A few years ago, I helped a local school create a space science day. We had a whole afternoon of Tim Peake and International Space Station themed activities. The idea was to take the children on a journey starting with whole class film canister rockets, followed by a docking with the ISS game, and then an…
Today’s round-up is full of great weather science experiments and investigation ideas. Learn about extreme weather with a tornado in a jar, record rainfall over a period of time, create a water cycle in a bag and lots more easy ideas for learning about the weather. Observing the weather is a great way to practice…
Do you think you have fast reactions? Have you ever measured your reaction time? Did you know you can test your reaction time using just a ruler? Reaction time is the time it takes for a person to respond to a stimulus. For example, if you touch something very cold, there is a slight delay…
We’ve made many different mini catapults before, but this was our first attempt at a large version. We had SO much fun with our giant catapult, inspiring many different investigation opportunities. You can use balls of different sizes and measure how far they travel or how high they go. Another idea is to dip balls…
Here at Science Sparks we believe you’re never too young to develop a passion for science, engineering and learning and so have pulled together a collection of simple engineering projects for kids to inspire even the youngest potential engineer. Did you know the word ‘engine’ comes from the Latin ingenium which means clever? Engineering is all…
Several years ago, we started creating Easter egg hunts with codes as clues to make searching for the eggs take a bit longer. The codes started out very simple ( letters replaced with numbers ) but have become increasingly complex over the years. I’ve created some free printable easter egg codes to make this year’s…
Today, we’re learning about friction with some fun friction experiments! First up is a super simple DIY friction ramp. This is a great way to demonstrate how some surfaces have more friction between themselves and another object than others. What is Friction? Have you ever tried sliding on a wooden floor or an icy surface?…
We’ve looked at how objects absorb water before using sponges, underpants and even the good old walking water experiment. Today, we’re conducting an absorbing experiment with a twist, aiming to halt the process and investigate which materials absorb water and which don’t. Sugar cubes work well as they absorb water quickly, and if you add…
These easy squeezy bottle rockets are great fun to make and a brilliant introduction to forces, in particular Newton’s Third Law of motion, which sounds complicated but actually makes a lot of sense. What is Newton’s Third Law? For every action there is always an opposite and equal reaction. Think about a space rocket taking…
Did you know the light around us ( white light ) is made up of all the colours of the rainbow? This easy rainbow STEM challenge shows you how to make a rainbow inside with a prism and outside with a hosepipe! Rainbows form when sunlight is refracted and dispersed in drops of rain or mist. Sunlight slows down…
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