Kid’s Activities

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10 Science and Nature Experiments to do While at Home

A close up macro picture of a dandelion.

 

Finding Science Around Your Home

As I write I'm stuck inside, because of COVID 19, much like children and adults everywhere. Home schooling has become the norm, but mostly on the computer. As an outdoor educator I'm struggling to find nature myself (while limiting outside time), and also missing teaching students and visitors. So I decided to write about science and nature experiments that you can do at home.

What exactly is an experiment? 

I love etymology, so let's look at the word "experiment". It comes from the Latin "experimentum", from "experiri" which means to try. When scientists get a hold of the word it becomes, "A scientific procedure undertaken to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact." That sounds dry and so unfun that you almost want to choke. When you're at home and working with kids, I like the words "try" or "discovery" best. However, for older students especially it's a good practice to make educated guesses. I think too much emphasis is put on younger students doing "real" science and not just exploring and understanding the foundations of their world first. But that's my soap box....

Let's get to the meat of science experiments of kids.  Here is a list of experiments for today's blog:

  1. MICRO WORLD-Using clip-on lenses and smart phones to magnify nature
  2. KITCHEN SCIENCE-Using clip-on lenses and smart phones for kitchen science exploration
  3. NATURE OBSERVATION- Nature scavenger hunt walk & photo Journey
  4. SOUNDS- Soundscaping your home
  5. BOTANY- Seed sock walk
  6. BIRD SOUNDS-Bird sound identification (inside and out)
  7. ANIMAL BEHAVIOR- Studying ants & making ants (or termites) march in a circle
  8.  ANATOMY- Human or animal anatomy chalk drawing
  9. BALANCE- Make a nature mobile from found objects
  10. SINKING AND FLOATING- Build a twig boat

...continue reading →

 

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NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKING GAMES TO GET KIDS TO DRINK WATER

Get kids to drink water (Photo: Maxpixel)

Get Kids To Drink by Transforming Alcoholic Drinking Games into Kid-Friendly Ones

This post is a bit off the main track of what I usually do, but it's very critical to the field I work in: outdoor education. I teach students of all ages, in all weather, and I find that one of the things that children (and adults) forget to do is drink water. Never mind the fact that it's a struggle just to get visitors just to bring water (4 oz bottles don't count), drinking water is even tougher when there are exciting things to do and see outside with our guides. However, it's critical to keep everyone hydrated. If you want to get kids to drink water it can be challenging to keep their attention. To this end I have put together a list of fun games that you can play with large or small groups of people to get them to drink water. Most of these have been converted from traditional alcoholic drinking games to kids-friendly versions.

...continue reading →

 

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Night-time Summer Activities for Kids

barred owl wiki
Barred owl at night (Photo: Wiki Commons).

Keep Kids Busy and Learning on Summer Nights

This time of year is one of my favorites, it's warm enough to sit outside around a campfire, listen to the night sounds, play music, tell stories, or roast marshmallows. I've been asked to suggest some fun but also educational science activities for kids at dusk or night-time.

Night-time summer activities can be fun, and what you can depends on where you are, how safe the environment is to move around at night, and the age of the kids. Here are a few ideas you might consider:

...continue reading →