sharing our love of science

Resources for Science-at-Home: Elementary School Level

activities for elementary school students

One of our biotechnology instructors, Aidan Holmes, did a two live activity demonstrations with the Sun Prairie Public Library geared to a K-5 audience.
Family Adventure Day 1 – Milk Fireworks and Build a Satellite
Family Adventure Day 2 – Bubble Snake, Balloon Launcher and Design a NASA Mission Patch

Not too messy
Activity Book

A NASA activity book that you can color while also learning about the Space Launch System!

Adopt A Tree

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this year with an outdoor activity to appreciate trees.

Adventure Quests

Take an indoor or outdoor quest to learn more about nature. Listen to birds, play bird games, and observe the outdoors.

Alphabet Fitness

A great outdoor activity - all you need is a ball and some open space. Build an exercise routine around a word!

Coding Game

Create a video game that lets players explore Mars with a helicopter like the one attached to NASA's Perseverance rover!

Draw Artemis

Put the "art" in Artemis (NASA's space program to explore the moon) with a guide to draw NASA's Space Launch System rocket.

Museum Tour

Visit a favorite museum of yours - virtually. Many are offering online programs and activities for science at home! Here's a virtual tour from a science and nature museum.

Nature Bingo

Are you taking time to observe nature? These Bingo cards with different themes can be used sitting outside or on a Nature Walk!

Origami Starshade

Origami, the art of paper folding, has applications in engineering, biological systems and more. Here is an application of origami used by NASA!

Random Walk

A coin and an open space is all you need to perform this random walk activity. See where you end up!

Space School Musical

This "hip-hopera" uses song and dance to introduce space objects. Watch the videos - learn the lyrics! Plus: academic, art, fitness and life skills activities exist for each song.

You're An Astronaut

How would you adapt to the challenges and still keep doing important routines, like exercising, learning and making time for fun?

A Little messy
Balloon Car

Create a balloon car - decorate it and see how far it can go! Be creative with your materials.

Cardboard Construction

Make a cardboard sculpture using recycled materials. What can you create?

Catch A Rainbow

A rainbow is the result of reflection, refraction, and dispersion of sunlight.

Comet on a Stick

Learn the parts of a comet by creating a comet on a stick!

Dancing Raisins

Use carbon dioxide to make raisins or other small items dance!

Moon Tracker

Create a flip book that allows you to track the moon phases and make observations over the next mont

Mitten Challenge

This activity is designed to illustrate the idea that small things are best built using small tools. Try completing any intricate task!

Paper Airplane

Make a paper airplane and change the structure to see how it affects the flight of the plane.

Penny Boat

Design and build a boat from aluminum foil that can hold as much weight as possible.

Secret Messages

Try out any of these five recipes for invisible ink - All of them can be written on ordinary white paper.

Underwater Scope

With parental supervision, you can spy on what is going on underwater.

Wavy Water

This activity from National Geographic demonstrates static electricity.

Get messy!
Bubble Snake

Try to create the best bubble solution with what you have to create a bubble snake!

Chalk Paint

Water, food coloring, and flour or cornstarch can be used to make this sidewalk chalk paint!

Cloud in a Jar

Create a cloud in your home with materials you may be able to find around your home.

Egg Experiment

Take eggs and submerge them in any liquids you have - Make note of your observations and see how the egg changes!

Galaxy in a Jar

Create a beautiful galaxy that is relaxing to watch.

Lava Lamp

A clear container, oil, water, food coloring, and bubbling tablets. There - you've got yourself a lava lamp!

Milk Fireworks

With only milk, soap, and food coloring, watch your colors explode! But what if you substitute the milk for a different liquid...?

Parachute Design

Design and build a parachute to successfully land an “egg-stronaut” using the Engineering Design Process from NASA.

Play Dough

One play dough recipe - endless possibilities! Try out this recipe that doesn't require cooking and start creating.

Recycled Bird Feeder

Create a bird feeder from recycled materials to show how we can reuse things that would normally be destined for trash or recycling!

Satellite

Take on the role of a chief engineer for an important NASA mission - build your own spacecraft from materials you can find around the home!

Sizzling Snowballs

Create a chemical reaction with vinegar to dissolve these baking soda snowballs - pack durable toys inside for extra fun!