The final entry in my ‘Activities for Children at Home’ series looks at a range of activities related to Science. Hopefully, this gives you some ideas of investigations and activities you can do with your child at home. Previous entries have included activities related to Maths, History, Geography, Art, English, Music and PE.
Planting – There are a wide range of things you could plant with your child. Plant a seed and check on it each day to see it grow into a beautiful flower. Or perhaps, you could start a small vegetable patch in your garden. If not, cress is always a good one to grow inside. If you don’t have anything new to plant, just keep a close eye on any plants in and around your home. Watch them change with the weather and passing of time.
Meal Planning – Discuss the different food groups with your child and talk about the importance of a balanced diet. Task children with planning meals for the week using what you have in your home whilst also covering all the important food groups.
The Night Sky – Ask your children to complete a Moon Diary. Each night, children can look outside before they go to bed and draw the shape of the moon. This way, over the course of a month, children will be able to record the various phases of the moon. If it’s a clear night, take your children outside and look up at the stars. Stargazing is a lovely, calming activity and if you print some constellations, children can try to spot them.
Parachutes – Use old plastic bags to make parachutes. Cut a square from the plastic and attach string to each corner. Tie the four strings together. Children can then drop their parachutes, either by standing on a chair (with supervision) or from a first floor window. They can use a phone or tablet stopwatch to time how long it takes the parachute to fall to the ground. After, they can investigate how different variables affect the time (e.g. the size of the parachute, the shape of the parachute, lengths of the strings, material used etc.). The results could prompt discussions about air resistance and gravity.
Tooth Decay – It can sometimes be a chore getting children to brush their teeth. After this investigation, they’ll want to make sure they keep their teeth healthy. Use egg shell to represent tooth enamel and put some shell in different types of drink (e.g. water, milk, orange juice, cola etc.) and, over the following days, watch what happens to the egg shell.
How Much Sugar? – Look at the packaging of various food items to find out how many grams of sugar is inside. Your child can then measure out that quantity of sugar using kitchen scales. This is a great way for children to actually visualise how much sugar they may be consuming in different food and drink items.
Shadows – Talk about shadows with your children, explaining that they are created when a light source is blocked. The shadow will be formed on the opposite side to the light source. This can lead to a range of activities. Children can go outside and draw around each other’s shadows in chalk. They could also make shadow puppets to put on a short play. A simple yet effective idea is to make different shapes with their hands to create shadows on the wall.
The Water Cycle – Discuss the water cycle and the way water is evaporated from the ground by the sun’s heat. The water vapour rises into the air and forms clouds. As the clouds become cooler, it begins to rain. This process is known as condensation. You can demonstrate evaporation and condensation with your children. Mix water and salt until the salt dissolves. Pour this into a baking tray and place in the oven to heat it up. When you remove the baking tray, only the salt crystals will remain as the water will have evaporated. To demonstrate condensation, hold a cold plate above a boiling kettle. When the steam hits the cold surface, it will turn to water.
Thanks for reading. I hope you manage to try out some of these suggestions. Use the button below to let me how you get on or to offer more science activity ideas! ??????
This is the last entry in the ‘Activities for Children at Home’ series. If you’re looking for more educational yet fun activities to keep your children occupied, check out my previous posts sharing activities related to Maths, History, Geography, Art, English, Music and PE. ?
