I try very hard with Science Sparks to only use equipment and materials generally found around the home, so people don’t have to buy lots of resources to carry out our activities, but there are a few items that make great resources for Early Years settings or for a science at home box. Magnets We used…
I’ve put a lot of thought into this post, knowing it might be quite controversial, but as a female who has always loved science, studied science and then worked in a very male dominated field I am passionate about inspiring a love of science and a curiosity about the world in all children. Every single activity…
I’ve got another fun pirate themed activity today, this time demonstrating density. Density is quite a hard concept to grasp but this is a really nice introduction and full of little wow moments. Just the fact that the oil sits on the water is quite fun. We used blue water to make it look like…
This is a fun, super simple pirate themed waterproof experiment. You’ll need: Paper with a picture on it. Materials such as kitchen roll, plastic, bubble wrap, greaseproof paper, tissue paper cut into squares. Water Glue Squeezy water bottle. Instructions Draw your pirate ship. Feel the different types of material, which do you think will be…
This is a fun twist on our cardboard magnet maze and just as much fun! We simply stuck self adhesive magnets to the bottom of a small LEGO space ship and built a track on a large LEGO base plate. You can see the maze in action below. Things to consider when making a LEGO…
Building and testing boats is a fun preschool science activity for learning about the properties of materials and the effect of gradient on speed. We split the experiment into two parts. First, we tested different materials to see which worked best as a boat and then raced the boats down different inclines. This activity is also…
This is a really fun way to learn about magnetism. First, have a play to find out which objects stick to your magnets, what do you notice about them? Can you gather together a set of objects and predict which will stick to your magnet? Remember – not all metals are attracted to magnets, but…
These fizzy pirate coins are super simple to make and lots of fizzy fun. We used food colouring to make the baking soda look like rocks and added shiny coins for the children to find. First, we cleaned up some pennies to make our shiny pirate coins. To do this, we simply placed them in…
This is a great themed activity for starting to learn about properties of materials and good experimental design. The idea is to make and test pirate swords built using different materials. First we made 3 different pirate swords. You can use any materials you have handy, but we used thin cardboard, a cardboard tube and…
This simple activity is a great way to demonstrate static electricity and very easy to adapt to different themes. We’ve put a little Valentine twist on it today, but have previously made jumping frogs and jumping ghosts in the same way. Equipment Balloon Paper, cut into shapes. Tissue paper works well, but you could try any…
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