Easy Science Challenges for Kids

Our Summer holidays are about to start, so I thought it would be a good time to spruce up this post full of Summer Science Challenges for kids. All the activities are very simple and use mostly things you probably already have around the house.

For an ultimate summer of science, try one activity each day, or just pick and choose the ones you like when you have a bit of spare time!

Science Challenges with FREE printables - easy science challenges for kids to do at home or school. Free printables included! #scienceforkids #scienceexperimentsforkids #sciencechallenges — Summer Science Challenges

Why do a science challenge?

Science challenges are great as they give children the opportunity to work with more freedom than a traditional science experiment. Open-ended challenges can be great for teamwork and independent creative thinking. They’re also great for a parent/child project, too!

FREE Printable Science Challenges

The lovely Mrs Mactivity has created some fun printable science challenges that you can cut out and use as prompts. Scroll to the bottom of the post to download.

If you haven’t heard of Mrs Mactivity, do go and take a look at her website; she has some wonderful primary resources available.

Science Challenges for Summer

Build a tower with sugar cubes

A sugar cube tower is a fantastic, inexpensive STEM challenge. Children can build tall towers or bigger structures.

How tall can you build a tower before it falls down?
What happens if you spray the cubes with water?
Can you add anything to stop water travelling up the columns of cubes?

Science Challenge 1 – Sugar Cube Structures

Make your own lava lamp

All you need to make a lava lamp is oil, water and an Alka Seltzer or effervescent vitamin tablet. These are great as they can be used over and over again. Just wait for the reaction to stop, add a bit more Alka Seltzer, and it’ll start all over again!

Lava Lamp Science challenge. Make a lava lamp as a summer science challenge. — Lava Lamp Challenge

Make a treasure map

Use coffee or tea to colour paper and create a fun treasure map.

This is great for experimenting with different concentrations of liquid. A more concentrated tea or coffee solution will give a darker coloured map.

Image of a child dressed as a pirate holding a homemade treasure map. — Homemade Treasure Map

Invisible ink

Mix a little lemon or lime juice with water and write a message on a piece of paper.

Ask an adult to put it in the oven, and the message will appear.

Secret message with lemon or lime juice. — Invisible Ink

What can you build with a cardboard box?

Can you build something functional with a cardboard box?

We added a kitchen roll holder and space for a sink to our cardboard kitchen.

cardboard box kitchen — Cardboard Box Kitchen

Make a solar oven

Make a delicious dessert with a solar oven! This is a great activity for learning about reflecting and absorbing materials.

Simple sinking and floating

Design a sinking and floating experiment. This is a great paddling pool science activity on a warm summer day.

Children can make predictions first, then investigate to see if they’re correct. Some items might surprise them!

Sink or float summer science challenge — Sink or Float Challenge

Spinning Felt Tip Pens

Use cardboard discs to make spinning pens. You can make these with paper and thinner or thicker card to see which works best.

Coke and Mento Reaction

Drop a mento into a bottle of fizzy drink and watch what happens. Remember to stand back and drop the mento in as fast as you can!

As an extra challenge, kids can investigate whether low sugar drinks erupt better than full sugar varieties.

The coke and mento reaction is a science activity everyone should try at least once.

Coke and mento reaction - two bottles of cola and mentos create a sticky explosion for a science challenge — Coke and Mento Eruption

Investigate which substances react with baking soda

Can you predict which substances will react with baking soda? Were your predictions correct?

Challenge 10 – What reacts with baking soda?

Go on a bug hunt

Looking for bugs is a fantastic summer science challenge that doesn’t cost anything. Download my FREE bug hunt template to make it even easier!

Set up an easy egg drop experiment

Something like our Humpty Dumpty egg drop experiment always works well. The idea is to place an egg in a bag filled with a protective material and then drop the bag to investigate which material best protects the egg.

Blow up a balloon

Blow up a balloon with Alka Seltzer or an effervescent vitamin tablet. Alka Seltzer and water react together, releasing carbon dioxide gas. The gas fills the space in the container and then fills the balloon, inflating it!

Build a structure with marshmallows and straws

Warning – marshmallow and straw towers can be a bit sticky, but is great fun and a fantastic team building science activity.

Summer STEM Challenge - marshmallow towers

Make a marble maze

Design and build a LEGO marble maze? Or use marbles inside a cardboard box.

Make a Baking Soda Volcano

The volcano below is made using papier mache, but sand also works well!

Check out our baking soda volcano ideas for inspiration.

Baking Soda Reactions

Set up some simple baking soda reactions outdoors. These could be fairy themed, witchy potions or just simple messy play.

Make Music

Play a tune using water and glass bottles. If you don’t have glass bottles, make a guitar by stretching elastic bands over a cardboard box.

Square Bubbles

You can’t really create a square bubble, but you can create something that looks like a square bubble using a cube frame dipped in bubble mix.

How strong is a Candy House

Build a house from sweets. We usually experiment with different types of “glue” to find out which works the best.

Once the house is built, the fun bit is testing how strong it is!

Ice Painting

Try some ice painting, simply freeze a sheet of ice or an ice shape and paint over the top. Once finished, you can wipe away your creation and start over.

Find the colours of the rainbow

Search for the colours of the rainbow in a bubble. When light from the sun shines through the bubbles, it is reflected and dispersed, splitting white light into its different wavelengths and revealing all the colours of the rainbow!

Split light with a prism

Can you split light into a rainbow using a prism?

make a rainbow with a prism - easy science challenge for kids — Make a rainbow with a prism

Make ice cream with ice and salt

Use ice and salt to make ice cream from milk. This is a delicious activity for a sunny day. The salt lowers the freezing point of the ice, which then draws heat from the milk mixture, causing it to freeze.

Dissect a flower

Can you dissect a flower and separate the parts? Do you know the function of each?

Fairy Potions

Make a fairy potion, collect flowers and herbs to make a lovely smelling potion. Does the water change colour? Which smells are the strongest?

Jumping Frogs

Make jumping frogs from tissue paper to learn about static electricity? The tissue paper frogs jump up to a balloon charged with static electricity.

Sand Volcano

Make a volcano with sand. We covered this one with cling film to keep the sand clean and then made a food colouring, baking soda and water mix for the eruption.

Baking Soda Explosion

Create a fizzy baking soda explosion using baking soda, vinegar and food colouring. This is a fantastic way to learn about chemical reactions in a fun, hands-on and visual way.

Build a raft

Build a raft with sticks and test to see if it floats. Children can try to waterproof the bottom of the raft and add toy animals or other objects as an extension task.

Cork boats

Design and build a cork boat, and then test it to see if it floats. This is a great challenge for learning about buoyancy.

Rainbow in water

Can you spot a rainbow in a spray of water? This is an easy way to see light split into its constituent colours!

STEM challenge - rainbow in a stream of water

Spin art pictures

Use a salad spinner to make a spin art picture. These look amazing and are super easy to make.

Slime time!

Create colourful slime using cornstarch, water, and food colouring.

Scrunch it to make it solid and then watch it run through your fingers as it turns into a liquid!

Football Box Game

Make a football in a box game by blowing down a straw to move marbles covered in paint. Try blowing softly and then harder to see how the marble moves.