At Home Science Experiments

Your children are looking forward to a summer filled with staring blankly at the television, Wii, DS intermixed with the occasional jump in the pool… are you ready to shake it up a little bit by challenging their brains with fun science experiments you can do at home?

I saw this on the Scientific American website:

For the month of May 2011, Scientific American will feature one science- related activity each weekday, which parents and their six- to 12-year-olds can do together. We consulted with members of the National Science Teachers Association so that the activities would echo themes taught in early grades. Parents will also find additional background to help them explain the concepts. But the overarching goal was simple: each activity had to be easy and fun, done with household ingredients and completed in less than an hour.

Examples of projects include:

It’s a Solid… It’s a Liquid… It’s Oobleck
Make a homemade compass
Recycle Newspaper by making your own paper
Find the DNA in a Banana

The lessons include prompts and additional material for parents who want to increase the knowledge — but you can also be satisfied with “wow, isn’t this cool?!” Each lesson has a video detailed explanation — you never know, it might pull your kids away from the mindless dribble of regular screen time and turn your summer into a memorable science event.