The 2024 Olympics are to be held in Paris, France, for the first time in over 100 years! Olympic sports include athletics, team sports, climbing, surfing, swimming, tennis, skateboarding, and even breakdancing! The Olympics are always fun to watch, and sport is full of exciting science, from the importance of aerodynamics and forces of motion to the all important nutrition and fitness. The 2024 summer of sport is a great time to explore sports science with demonstrations, science investigations and STEM projects. Olympic Themed Science Activities For Kids Magnet climbing wall Question – can yo ..read more

We’re getting ready for the 2024 Olympics with a fun javelin STEM challenge. A javelin is a light spear thrown by hand. In athletics, it is a field event where competitors try to throw it as far as possible. A great javelin throw is a combination of the thrower’s strength and ability and physics! Competitors need to consider several factors. Release angle – an angle of around 40 degrees is thought to be optimal for a javelin throw. Release height – generally, the higher the release, the better. Javelin speed – the faster the javelin is moving when it’s released the further it will travel. This ..read more

Wimbledon has started, and tennis fans in the UK have been very excited, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some lovely tennis science investigation ideas. These easy activities are brilliant for outdoor learning and work well in a home or school environment. Easy Tennis Themed Science Experiments Tennis Ball Catapult First up is our fantastic tennis ball catapult, perfect for some backyard tennis fun. Try using different sized balls and catapults to investigate how the distance and trajectory of the balls change. Ask a friend to hit the ball back with a racquet for an extra challe ..read more

The colour of an object is the colour it reflects, while other colours are absorbed. White reflects all the colours of the spectrum, while black absorbs all the colours, reflecting very little back. Visible white light from the sun consists of seven colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. When white light hits a white object, all the colours are reflected back. When white light hits a red object, red is reflected back, and the other colours are absorbed. It’s thought that humans can see around 1 million different colours! In this investigation, ice cubes are placed on bl ..read more

This simple, absorbing activity is a hands-on way to learn about the different flags of the world and can be turned into a colourful science investigation. The idea is that washable felt tip pens are used to draw a flag on one half of a kitchen towel ( kitchen roll ) sheet. The kitchen towel is then folded in half so the colours cannot be seen until the kitchen towel is placed in water. When the towel gets wet, the ink dissolves into the water and is absorbed by the kitchen towel’s top layer, revealing the flag’s colours! We used the idea behind this activity to learn about flags for Euro 2024 ..read more

EURO 2024 is about to kick off, which seems like a good time to share some football-themed science experiments and sporty STEM Challenges These ten hands-on football STEM activities will keep kids engaged and learning while exploring the science behind the game. Bouncing balls Find out why balls bounce with a simple science investigation using different sizes and shapes of balls. Waterproof a football Learn about waterproof and non-waterproof materials with a simple waterproof a football science activity. The idea is to cover a drawing of a football boot with different materials and sprinkle e ..read more

This easy football-themed science activity is similar to my waterproof a boot investigation. The idea is to test various materials to determine which are waterproof and which are not. It’s a lovely visual way to learn how different materials have different properties. I wrote this activity to coincide with Euro 2024, but it also ties in with the Olympics, Football World Cup or any other time of year. Waterproof a football boot To make the investigation as reliable as possible, there are a few things to think about. The same amount of water should be used for each material, and the same type of ..read more

Did you know you can separate salt and pepper with static electricity? It works because pepper is lighter than salt, so while both salt and pepper are attracted to an object charged with static electricity, only the lighter pepper jumps up. Static electricity is the build-up of electrical charge on the surface of an object. It is created when objects are rubbed together or pulled apart. Positive charges build up on the surface of one object, and negative charges on the other. How to separate salt and pepper with static electricity You’ll need Salt Pepper Bowl Balloon/plastic spoon or PVC pipe ..read more

Universal Time or Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC ) is the world’s reference point for time. It’s like a huge, extremely accurate clock for everyone, no matter where they are on Earth. Universal Time was once based on Greenwich Mean Time, which is based on the Earth’s rotation, but that has changed to precise atomic clocks, which are much more accurate. UTC doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time and is 1 hour behind the UK. See the current Coordinated Universal Time. Last Updated on June 12, 2024 by Emma Vanstone The post What is Universal Time? appeared first on Science Experiments for Kids ..read more

When I asked parents what put them off doing science experiments at home, one of the reasons was the mess, which, after many a gloop covered kitchen floor, I can definitely empathise with. So today, I’m sharing fun outdoor science experiments that make it much easier to clean up afterwards. Awesome Outdoor Science Experiments for Kids Splatter patterns This one is messy wherever you do it, but we loved making these splatter patterns so much that I had to include them. If you don’t want to use paint, water works too. Outdoor rocket projects DIY rockets are a great outdoor science activity ..read more