The joys of conducting science experiments do not have to be restricted to expensive all inclusive kits. You can do a lot with the supplies around the home as well. Here are some tips to make science more interesting on a shoestring budget.
Backyard to Kitchen
Your backyard can become a science lab with very little effort. Set up a botany counter with some edible herbs. Plant five different types of seeds and have the children measure the growth of the herbs each day. You can take photos on your smartphone and upload them to the computer to compare the weekly differences.
When the herbs are ready its time for some tasty chemical reactions. Get some flour and yeast ready to make different herb flavoured breads. You can experiment with making your own pizzas and buns. Watch which herbs give a stronger colour, taste the herbs that have more flavour and make a note of your observations along with photographs.
Kitchen to Backyard
Chemistry can be involved in obtaining boiling and freezing points of different liquids in the kitchen. All you need is adult supervision, a couple of different drinks, and extreme temperatures as provided by the microwave or fridge. Take an aerated drink and a fruit juice tetra pack and get down the freezing temperatures.
Now head out into the backyard to observe how fast they melt. Some drawing and art can also be made possible with the frozen popsicles. Just place some plain white sheets of paper and allow the children to figure out what sketches they can make as the iced beverage melts.
Handy Work Repairs
Physics may make its appearance as you make minor repairs to home appliances. Simple activities such as changing a light bulb, replacing a worn out wire on an iron, or putting in a fresh plug on a gadget ending can become great learning opportunities. Basic conductivity, insulators, and simple circuits can all be explained easily using these activities. The best part is that these are skills that will come in handy life long.
As you can see science activities are all around us at home, we just need to identify them to take advantage of the teaching opportunity.
