test Tube help children see how scientists can work with small samples.

And their wooden rack demonstrates an important laboratory idea:

Good science also means keeping your workspace organized and your equipment secure.

🧪 Teacher Thinking Meets Storytime

After more than 30 years of teaching chemistry, I know how quickly science vocabulary can become overwhelming.

That is exactly what I do not want for a child’s first experience with chemistry.

With CozyChemKids™, the goal is to introduce accurate science in small, comfortable pieces.

First, a child meets the character.

Then they notice the shape.

Then they learn the name.

Then they discover what the tool does.

Little by little, something that once looked unfamiliar starts to feel familiar.

That confidence matters.

👦🏾 Koda Says…

“We don’t have to learn the whole laboratory in one day!”

Koda is right.

Chemistry is enormous, and that is part of what makes it exciting.

There will always be another tool to discover, another question to ask, and another experiment to understand.

Our job is simply to give children a welcoming place to begin.

That’s why these particular lab tools became our first ones.

They are only the beginning.

And I can’t wait to see where our young scientists go next.

Until our next letter,

Clyresa T. Cannon

Creator of CozyChemKids™

Veteran Chemistry Teacher

And Koda 👦🏾

Every future scientist starts with confidence.

Sparking Curiosity Through Chemistry.