Summer Science Fun

Summer is a great time to help children discover their inner scientist.  There are so many things just waiting to be explored.  Things that grow, things that crawl or fly, and things that react.  Science is all around us.  Science is cooking, gardening, weather, and so much more.  You don't need to be a rocket scientist to teach science to your children.  All you really need to do to make everyday activities a science lesson is encourage your children to really observe what is happening, then explain the why and the how of it.  Of course, if you're a supermom you can do a little research on the topic and find an actual lesson plan or some worksheets, but that isn't required in order for children to learn.  All that is needed is some information they didn't know before, and some fun.  For example, our first science project we are doing this summer is making rock candy.  We browsed a couple of websites that taught us how crystals form.  Then we found a recipe and instructions for making rock candy.  We've been observing them for several days, enjoying seeing how much they have grown from day to day.  Learning never tasted so good!  I've been searching the internet for other ideas for science projects we can do over the summer, and decided to share some of my findings with you.

Have a kid or two who absolutely love dinosaurs?  Just think how much fun they will have making their own fossils!  Rock Hound Blog has a great idea for making your own amber fossil.  Dr. Cavanaugh's website lists instructions for making mold fossils, cast fossils, trace fossils, and whole animal fossils.  

Perhaps your children are backyard explorers.  When my boys were little, they could always be found digging in the backyard. They loved bugs and worms.  Home Science Tools sells everything a backyard explorer could need or want.  They also give instructions for making an insect collection, building a wormery, and making your own compass.

My daughter on the other hand, loves to be in the kitchen.  She really wants to learn about the science of cooking this summer.  Education.com shares ideas for baking a chemistry cake, making glue out of milk (which I didn't even know was possible), and a tasty idea for using cookies and frosting to explore how to mix colors.

No matter where you live, you have weather.  It is everywhere.  Children are either fascinated by it or scared of it. Weather Wiz Kids has explanations and experiments that are sure to appeal to both.  I particularly want to try to make a cloud, make a rainbow, and make lightning.  They even have an experiment that explains why the sky is blue!

The world around us is an amazing place, and we can learn so much by simply slowing down and exploring it.  What science explorations are you doing this summer?  Let me know in the comments below.

Karissa