Magic and Mayhem

Want to sneak in some science and enjoy the summer weather? Here’s ten favorite easy summer science activities here…

1. Have a weed growing contest. Repot some weeds that are around the same size and see who can pamper and produce the best specimen by the end of the month. Encourage the kids to use water, compost, sunlight and any other variables they like to try to get an edge.
2. Shake the beasties out. Put an old sheet under a bush and have the kids shake the bush vigorously. Lay the sheet out and peer at the assorted creepy crawlies you collect.
3. Make oobleck. Mix two parts corn starch to one part water, and add some food coloring if you like. Talk about the difference between a solid and a liquid. Which is oobleck? If you are gentle with it, it’s liquid. Smack it and it’s hard as a brick! Tell the kids they are trying to use similar substances for bulletproof vests now. Talk about what else you could use it for. We have bought several boxes and made a vat of it in a cake pan so the kids could jump in/on it before. It can be addictive!
4. Make some nature trading cards. Cut some white cardstock into cards and give each child a stack and an ID book to use. Head outside and look for a creature you can ID. Sketch it and label it, and start your own collection to keep or trade.
5. Start a bug collection.
6. Track the temperature for a week. Compare it to the average for that week and chart both. Guess what next week’s temperatures will be like, based on the ones you tracked.
7. Make ice cream in a bag. Google it for directions. It’s super easy and delicious!
8. Go rock hunting or beach combing. It doesn’t matter if you’re near a beach or river bed. We’ve found petrified wood in parking lots. Look for fossils, agates, shells, quartz and just pretties.
9. Go on a nighttime nature walk. Use a red light as a flashlight (or put a red filter over a flashlight) so you won’t scare off the critters. Nature doesn’t have to be large scale or far from home, either. You can mix up some moth paint (google it for the recipe, it usually involves bananas and beer!) for a tree out back and see how many varieties of moths come calling.
10. Watch the stars. This time of year is great for spotting shooting stars (which of course aren’t really stars!). Put a blanket on the back lawn and give the kids some binoculars. They are easier for kids to use than a telescope and work surprisingly well. Check out the constellations, watch for some meteors and just relax.
11. Take the temperature with crickets. You know, they swear you really can calculate the temperature by how many times crickets chirp per minute. Daryl insists it’s true and this year we’re finally going to put it to the test!
12. Grow some butterflies. We started out with kits but over the years we’ve established our own milkweed patch and system for fostering monarchs every year. There is nothing quite like the excitement of seeing your little caterpillar start to “J” and getting to watch him form his cryssalis. The delicate gold beading, the way you can see the liquid insides start to form wings over the days, the way the newly hatched butterfly will happily sit on your child’s hand when you take him outside to release once his wings are dry… the entire process is really a miracle to get to experience with your kids.