Following on from our mini magnet maze last week, today we made a spooky ghost. The paper ghost rises up because the metal paperclips are attracted to the magnet.
I’ve also got lots more Halloween science ideas for you to try, including witchy potions, pumpkin optical illusions and a spooky density jar.
Spooky magnet ghost 1
What you need
- Paper
- Thick Cardboard
- Paper Clips
- Magnet
The first idea I had was to use the magnet to make a paper ghost move.
We cut out a ghost from a piece of paper and made a DUPLO stand for it. I added a couple of metal paperclips so that when the magnet came near the clips, the paper moved.
Spooky magnet ghost 2
It didn’t work quite as well as I’d hoped, so we tried another idea. This time, I cut out a ghost and some small circles from thick cardboard. We drew spiders and webs on the small circles and added a paperclip.
Holding the magnet on one side of the ghost, we could make the spiders/webs move on the other side. SPOOKY!!!
Remember – not all metals are attracted to magnets, but iron and steel ( steel is mostly iron ) are.
All about Magnetism
Magnets attract some objects but not others and can have different strengths.
Magnets have two poles. We call one the North Pole and one the South Pole. Depending on which poles you place together, they can either attract each other or repel. Opposite poles attract.
Last Updated on October 13, 2023 by Emma Vanstone
