Fun Activities!
Hey, kids! Are you searching for ideas for your science fair projects? We’ve created all kinds of fun activities you can download and experiment with at home. They’re organized here by Kids’ Science Challenge category. Share them with your friends, parents and teachers, too.
Science Under Pressure
Your friends will be amazed as you ‘magically’ seal a plastic bag to a bowl using only the power of air pressure.
Download this Activity [PDF: 463KB] |
Play Balloon Ball!
Would balloon baseball work better on Earth or Mars? Find out with our balloon toss activity, then design a Balloon Ball game for each planet.
Visit Sports on Mars Videos [Video] |
Which One Is Home?
Would you recognize your home planet from high up in the sky? Find out as you compare satellite images of Earth and Mars.
Download this Activity [PDF: 2.12MB] |
Build A Soda Straw Rocket
Make and test a mini-rocket, just like a NASA engineer, and improve it until it can fly high.
Download this Activity [PDF: 946KB] |
Play this fun online game!
Send A Top Secret Message
Write a message, then use crayons to cover it up. Nobody can see it – until you give someone the simple tool needed to read your words.
View Detective Science Videos [Video] |
Make an Invisible Electrostatic Message
Use the power of charged particles to write an invisible message on a balloon. Then a friend how to make the message visible.
View Detective Science Videos [Video] |
The Case of the Pushy Pencils
You’re a detective. Your suspect just wrote a message on a pad of paper, then tore off the top sheet and ran. You grabbed the pad – how can you find out what was written there?
Download this Activity [776KB] |
Learn the Secrets of Fingerprints
Who drank your smoothie while your back was turned? “Lift” the fingerprints to find out – and discover how to match prints to a suspect.
View Detective Science Videos [Video] |
Your Body Rules!
Can you tell how tall someone is by looking at the size of their foot? Check it out!
View Detective Science Videos [Video] |
That Sinking Feeling
How can you make water float? Put liquids into layers as you build a gradient tube. Then learn how scientists test for different materials by seeing whether they sink or float.
View Detective Science Videos [Video] |
Backyard Detective
Even a boring-looking stretch of your yard or park can be home to fascinating species – and to clues that they were there.
Download this Activity [1016KB] |
Play this fun online game!
Take the Blindfold Challenge
Tie a blindfold around your eyes, then make some amazing discoveries about natural objects. Use your senses to observe and figure out each object’s function.
Download this Activity [PDF: 874KB] |
Meet At the Function Junction
What objects in nature can turn garbage into something useful, or stick like glue? Take the challenge and find out as you play!
Download this Activity [PDF: 1.24MB] |
It’s Slime Time!
Can you make the slimiest slime?
View Bio Inspired Videos [Video] |
Jumping Roaches!
Feeling jumpy? Your challenge here is to make a model roach that really hops.
View Bio Inspired Videos [Video] |
Clean Teeth and Sticky Toes
Have you been brushing your teeth with gecko feet? Find out how your toothbrush is just like a certain lizard’s toes.
View Bio Inspired Videos [Video] |
Play this fun online game!
Click here for Kids' Science Challenge VIDEOS AND AUDIO PODCASTS that you can use to help inspire your science fair projects, too!
To get a booklet with more experiments on all of these subjects, just download the KIDS' SCIENCE CHALLENGE ACTIVITY KIT [PDF: 2.31MB]. You'll need to buy some of the parts. After you've decided which experiment you want to do, here's where you can get the more hard-to-find supplies:
- Simulated Mars soil – orbitec.com
- Munsell color chart – munsellstore.com
- UV beads – stevespangerscience.com
- Fingerprint ink strip – fingerprintpads.com
- Plastic BBs (of varying weight) – sporting goods store
- Centrifuge tubes – testtubesonline.com
- Zoobs – infinitoy.com
- Nano-fabric – greenshieldfinish.com
Teachers and Parents: Click here for CLASSROOM LESSON PLANS on all of the Kids' Science Challenge topics.
Sharing your Science Fair idea: Share your science fair projects with other kids here! Send us a photo and a paragraph about your science fair project and we may add it to our KSC in ACTION! blog. You need to have your parent or guardian's permission to participate, so download this permission form [PDF: 79KB], fill it out and have your parent or guardian sign it. Instructions for sending it back to us are on the form. After we get the signed form we'll send you an email with instructions for sending us your photos.
Play these fun online games!