Getting Easy Science Fair Experiments for Kids Narrowed Down
When you need some easy science experiments for kids to by themselves, the first step should be to weed through your choices and cut it down so the kids can deal with without getting overwhelmed. That way they can make their final choice on their own(with teacher approval, of course).
How to weed through all the project choices and take out the ones that just won’t work.
- Step 1: Check out the topic. Seems obvious, but if it is supposed to be a geology theme, then only search for geology related projects. Electricity, evaporation, cells, magnets etc–Just keep to the topic an don’t get sidetracked. Often the assignment is open-ended, so then you brainstorm topics the kids like and go from there.
- Step 2: Grade Level. Look for a reference to the age or grade level in the summary. Don’t worry about difficult (yet). Just make sure it is designed for the right grade There are plenty easy science experiments for kids for all grade levels, so they will be part of the mix..
- Step 3: Project Type. This means if it is an investigation, collection, experimentation or demonstration project. This is a common error both parents and kids can make, choosing the wrong project type and so lots of time is wasted. You can have a great experiment and get a bad grade simply for not doing the right type of project.
- Step 4: Time Frame. Check the teachers directions to see if there is a time requirement. Then check the due date and your family schedule and calculate how much time there will be available for your kid to do the project. Is there an empty weekend? Do you have just one day? Now eliminate all the ones that will take more time to do than you have. You will have to toss some cool projects, but save them for another time in the future when you will have more time!
Now we Fine Tune and get to the easy science fair experiments for kids to pick from… aim for 5-10
- Step 5 Complicated/Vague Directions. Toss all of the ones where the directions are incomplete, ones with no diagrams, graphs or pictures, or if they make no sense. On the other side if the vocabulary used are words neither you nor you child understand, toss it and move to another one. There might be another on on the same topic/time frame with better directions! The good science fair projects will always be written in a way the students doing them can understand
- Step 6: Materials List. Read the supply list and trash it if there are odd or costly items. To be one of the true easy science experiments for kids, they will use everyday household stuff.
- Step 7: Other Things. Are there easy online research materials ? Is there template for writing the reports? Are there pre-formatted spreadsheets? Does the organization follow the scientific method?
By now you should have a good list of 5-10 good science fair project ideas. Hand the list to the child, or, if they were helping you weed through, back off so they can choose the one they want. Parents need to stay out of this stage and let the kid take full ownership.
When time is cut short, which happens to everyone, you not only need a quality project, that is easy to do but also one that can be finished in just one or two days!
[...] doesn’t matter if you are doing a quick and easy science experiments or something that might take a weekend or even a demonstration, all science fair projects must [...]