National Science Week is here!
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know I’m an unapologetic science nerd. So to celebrate my favourite week of the year I’ve put together eleven fun and thrifty ideas to celebrate Science Week at your place. No big messes – pinky promise!
11 fun and thrifty science week ideas
Make a water xylophone.
Experiment with different levels of water. Try to predict how adding water will change their sound.
Observe some insects in the back yard.
How many legs do they have? What special adaptations to they have to suit their buggy life?
Stand in the backyard and listen to the birds.
How many different calls can you hear? Try to describe them.
Make a frog life cycle
What other life cycles can you describe?
Have fun with static electricity.
Rub a balloon on your head and make your hair stand on end.
Watch science at work in the kitchen
Bake some bread and watch yeast in action. Or watch the bicarb and boiling water mix fizz when you make ANZAC biscuits.
Experiment with buoyancy.
Fill a tub with water, make shapes out of foil and try to predict what will float and what will sink.
Play with some rubber bands.
Will they behave the same way after they’ve been in the freezer for a few hours?
Play with cornflour.
Mix cornflour, food colouring and water in a bowl to make a thick paste. Then experiment with fluids and viscosity. Try stirring slowly – shouldn’t be too difficult. Try stirring really fast – almost impossible! Punch it and see what happens!
Go on a photo scavenger hunt.
Make a list (or download this one) and tick it off as you go.
Plant seeds and watch them grow.
Do seeds planted in the shade grow as quickly as seeds planted in the sun?
Join a citizen science project.
Older kids might like to be part of a citizen science project and contribute to real-life scientific research.
My kids will love these ideas, we’re all about experiments around here! I am intrigued about the rubber band one!