Summer Science Projects

Summer is a great time to add more STEM (Science, technology, Engineering, and Math) into your child’s every day play and learning. These activities are great to do with children during the warm weather months.

This month, I am sharing hands-on activities that you can do related to temperature at Sylvan Source blog. As a Sylvan Source blogger, I am always excited to be challenged to do more STEM with my own family. 

Integrating STEM into your home has many benefits:

• get kids thinking outside the box.
• encourages children to come up with unique ways of solving problems.
• builds foundational knowledge of core academic concepts.
• allows them explore the world around them in new and different ways
• challenges them to design, invent, and build. 
• uses technology in a meaningful, educational way.

These activities are easily adaptable to children of all ages, but are ideal for the elementary school age.  If you are hosting an afterschool STEM or Science club – these activities would make a fantastic afternoon of learning and exploring. No afterschool program? No problem. Gather some supplies and invite a friend over once a week for some hands-on activities! 

Hop over to Sylvan Source to read 

1. Tips for teaching your child how to read a thermometer

2. Step by step directions for building your own thermometer and

3.  An interactive word sort to enrich vocabulary development.

Summer Science Technology Challenge:

Add in a technology challenge and encourage your child to photograph their DIY thermometer in different places around the home.

1. Insert the pictures into a word document.

2. Put only one image on each page. 

3. Then write the following underneath the image:

Location:
Time of day:
Observations:
How could you “change” the temperature of the water without moving the thermometer from the current location.

4. Print the pages and encourage your child to write. 
*If you have a reluctant writer, allow them to type it prior to printing

5. Review the data your child has collected and their thoughts on how to change the temperature.
Repeat the experiment with these adaptations.

Summer Science Activities

• Kick of your summer fun with The Best Summer Science Experiments for Kids
• Explore water with a creative Sink or Float Experiment.
• Test your building skills with this Newspaper Engineering Challenge. 
• Observe how different substances can vary with these Density Science Experiments.
• Get ready for snacktime with this Edible Sedimentary Rock Cycle Activity.
• Here’s our Step by Step instructions for Kids for How to Make your Own Ice Cream.
• DIY Instruments for Exploring Music this Summer
• Take advantage of the hot sun rays with these Solar Science Experiments.
• Explore the elements of the season by making Summer Sensory Bottles.
• Explore our favorite STEM Activities.