Attitude toward science has been recognized as highly influential in students' engagement with science and future career choices. Science is important in our everyday lives as well, in a society demanding more scientific vocations and higher levels of scientific literacy. There is little research on how attitudes develop and evolve at early ages, which may be due to a lack of appropriate measurement tools. The objective of this study is to design and validate a tool to measure attitude toward informal science in 5 to 6‐year‐old children, who are not yet familiarized with “formal science.” Rather, these children are constantly interacting and learning about their surrounding world. These early experiences are important for future science engagement. The Leisure Time in Science (LeTiS) scale consists of eight pictures representing science learning activities in informal environments. Children's intentions of performing the activities shown in the LeTiS pictures are measured by comparing them with other leisure nonscientific activities. We also analyze parents' views on their children's leisure interests for comparison. The relationship among attitudes, intentions, and interests is also analyzed as part of this study involving 387 children and 188 parents. LeTiS is a pictographic scale, which is easy to interpret, with reliable psychometric properties, Oω = .88, and a unidimensional factorial structure. The results show that participants, aged 5–6, have a very positive attitude, with no gender‐based differences. Nevertheless, their intentions to perform the activities are less promising, as nonscientific activities are consistently the first choice. Although parents' views report considerable science interest in their children, there is a low correlation with attitudes and intentions. The findings may offer clues on the relationship between children's attitudes toward science and their actual behavior. The study may also contribute to planning science curriculum in the early educational years.

中文翻译：

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早期对非正式科学的态度以及科学休闲时间（LeTiS）（象形文字）的发展

人们对科学的态度已被认为对学生对科学的参与和未来职业选择有很大的影响。在一个要求更多科学职业和更高水平科学素养的社会中，科学在我们的日常生活中也很重要。关于态度在早期的发展和演变的研究很少，这可能是由于缺乏适当的测量工具所致。这项研究的目的是设计和验证一种工具，以测量尚未熟悉“正规科学”的5至6岁儿童对非正规科学的态度。相反，这些孩子正在不断地交流和了解他们周围的世界。这些早期经验对于将来从事科学活动至关重要。科学休闲时间（LeTiS）比例包括八张图片，代表非正式环境中的科学学习活动。通过将LeTiS图片中显示的儿童与其他非科学休闲活动进行比较，可以衡量儿童的意图。我们还分析了父母对孩子的休闲兴趣的观点，以进行比较。作为这项研究的一部分，还分析了态度，意愿和兴趣之间的关系，涉及387名儿童和188名父母。LeTiS是象形刻度，易于解释，具有可靠的心理计量学特性，O 比较孩子的休闲兴趣。作为这项研究的一部分，还分析了态度，意愿和兴趣之间的关系，涉及387名儿童和188名父母。LeTiS是象形刻度，易于解释，具有可靠的心理计量学特性，O 比较孩子的休闲兴趣。作为这项研究的一部分，还分析了态度，意愿和兴趣之间的关系，涉及387名儿童和188名父母。LeTiS是象形刻度，易于解释，具有可靠的心理计量学特性，Oω = .88，是一维阶乘结构。结果表明，年龄在5至6岁之间的参与者态度非常积极，没有基于性别的差异。但是，他们执行活动的意图不太乐观，因为非科学活动始终是首选。尽管父母的观点表明他们对孩子的科学兴趣浓厚，但与态度和意图的相关性却很低。这些发现可能为儿童对科学态度与实际行为之间的关系提供线索。该研究还可能有助于在早期教育阶段规划科学课程。