Summer is a great time to get outdoors, play, explore and learn at the same time. I often find that if I set up some outdoor science experiments, my children keep coming back to them over a period of weeks or days, each adding their own twist to the activity.
Here are 10 of my favourite outdoor science experiments!
Teddy Zip Line
We’ve had zip lines set up in our garden for weeks. Children can experiment by using different materials for the zip line, changing the gradient, designing different harnesses and using different shapes and sizes of riders!
Giant Oobleck Tray
This giant oobleck tray is so much fun! You just need a big tray, a rather large amount of cornflour and some water. Kids can try to run across the gloop before they sink.
Take care with this one as the surface can be slippy
Fruity Boats
These fruity boats are super easy to make and great fun to use on a water table. Children can use lemons, limes, melons and any other fruit they fancy trying.
How Tall is a Tree?
Take a trip into the forest to find out how tall a tree is. While you’re there, ask children to look for animal footprints and listen for animal sounds.
Build a Mud Kitchen
Set children a challenge to create their own mud kitchen using planks of wood or even a cardboard box. Once the kitchen is done, kids can make fizzy potions or just mud pies!
Straw Shooters
Straw shooters are great, as children can theme them in any way they want. We’ve made rockets, spacemen, spiders and even Father Christmas-themed shooters before. They’re also a great way to learn about aerodynamics.
Giant Bubbles
Make your own bubble mixture and some GIANT bubbles! Children can also look for rainbows in bubbles
Science with Scooters
Grab a scooter and try some fun scooter science!
Create a Water Wall
Water walls are great fun and actually very easy to put together. You just need some plastic tubing, funnels, buckets and something to attach it to!
Splatter Patterns
This fun splatter pattern activity is fantastically messy. Drop paint-filled balloons and observe the splatter pattern they make as they hit a white sheet of paper.
Syringe painting is also great fun for a sunny day! Fill syringes with paint and fire them at a sheet hung on the fence or a large sheet of paper.
Can you think of any more outdoor science experiments for us?
Last Updated on July 7, 2023 by Emma Vanstone
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