Children are natural scientists: they wonder, they poke, they ask “why?”. You don’t need special equipment to feed that curiosity. These five experiments use things you probably already have, take about 15 minutes each, and work well for children from Prep to Year 3.
How to be a scientist
Each experiment follows the same four steps, which are the heart of science at any age:
- Wonder: ask a question. “Will it sink or float?”
- Predict: guess what will happen, and say why.
- Test: try it and watch closely.
- Explain: talk about what happened. Was the prediction right? What surprised you?
Wrong predictions are good science. They’re where the learning happens.
1. Sink or float?
You need: a big bowl or the sink half full of water, and a tray of objects: an apple, a cork, a metal spoon, a plastic toy, a coin, a leaf and a sheet of foil.
Before each object goes in, your child predicts and sorts it into a “sink” pile or a “float” pile. Then test. Many children expect heavy things to sink and light things to float, so the apple is often a surprise. For a challenge, scrunch the foil into a tight ball (it sinks), then shape a fresh piece into a little boat (it floats). Same material, different shape. How many coins can the boat carry before it sinks?
2. The melting race
You need: ice cubes, a few small plates, and a cup of warm tap water.
Put one ice cube on a plate in a sunny spot, one in the shade, one in the fridge and one in the warm water. Which will melt first? Which last? Check every few minutes. Then put a little of the meltwater back in the freezer: it turns to ice again. Talk about how melting and freezing are changes that can go backwards and forwards, unlike baking a cake, which can’t be un-baked.
3. The magnet hunt
You need: a fridge magnet or toy magnet wand, and a collection of objects: paperclips, a spoon, keys, foil, a coin, a plastic lid, a steel food tin and an aluminium drink can.
Predict, then test: does the magnet stick? Children often think “all metal sticks to magnets”, so this one is full of surprises. The paperclips and steel tin will stick; the foil and aluminium can won’t, and nor will Australian coins. Sort everything into two groups and look for what the “stickers” have in common. Older children can test whether a magnet still pulls through paper, or through water in a plastic cup.
4. Shadow play
You need: a torch, a blank wall and a few toys. A dim room works best.
Shine the torch at a toy so its shadow falls on the wall. What happens when you move the toy closer to the torch? Further away? What if you move the torch? Make shadow puppets with your hands and tell a story. On a sunny day, go outside and trace around your child’s shadow with chalk in the morning, then stand in the same spot in the afternoon. The shadow has moved and changed length, because the Sun has moved across the sky. Remind children never to look straight at the Sun, and slip, slop, slap: hats and sunscreen go on before you head out.
5. Mixing colours
You need: three clear cups or jars of water, red, yellow and blue food colouring, a spoon or eyedropper, and some old towels.
Add a few drops of colour to each cup to make red, yellow and blue water. Now ask: what will happen if we mix yellow and blue? Pour a little of each into a fourth cup and find out. Try every pair to make green, orange and purple, then see what happens when all three are mixed. Food colouring stains clothes and benches, so wear old clothes and cover the table.
Keep the questions going
The best thing to say after an experiment is “I wonder what would happen if…” Let your child suggest the next test: a bigger ice cube, a different magnet, a stronger torch. You don’t need to know every answer. “Let’s find out together” is a perfect reply, and it shows your child exactly how scientists think.
