Sneak Some Science into Summer

I can’t believe it’s already mid-July, and there are only a couple weeks left in the Summer Activities Challenge (and only half of summer!). The great thing about the Challenge that we hear from many of the participants is that it’s a great way to transition kids to the new school year by reviewing important concepts – while taking part in a fun contest complete with cool prizes (like a $500 Back to School Splurge or one of 10 indoor/outdoor kids croquet sets).

From using a rainbow of liquids to explore acoustics to making a worm “hotel”, many of our science-themed activities are chock-full of basic (and more advanced) science skills – just don’t tell your kids when they’re ooh-ing and aah-ing. Here are five favorites from Education.com members:

-Fossilize Your Footprints: one visitor suggested using this play-dough “fossil” activity as a learning opportunity to discover local fossils and talk about the job of a paleontologist.

-Make Gak: This one sounds like it’s just plain fun, but it’s also a great excuse to learn about states of matter. A few of our members had a great idea: add some food coloring to liven it up.

-Make a Mini Marshmallow Popper: What’s better than exploring physics? Exploring physics, and then getting to snack on some marshmallows… Samantha says this was “GREAT fun! Especially for boys!”

-The Incredible Flexible Egg Experiment: You’ve got to see this one to believe it. Plus, all it takes is a hard-boiled egg, glass bottle, matches, and an adult helper. Sheila told us that this one is “Soooo easy and yet soooo cool. It’s still one of my favorite ‘tricks.’”

-Make a Soda Bottle Greenhouse: Attention green thumbs! Kara mentioned that her son had been wanting a garden, and “this gives him a way to have a small garden himself.”

And that’s not all! We have science activities for all grades and all themes, from ones that take days to create to experiments that take seconds to observe.

If you try any of these out, make sure to add them to click “We did this activity!” to add them to your Summer Activities Challenge. Remember: you only have to complete five fun activities for a chance to win.

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