Science projects at home do not need to be expensive. There are great projects that can be performed using common household items.
1. Rocks and fossils:
Find some rocks and fossils around your yard or check out a book from the library. Have the students identify the rocks and fossils. There are also places where you can look at them, so you don’t necessarily have to have them at home to study them.
2. Magnifying glass and binoculars:
Use binoculars and magnifying glasses on a walk through a trail at a park to study plants, dirt, rocks, trees and their bark.
3. Flashlights, batteries, wire:
Make simple electromagnets and Galvanometers.
4. Stove, refrigerator, kitchen sink:
These common kitchen appliances are the makings for a great laboratory for science experiments for children.
5. Magnet, cork, needle:
Have your homeschooling students create a compass. You can magnetize the needle by rubbing it up against the magnet. Stick the needle into the cork and float the cork in a bowl of water. The students will see the needle pointing to the north.
6. Pull back and windup toys:
Go through your children’s toy box or look at thrift stores for mechanical toys that the students can take apart and study. Then have the students put them back together again. This way, the students can figure out how these toys work.
7. Broken appliances or small appliances you can buy inexpensively at the thrift store:
The students can break down and take apart these appliances to see how they work. They can even put them back together.
8. Inexpensive chemistry set:
Things in the chemistry set such as non-toxic crystals, acids, bases and chemicals can create very interesting reactions. I recommend adult supervision for these experiments. Use the Internet to find ideas for experiments that you can create with the homeschooling student. There are great chemistry experiments that the children can even eat, which they will enjoy.
9. Trash and bottles:
You can find plans to make racing cars and toy sailboats out of everyday trash items. Have the students try things such as different weights, different sizes and designs. The students can use rubber bands for propulsion to experiment with stability and speed. You can even turn these experiments into a friendly competition.
10. Bicycle:
Nearly everyone has a bicycle at their home or in their garage. Use the bicycle to teach the students how brakes and gears work. Use the Internet to find other experiments and learning opportunities with bicycles.
Ask the students at your home school to come up with even more ideas from items that they find around their own homes and yards. Check your local library for many great books about inexpensive science projects that use common household items.