8 minute read
Outdoor science fun
Outdoor
SCIENCE FUN TheDadLab founder and father of two, Sergei Urban, shares some fantastic outdoor activities to entertain the kids while learning about science along the way.
As a parent, it’s common to find yourself in a rut and doing the same activities with your children. But I am always looking for new ways to entertain my kids with activities that are both fun and educational at the same time.
I’ve always been keen to experiment and try new things, and so, together with my children Alex (10) and Max (8), we tried and tested a whole host of fun activities to share with other families on social media. As a busy dad, I look for things I can do with items we already have around the home. This way, we can quickly do something without much need for planning. Here are three of my favourite outdoor projects.
STEP 1 STEP 2
Step by step:
1. To make your river, roll out a long strip of tin foil. . 2. Turn up the edges and ends to keep the water contained. 3. Fill your river with water – you can use a garden hose, a bucket or a jug. 4. Next, get a small square of paper and a toothpick. Carefully pierce the paper at one side, then thread it through and pierce the paper again to make a sail. 5. Take a milk bottle lid and a small amount of plasticine. Roll the plasticine into a ball and press it into the lid. Now, attach your sail.
Put this to one side. 6. Finally, sail your boat down your river and observe what it does.
Whose boat will win the race?
EXPLAINER
This is a great start to learning about rivers, the water cycle, and even flooding – if your foil river collapses at one side, for example. It can also be a useful aid to discuss gravity and how a steeper gradient will lead to a faster flowing river – or even a waterfall.
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STEP 5
STEP 6
EXPERIMENT 1 TIN FOIL RIVER
You can learn so much just by observing water – and it’s loads of fun too! Most kids love water play, whether it’s splashing in the bathtub, playing in a paddling pool or jumping waves at the beach. Kids who love water will love the Tin Foil River activity. All you need is a gentle slope, a roll of tin foil and some water, and you can have a river in your own back garden. Although this activity is best on warmer days, there’s no reason why you can’t do this at any time of year as long as you wrap up warm.
What you need:
Tin foil Paper Scissors Toothpicks Water Milk bottle lids BluTack or plasticine STEP 4 STEP 3
EXPERIMENT 2 CHANGING ANTS’ COLOURS
Insects are a fantastic way to show kids the wonders of the natural world. When sharing our Earth with your children, sometimes the littlest of things have the biggest impact. With a fascinating way of living and moving, ants are an excellent gateway into developing a love of nature. With this ant colour-changing experiment, children will be in awe at the influence they can have on these miniature beings.
STEP 1
What you need:
3 small glasses Sugar Warm water 3x food colouring Water Pipette Magnifying glass
STEP 2
STEP 3
Step by step:
1. Put one heaped teaspoon of sugar in each glass. 2. Add a small amount of warm water. 3. Stir each glass – you might need to use the end of the teaspoon if your glasses are really small.
4. Add a few drops of food colouring to each glass, making sure you use a different colour for each one. 5. Stir the mixture, being careful not to mix the colours. 6. Gather your pipette and your solutions and head outside. 7. Find a clean surface (a small whiteboard is ideal) and use the pipette to add a drop of each colour sugar solution onto it.
STEP 7
STEP 4
STEP 5
STEP 6 STEP 8
8. Use the magnifying glass to observe what happens to the ants. Do you see their abdomens grow and take on the colour of the sugar solution?
EXPLAINER
Ants’ abdomens are semi-transparent, so you will be able to see them gain colour as they sip the solution. If you’ve ever spilt a sweet drink in summer, you’ll likely have noticed ants feasting on it. Ants like sugar for a few reasons. First, they need energy from carbohydrates, and sugar provides them with a lot of energy very quickly. When ants eat sugar, they don’t have to work hard to get their calories. Thanks to their antennae and sense of smell, they’re really good at knowing where their food is, so it won’t take long for them to find your sugar solutions.
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EXPERIMENT 3 MAKE A SIMPLE KITE
Flying a kite is an exhilarating experience – and even more so when you make it yourself. Children get such a sense of accomplishment and pride when they see something they’ve made take flight. There are so many benefits to flying a kite: it’s an active activity that teaches you how to adapt quickly to a situation. Children will love to spend an afternoon making their own kites and trying them out in the garden.
Step by step:
1. Take one piece of paper and fold it in half. 2. Position it so that the folded edge is horizontal and nearest to you.
Roughly find the centre of this fold with your fingers and mark it with a small pencil line.
3. Then, find the centre point between the left side and the line you’ve just drawn (this will be about one-quarter of the folded edge length). Mark this with a pencil line again. 4. Now, open up one side of the folded paper and bring the corner to the line you’ve just drawn (the quarterdistance line). Hold it in place. 5. Do the same with the other side, then staple them all together.
STEP 4
STEP 1 STEP 7
STEP 8
What you need:
2 pieces of paper Pencil Stapler Thread Scissors
STEP 2 STEP 5
6. Next, go back to the first line you drew and add a staple. 7. Grab your reel of thread and tie it to the staple you’ve just made. This is the hardest part as it can be a bit fiddly. Trim any excess thread. Put your kite to one side. 8. Take another piece of paper and trim off the end. Fold it in half.
9. Make cuts from the folded edge to the top – but don’t cut all the way! 10. Open it up, then tear alternate sides. This will create your kite’s tail. Be careful where you’re tearing otherwise, you’ll have to start again.
STEP 9
STEP 3 STEP 6
11. Staple your tail on the bottom of your kite and it’s ready to fly.
EXPLAINER
This activity is a great learning opportunity, as children can explore why kites fly and what makes them fly better. Anything that flies experiences a number of physical forces. These include lift, drag, thrust and weight. Different stages are at play when flying a kite – just like there are in an aeroplane. These stages are release, launch, climb and cruise. You can spend all afternoon experimenting with different kite-flying techniques. Why not see if you can make a few kites and experiment with their shape a little to see which works best?
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STEP 10 STEP 11
STEP 12
We hope these activities will inspire you to explore more art and science projects with your family. TheDadlab (thedadlab.com) is a trusted resource for STEAM and art activities for young children and their parents. You can watch these experiments and more on TheDadLab YouTube channel
(youtube.com/c/thedadlab).
@TheDadLab
STEP 13
