We know that running science activities at home
with your kids can sometimes seem like a daunting task,
but it needn’t be so!
We've got loads of different activities for you to try in our own ExpeRimental series,
and this video will help you get the most out of these,
or any indeed any science activity you want to try at home.
1: Don’t worry if you don’t know the science.
This is usually the first thing people worry about
when it comes to thinking about doing science activities at home.
The importance of these activities isn't in the learning of facts and figures.
It's to get your kids asking questions, making predictions,
and using these to design investigations.
In other words getting them to think like scientists!
If your child asks you a question and you don’t know the answer,
it’s okay to admit it!
In fact, this may present an opportunity for further exploration.
Maybe you can carry out another experiment to investigate the question.
"Can we use that important scientific discovery to have fun?
Yes, we can!"
2: Play, Look, Ask
We believe that play should be the starting point for engaging children with science.
Children can learn through play
but that learning turns into thinking scientifically
when you encourage the children to “look”
and focus their attention on certain aspects of an activity
and then to consider questions about what they think might happen.
So is there anything you could do with the spaghetti to stop it moving?
I could maybe put this in the middle here?
OK, try that!
This is just how we designed our series ExpeRimental.
For example one activity involves children trying to find faces in the environment around
them.
Before beginning they’re asked which facial features they think are the most important
in recognising faces.
Why do you guys think this looks like a face?
What features can you see?
This encourages them to think about the investigation
and make predictions before starting.
The children are then asked to take photos of the faces they find,
and then keep a tally of all the reccuring facial features to find which are the most
common.
This can then be used as the basis of further questioning.
Such as why they think some features are more important than others...
3: Ask the right questions
Do you find it easier to see the shapes with all the colours,
or easier with just the one colour?
Easier with loads of colours.
And why's that?
Whilst you’re running science activities
it’s important to ask your kids lots of questions
to keep them engaged and thinking about about what they're doing.
The way you ask these questions can also make a big difference.
So try to avoid asking simple yes/no questions.
I'm going to pour it in there, what do you think will happen?
Change a little bit of colour!
What do you think Tom?
Explode?
Maybe it will explode...
For example instead of asking “do you think this will happen”
Try to ask something along the lines of “what do you think will happen?”
This will encourage your child to think about the investigation
and make a prediction.
In doing so they’ll have to think through a number of possible outcomes.
So this cabbage water changes colour in a slightly strange way.
Shall we see if it changes colour with other things?
Yeah!
This is actually bicarbonate of soda.
What do you think might happen this time?
These predictions can then be put to the test
and can help you progress each activity through a testing phase.
This helps the kids get a sense that they are really leading the activity.
4: Feel free to go off script!
Most science activities will have a set of materials
and instructions to help you carry them out,
but if you want to go off script,
or if your child suggests modifications
it can be fun to follow these through to see what happens.
Do they think that their design for an elastic band cannon
is better than the one suggested?
If so that’s great, give it a go!
If it doesn’t work you can always return to the suggested method,
but perhaps with a greater understanding of why one works and the other doesn’t.
5: If it doesn’t work, don’t worry
What do you think would happen if we dropped it?
Bounce!
Oh!
Shall we see if it bounces?
Everyone ready...
Noo!
If an activity doesn’t work for you at home,
or you don’t get the expected outcome,
don’t see this as a failure, but instead as a learning opportunity
can you figure out what went wrong?
By tweaking the way you do things
and looking at how this affects an outcome
you can begin to work like scientists.
If you’d like to get some ideas for science activities to run at home,
check out our Experimental series
Each activity is designed to be carried out using everyday household items
Whether it be building towers with spaghetti and marshmallows,
or carrying out brain bending illusions.
Each activity is supported with each own video
and a printable fact sheet to help you run through each activity step-by-step.
So what are you waiting for?