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    Home » Primary Science » Key Stage 1 Science » Ideas for learning about materials and their properties

    Ideas for learning about materials and their properties

    August 26, 2021 By Emma Vanstone 1 Comment

    We’ve got quite a collection of activity ideas for learning about materials and their properties so I’ve brought them all together in one very long post. If you have any more ideas, I’d love to hear them, so do leave a comment below. You could also share photos to the Science Sparks facebook page. Don’t forget we’ve got 100s more great science investigations for kids you can try too!

    These activities are perfect for Key Stage 1 Science in the UK, but also fun for children of any age anywhere in the world.

    Materials and their Properties Experiments

    Grouping Materials

    Try placing different household objects into an opaque bag and asking children to guess what the object is using their sense of touch, which features of the object lead them to their guess?

    Make different types of musical instruments, maracas, drums and maybe a guitar and ask the children to match the sound to the instrument.

    Image shows a young girl banging bucket drums

    Try gently banging wooden, plastic and metal items on a flat surface, how does the noise differ between each? Can you use this property to categorise the objects?

    Test objects to see if they’re magnetic, you could even make a magnet maze.

    Try sorting a group of toys into metal, plastic, wood and fabric. As a twist on this we sorted Ariel’s cave too!

    Ariel's Treasures set up as a sorting activity for kids. Image shows magnets, hair bands, plastic fish etc in sand ready to be sorted

    Practice squashing, stretching and pulling different materials to change their shape. Try play dough, fabric, paper, soft balls. Do they break? Do they go back to their original shape?

    Changing Materials – Science for Kids

    Learn about how heat changes chocolate by making rice krispie cakes or chocolate leaves.

    Find out what happens to ice when it melts, you could even make some slushy drinks.

    frozen smoothie in an ice tray seen from above - edible science for kids

    Trying freezing different food materials, water, syrup, bread, milk etc. Do some take longer to freeze/defrost than others?

    Melt sugar and make honeycomb.

    Honeycomb full of bubbles for an easy kitchen science experiment for kids

    Transform cream into butter. This takes a bit of hard work, but is worth it to see the change,

    Properties of Materials

    Investigate which materials make the best hockey puck.

    Image of an oven dish filled with ice. Milk top hockey pucks covered in different materials and a K'nex hockey puck

    Discover the best material for a superhero cape or a fairy wand?

    Can you make a superhero float using materials from around the house/school? We used pool noodle bits to make Spiderman float.

    Spiderman toy figure floating in a plastic container with small arm bands made from pool noodle

    Make your own marshmallow Olaf and test which substance sticks him together the best.

    How about designing and building a wooden bed and a mattress for the Princess and the Pea.

    A wooden bed, made from wood and cardboard for a Princess and the Pea experiment.

    Design and build a cardboard kitchen.

    Cardboard kitchen

    Discover how materials can be weak in some circumstances, but very strong in others. Egg shells are a great example of this!

    STEM Challenge - eggshell bridge

    Magnetism Investigations for Kids

    Learn about the different poles of a magnet with these easy sugru cars.

    Magnetic-cars-sugru-hack

    Or, make your own magnet maze to test different materials.

    Did you know you can use magnets to defy gravity?

    Magnet and rocket experiment
    Image taken from This IS Rocket Science

    Waterproofing Experiments for Kids

    This save the dinosaur investigation is my favourite of all my waterproofing activities! The idea is you print the free sheet of dinosaurs, cover each dinosaur in a different material and spray with water to discover which material keeps the dinosaurs the driest!

    image of a sheet with dinosaur images printed on it. Each image is covered with a different material as part of a waterproof investigation.

    Another very similar activity is my waterproof a boot investigation.

    Find out which natural materials make the most waterproof roof for a lego house.

    lego house with a roof made from sticks for a science activity

    Submerge soft toys underwater wrapped in different materials to see which is the most waterproof.

    Find out which materials make the best boat or make an umbrella for Incy Wincy spider.

    This sugar cube investigation is also great for testing how waterproof different materials are.

    sugar cube water absorbing science experiment for kids

    Sound Science Experiments for Kids

    Explore which materials work best at muffling sounds or try making a guitar and muffle the sound of that.

    A bottle xylophone is super easy to set up and sounds amazing!

    Did you know you can see sound? This fun investigation allows you to do just that!

    A straw flute is another fun sound experiment perfect for learning about pitch.

    Suitable for Key Stage 1 – Materials and their Properties 

    Can you think of anything we’ve missed?

    Collage of images for materials experiments for kids. Includes a LEGO house with a grass roof, ice cubes in a tray and dinosaur images on paper covered with different materials.

    Last Updated on August 26, 2021 by Emma Vanstone

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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. MotherGeek

      March 03, 2020 at 9:46 am

      Some brilliant ideas here – thanks 😀

      Reply

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