Lately, I’ve been contemplating having my kids participate in our local homeschool science fair. While we do a lot of science at our house and science is one of our favorite things to do together, we’ve never done a science fair project before.
So, I asked my friend Kayla Fay for some advice. Kayla has done over 25 science fair projects over the years with her four boys, and has graciously agreed to share her insight with us.
If a science fair or outside class science project is on your schedule this year, I hope her advice helps you as it is helping me. …Shannon
7 Steps to Successful Science Projects for the Science Fair
Science projects – like homeschooling – are supposed to be a joyous time of a family learning, discovering, and working together toward the common goal of knowledge. You know – mom and dad gather the family around the kitchen table, and watch Wally and Beaver’s faces light up as they learn something new.
Unfortunately, science projects don’t always turn out that way. In fact, in our family, our first twenty or so projects were horrible experiences that left me exasperated, the kids frustrated, our kitchen in shambles and our budget depleted.
We have four sons, and when the first one was in 5th grade, I gave our principal a protest project entitled, Do Science Projects Cause Maternal Insanity?
Kayla's son shows off the blue ribbon he won for his science fair project
Our problem was that while we had great instructions on how to do a project, we didn’t have any guidance on how or where to find the type of project that would meet the requirements of our science fair, would interest our kids, that we could afford, and that would work. It took a long time, but we finally got the hang of it.
To our delight, we discovered that science projects really could be fun – and educational. In fact, we learned some really cool stuff that made our kids’ faces light up – and only once was it because of an explosion.
So – how can your family avoid our torturous route to finding out just how much fun a science project can be?
Here are seven steps to science fair success!
1. Know your science fair requirements. Is your science fair for
experiments only, or do they allow the other types of projects -
demonstrations, collections, models, or reports? Find out the details of
everything that is required.
2. Know your budget for time and for money. Add some padding for late orders and failed experiments.
3. Know your kids’ interests and choose your project. Notice that this is #3. If your child’s interest is in a project that won’t satisfy steps one
and two – pick another project. Search on the internet or in the library, or
come up with your own idea.
NOW you are ready for the next steps.
4. Gather your materials. Read all the way through the instructions to
see if you need anything that isn’t listed. You may also want to think ahead
and get the supplies for your project display.
5. Perform the project itself. Make sure that as you work, you keep any
required logs, record, or photographs. If your first attempt doesn’t work,
try again.
6. Prepare for your presentation. For this, most science fairs require
a science board, logs, and a physical representation of the project. Come up
with a catchy title for the project. Be creative. Be neat.
7. Submit your entry. And remember, if Wally and Beaver learned
anything, you don’t need a blue ribbon, because you already have a winning
science project!
Click on the image to get your free copy
Download your FREE copy of The Non-Scientific Parent’s Guide to a Science Project to learn how to choose the perfect science project, wade through the odd vocabulary, deal with the scientific method, and design an award winning science board.
You’ll also find out that a science project really can be done by your child, with you as a teacher and a guide.
A: Most of our science project ideas come from the kids. They want to try something, or they are showing an interest in something.
For example, two years ago, my oldest son (then 8yo) was asking a lot of questions about electricity, and really wanted to play with the electrity experiment kit I picked up at a used curriculum sale a few years back, that became his science project.
Last Spring when a colony of bees moved into the eaves of our house, my 5 year old came running in asking if she could study bees for science. So we learned about bees.
But sometimes I do make suggestions, particularly if I’m trying to fill a gap in their education.
During our Summer of Science two years ago, my oldest daughter checked out every science project book she could from the library and sent through it with her brother, marking all the experiments that they wanted to try.
There was no way we could do them all, but it was an exercise in them figuring out what looked interesting (and they learned something in the process) and expanded their idea of what a science project could look like.
If you are trying to fill a gap, or meet the requirements for a science project needed for a science fair or outside class project, here’s my advice:
5 yo showing off that habitat she built for her latest insect study
Ask your child what they are interested in, or listen and watch what they are talking about and exploring.
Then do a search online for “science project” and the area of study – or go to the library and look up that area of study plus “science experiment” “science project”, or “science fair”.
At the library, the idea books are stored in the dewey decimal system by the area of study, i.e., chemistry, botony, geology, etc. And there are some great resources available – both online and at the library.
So for example, if your child keeps bringing you rocks and talking to you about rocks, then look up “geology science experiments” and “geology science project” at the library or in Google.
If your child is interested in mixing things and seeing what will happen (aka chemistry), look up “chemistry science experiments” and “chemistry science projects.”
If they are into bugs and insects, well… you get the idea.
AND, because I’m prefer to have kids interested in what they are doing, I would let your kids choose from an selection of experiments. Let them make the final choice, based on the criteria you are trying to meet.
One last thing, I do try to make sure that my kids have plenty of materials around. When I see a deal on a kit or tools and I have some money to spend, then I’ll buy it. That way, when the need arises we have things available to do. Basically, I like to strew things in their path, and if they are curious, let them explore it further.
Click on the picture to download your FREE Guide to Science Projects
If you are in a crunch and are looking for a science project for a science fair, expand out your google search for “science fair ideas”.
Either way, just enjoy the exploration. Science is a lot of fun and the key thing to remember is that science isn’t just about learning facts and information, but also exploration, and testing out thoughts and ideas and seeing if they prove to be true or not. Have fun with it!
…Shannon
P.S. Q&A posts are inspired by questions by moms just like you, if you have advice to add, please leave a comment below. I’d love to read your insights. Have a question you’d like answered? Just send me an email.
Looking for a fun way to teach your children about UV light? Especially during the spring and summer months when they need to be wearing sunglasses and sunscreen, or in my kids cases, swim shirts as well.
In her comment earlier this week, Laurel reminded me of solar beads (aka UV Beads or Energy Beads). These are a great tool for teaching your kids about UV light and have some fun as well.
At first appearances, solar beads look like just little white plastic beads, like you would use for a kid’s beading project. But these are special in that when they are exposed to UV light they turn colors and then turn white again once out of the UV light.
We were first introduced to these last year and the kids loved them. The olders each made their own bracelets and had great fun showing them off to others. It was a novelty to see how much the beads would change color (if at all) under different types of light.
Personally I love Laurel’s idea of using the beads as a reminder to the kids to put on sunscreen. But in addition to that, the beads can be used in various experiments on how effective sunglasses and/or different levels of SPF sunscreen are in blocking out UV light, as well as how we are exposed to UV light under different light and weather conditions.
You can buy solar beads from a variety of sources online, just search for “solar beads”, “UV beads”, or “Energy Beads”. Amazon.com has several sets of a variety of quantities. And, Laurel recommended Steve Spangler Science, and I have to say a few minutes on that website and I am hooked.
Not only do they sell different quantities of solar beads, but also have written instructions for experiments with solar beads and and an explanation on how the solar beads work (look at the bottom of the solar bead experiment page). The site also contains lots of free science experiment videos, including this one on solar beads. Lots of fun to watch and get ideas from.
Lately, my 7 year old is really into how things are made. Today’s question was “How is a Light Bulb Made?” And so we headed over to Google’s Video search to see if there was anything good available.
Here are two 5 min. videos that pulled not only my 7 year old’s attention but also that of his older siblings. One is for an incandescent light bulb and the other for a flourescent bulb. Enjoy!
It’s Spring in our area of the world and full of life – trees are leafing out, seedlings are emerging, flowers blooming, and the kids really don’t want to be inside.
So we are spending more time outside. One of the things I love about homeschooling is the flexibility we have to change our location. We can homeschool from anywhere – even outdoors.
Charlotte Mason is well known for her stance on getting kids outside and observing the world. And I agree with her. I’ve intentionally set up our days so the kids spend as much time outdoors as possible. However, that doesn’t solve the need to get some schoolwork done.
We incorporate gardening, butterfly and bird watching into our school days during spring time. But I’m also known to send the kids outside with their reading or lay out in the grass with them reading aloud. And – to just play and follow their creativity, which in itself often leads to more schoolwork than I could ever assign them.
Another way to incorporate outdoor time into schoolwork is with notebooking. Spring science notebooks cover art, science, and language arts in a way that is a lot of fun and easy to do. And the Kids love to show them off to others. This year instead of doing full science notebooks, we are just doing notebooking pages in a blended notebook, but it works and the kids love it.
If you are new to notebooking, here’s an article from Cindy Rushton, aka the Notebooking Queen, on what you can include in spring science notebooks. Enjoy!
Today being inside just tortures me! It is STUNNING outside! Even the little birds are begging us to go outside.
Are you like me, dying from “cabin fever” and ready for spring? This is the perfect time to begin Nature Notebooks! Not only will you have an abundance of treasures awaiting your exploration, but these are perfect days to try something fresh. Ready? Let me help…
Chances are you already have many things that could be included in a Science Notebook around your home. Look for those “goodies” that do not have their own special place and add them to your Science Notebooks. This is the perfect opportunity to develop “a place” for those “goodies” while developing a nice product for displaying all the growing knowledge of nature all while your children are keeping special memorabilia!
One of the things that I like about using supplies intended for scrapbooking is that there are so many products that enable us to keep bulky materials safely inside of our notebooks. Not to mention, scrapbooking makes EVERY notebook so much cuter! And,to imagine that we call this “school!”
Want some ideas of things to include in your notebooks?
Sketches…Don’t forget to include date, time, place, Latin name, and common name. Oh! Don’t forget to document where you found it.
Snapshots – Don’t forget to journal about your snapshot!
Pressed flowers, leaves, feathers, butterflies, etc.
Glossary of terms studied
Artwork (Nature art, original drawings, coloring pages)
Diagrams
Poetry
Information about discoveries
Lists of new findings
Handouts from trips
Narrations from trips, outings, hikes, nature walks, books read about nature or scientists/naturalists
Timeline – Mark your excursions, inventions, famous men and women, so on!
Instruction Sheets on “How to Care for…” or “How to Collect…” etc.
Booklets
Project data
Bible verses
Journal entries
Details from outings
Favorite quotes about nature
Reading list
Research
Reports
Essays
Science experiment logs
Notes from any Science study
You can add a lot of life to your Science Notebooks with special supplies you find along the way! I have found that the little touches have made our notebooks so much more fun and in the process hooked my children.
Encourage your children to use die-cuts, frames, stencils, shapes, and edgings galore to make their notebooks fun and beautiful!
My children now beg each weekend to work on our binders/scrapbooks. We have taken these simple skills into other projects for our Science studies such as creating books or booklets, making cards with pressed flowers, sketches, poetry and Scripture verses, and displaying our collections. The key is to just have fun and enjoy making your notebooks all yours!
Happy Notebooking!
Cindy
About Cindy Rushton
Cindy Rushton is the hostess of the Ultimate Homeschool Expo, the very first online homeschool convention. Grab your set NOW and receive her awesome A Quick Start for Notebooking Mini-Set FREE today! Check out all of the details here.
has several sets of a variety of quantities. And, Laurel recommended 
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