Science Experiments at Home

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has shut schools and early years services across the country, leaving thousands of children locked in their homes without access to basic educational resources.

This is why we have decided to make available a number of our experiments from our Let's Experiment With... series of science books. Our science kits have been hugely popular in schools for the past 20 years, written by a teacher Michael Browne, for teachers and the Irish curriculum.

Seven kits come with teacher's notes and the pupil's notes book that can be photocopied for multiple uses. 

The seven kits are:

Let's Experiment With Electricity                   

Let's Experiment With Magnetism                     

Let's Experiment With Light                                

Let's Experiment With Sound                             

Let's Experiment With Forces and Motion        

Let's Experiment With Materials Junior              

Let's Experiment With Materials Senior              

We also have three kits that have been discontinued Heat, Air and Water however the teacher and pupil's notes are still available and are included in the full Primary Science Let's Experiment Kit as a bonus. 

Here are a few easy experiments from our Air series of books, they can be conducted at home using items you can find around the house. 

  For this experiment you will need:

Is air really there? Card 1

1. Let's blow.

Put your hand in front of your mouth.

Blow on your hand.

What do you feel?

Can you see the air?

2. Make a fan.

Fold a sheet of paper to make a fan.

Wave the fan in front of your face.

What do you feel?

Why is this happening?

3. Let's make bubbles.

Get an empty bottle.

Is there anything in the bottle?

Fill a basin with water.

Push the bottle under the water. What do you see?

What is causing the bubbles?

   Notes on Card One

Is air really there?

The purpose of this experiment is to encourage the children to find out about air. They will feel and see air by doing the three exercises.

In the first exercise, the children will feel the air that they blow on their hand. They will realise that they cannot see this air.

In the second exercise, the children will get an opportunity to make a fan. They can simply use a plain sheet of paper to fan the air. They may also make a fan in a folded form (see diagram). They will again feel the air but fail to see it. Discuss why they feel the air. By fanning the air they move the air and so can feel it.

In the third experiment, they get a chance to see the air in the form of bubbles underwater. Ask what is in the bottle. Most children will say that there is nothing in the bottle. They will soon find that there is air in it.

It is important that the teacher reads the card with the children and explains the instructions before work begins.

   For this experiment you will need:

Air makes it hard to move sometimes. Card 2


1. Get a big sheet of cardboard or a big book.

Hold it as in the diagram.

Move it up and down in front of you.

Is it easy to move it through the air?

Why?

2. Hold the sheet the other way with the edge upwards as in the diagram.

Move it up and down in front of you.

Is it easy to move it through the air?

Why?

3. Go outside into the school playground.

Hold the book as in number 2.

Run while holding the book upright.

Is it easy to move?

Why?

  Notes on card two.

Air makes it hard to move sometimes.

The purpose of this experiment is to encourage the children to find out more about air. They will feel the effects of air by doing the experiments.

In the first exercise, the children will feel the air resisting the movement of the book or sheet of cardboard. It is also possible to use a tray or indeed any rigid material that will resist the air as it moves.

In the second exercise, the children will experience far less resistance because the book is held in a different position. The surface area of the book that is resisted by the air is very small compared to the first experiment

In the third experiment, they get a chance to see the effect air has on them as they try to run. Air exerts a strong force against them as they run. These exercises allow them to become aware of the existence of air even though they cannot see it.

It is important that the teacher reads the card with the children and explains the instructions before work begins. The concept of air resistance being connected to surface area is a difficult one for younger children. The teacher can simplify this concept when working with the younger children but work on this card is necessary before completing the cards on parachutes.

Skills: Working Scientifically, Investigating
Strand: Materials Strand Unit: Properties & characteristics of materials