simple science experiments for special needs

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Valerie Cox

7 Ideas for Making Science Fun for Kids with Special Needs

Science is everywhere in the world around us, and it’s important to help all children find joy in science. It can be tricky finding ways to help kids with special needs engage in learning about science. However, there are easy ways to work around accessibility and sensory challenges to make science activities fun for every child. 

Thinking outside the box and tailoring science activities to fit children’s specific needs are key ways to ensure that everyone will have fun. Read more below on ways to help children with special needs engage in science-related learning and activities.

1. Modify experiments to fit sensory needs

Performing science experiments is a fun way to explore science, but children won’t enjoy the experiments if they feel discomfort doing them. The good news is, many experiments can easily be modified to fit sensory needs.

Fingerprint Balloon

Teach your child about our individual uniqueness with this experiment. Color your child’s finger (or your own) with a marker and press it down on a balloon. After you blow the balloon up, your child will be able to see an enlarged fingerprint which is a great introduction to fingerprints and DNA.

Walking Water

Help your child learn about capillary action. Fill cups with water and use food coloring to make each cup a different color. Next, place folded paper towels into each so each cup is connected to another color. As time passes, the colored water will travel up each paper towel and into the next cup. 

2. Learn about scientists who overcame obstacles

Help your child learn about scientists who overcame obstacles to change the world with their scientific discoveries. Alexander Graham Bell had dyslexia , Thomas Edison had hearing loss and Nikola Tesla had OCD. Show your child that everyone has something to offer to the scientific community and can make a difference.

3. Experiment with seasons

During the spring, you can plant flowers with your child and watch them grow. In the summer, you can use the hot temperatures to monitor how quickly water evaporates or try the popular trick of frying an egg on the sidewalk. 

In the fall, experiment with pumpkins . During the winter months, melt snow to see how much water is actually in snow or chart the weather to study trends.

4. Build with building blocks

Not only do building blocks help with counting, sorting, and motor skills, but this STEM activity is a fun way for children to learn about engineering and architecture. As you help your child build different creations, you can talk about the importance of having structural support.

5. Spend time exploring nature

Exploring nature is a wonderful way for your children to learn more about science. Many parks have paved walking trails to make nature more accessible for everyone, and this is a great way for children to learn more about the plants, trees, and wildlife local to your area. 

If your child loves animals, you could visit a local farm . Many stables offer programs that allow everyone to participate in riding horses.

6. Tailor your activities to their interests

One of the easiest ways to make science fun is to tailor your activities to your child’s interests. If your child enjoys playing with cars, you could build a racetrack to learn about physics. If your child likes learning about space, you could build a rocket or learn about key figures in space exploration. 

Once you find a scientific aspect that your child enjoys, you can visit the library to find books on the topic or see if any local museums have exhibits or programs.

7. Allow your child to help you in the kitchen

From mixing ingredients to understanding the states of matter to learning about the importance of using the correct measurements, so many science lessons can be learned in the kitchen . Even simple tasks like preheating the oven, stirring ingredients, and rinsing items provide the opportunity to learn more about science.

Valerie Cox is a contributing writer for LOC Scientific .

WRITTEN ON February 25, 2021 BY:

Valerie Cox is a contributing writer for LOC Scientific. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, playing with her dog, and volunteering in her local community. https://www.locscientific.com/

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Spedtaculardays

3 science experiments for special education classrooms.

Are you are you looking for ways to spice up your distance learning with your students? Try one of these really fun science experiments that are inexpensive, hands-on, and exciting.

I’m going to share 3 fun science experiments that I’ve completed with my students all virtually. I have done some of these experiments also in a brick and mortar setting.

#1: Gummy Bear Experiment

I have done this experiment in person and virtually. If you are completing the experiment here are some ways to include your students who are watching

• Make Hypothesis
• Read all the ingredients needed
• Read the steps/procedure
• Be the timer
• Choose the color gummy bear that goes in each bowl/cup
• Decide which bear should go in first
• Recorder of the observations.

#2: Heart Rate Experiment

This one is fun for a rainy day or when you need something interactive in a pinch! I have done this experiment through Unique Learning, but also Adaptation Station has a similar one here you can purchase from Teachers Pay Teachers. This is one of the easiest science experiments to do!

If this is one you are doing virtually here are some ways to get students included:

• Have them choose a song. (I did this and did a 15-30 second clip of each song.)
• Have them choose a dance move

#3: Making a Rainbow with Candy

This is a simple experiment, but the student’s reaction is priceless! My students really loved this one. We have done it again with different colors because they enjoyed it so much.

A fun tip, I created a time lapse video so we could watch it over and over again. I used the step by step guide direction pack from Life Skill Creations.!

I hope this helps give you some ideas for future experiments you can complete with your class. Check out these other great digital tips!

Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | Teachers Pay Teachers

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Related posts, menu math for a special education classroom, 3 ways for differentiating math instruction in an elementary classroom.

Differentiating Reading in an Elementary Classroom

I am a special education teacher living in Northern Virginia. I previously taught in a middle school self-contained setting and recently switched rolls to an elementary inclusive setting. I love spending time with my family and outdoors. Running, hiking and drinking lots of coffee are some of my favorites! My passion is making learning fun and seeing my students smile each and every day! Read More

Fun with Science: 27 Sensory Science Experiments for Kids

If you told my 15-year-old self I would one day be sitting at this desk writing a post about sensory science experiments for kids, I wouldn’t have believed you.

And yet, here we are, LOL.

While I did the mandatory biology, chemistry, and geology courses in middle and high school, I found each subject tedious, boring, and difficult, and figured I just wasn’t smart enough to be a scientist.

I avoided anything to do with science from grade 10 onwards, and it wasn’t until my daughter started telling me about all of the amazing science experiments she did in preschool and kindergarten that I started poking around on Pinterest for science experiments for kids we could do together at home, and I was pleasantly surprised with all of the fun ideas I found.

As it turns out, science can actually be fun!

RELATED:  100+ Fun STEM / STEAM Projects and Why They Work

And with a huge shift towards STEM learning , finding ways to get kids interested in science is becoming more important than ever. Whether you’re looking for sensory science experiments for kids in preschool and kindergarten, or amazing science experiments for kids in elementary school and beyond, we’ve got 27 super cool ideas below!

What is Science?

Simply put, science refers to the act of studying the world around us.

There are all different types of science – biology, chemistry, physics, botany, paleontology, geology, astronomy, etc. – and scientists study these through observation, hypotheses, prediction, and experimentation.

Why Is It Important to Do Science Experiments with Kids?

With more classrooms focusing on STEM education – a multifaceted approach to learning that combines science, technology, engineering, and math to develop a child’s problem solving and critical thinking skills while also encouraging creativity, communication, and teamwork – finding ways to foster a love for science is becoming more important than ever. Engaging children in science experiments at home and in the classroom:

• Encourages higher level thinking
• Teaches children not to accept the status quo and make their own predictions
• Fosters an interest and excitement for research
• Provides opportunities for failure in a safe environment
• Encourages innovative and creative thinking
• Teaches children how to work collaboratively

Unfortunately, kids are often taught that science is boring and difficult, and if parents and teachers don’t intervene, these negative thoughts can persist through high school and beyond, making children less interested in and willing to participate in STEM-based subjects. This can have a huge impact on their academic growth and development, not to mention their career paths.

How to Get Kids Excited About Science

Start young. It’s never too early to get kids excited about science and other important areas of education, and the internet is filled with all kinds of amazing science experiments for kids of all ages. Sensory science experiments tend to work best with younger kids as they are more hands on, and we’ve rounded up some fabulous ideas below to inspire you!

Make it hands on. Instead of getting kids to MEMORIZE scientific facts and equations, get them involved! Not only will this make your lesson plans more engaging and fun, but it will also help your students retain more information.

Appeal to your child’s interests. If you’re finding it difficult to foster a love for science in your child, find ways to apply it to the things he or she loves. Think outside the box and use props, materials, and/or toys that appeal to your child’s interests to capture his or her attention and make learning fun instead of tedious.

Get online. There’s no question that our children love spending time watching TV and on their iPad, so use this to your advantage! Find science-themed TV shows and search YouTube for inspirational videos and tutorials your child might find interesting.

Be a good role model. Instead of telling your child how much you hated science when you were in school (ahem…), model everyday inquisitive behavior to foster a love for learning in your child. You will be amazed at what this simple change in mindset can do!

Make it fun!  From sensory science experiments for preschoolers, to amazing science experiments for kids in elementary school, there are SO MANY WAYS you can make science fun for kids. We’re rounded up 27 ideas for kids aged 3 to 13 below to help get you started!

14 Sensory Science Experiments for Preschoolers

Fizzing Colors Baking Soda & Vinegar Experiment | Happy Hooligans Heat Sensitive Color Changing Slime | Left Brain Craft Brain Instant Hot Ice with Baking Soda and Vinegar | Frugal Fun with Boys and Girls Fizzy Cloud Dough Experiment | Powerful Mothering Floating M M&M Candy Science Experiment | Little Bins for Little Hands Underwater Magic Sand | Teaching Mama Turn Milk Into Plastic! | How Wee Learn What Dissolves in Water Experiment | Hands On As We Grow Rainbow Soap Foam | The Chaos and the Clutter Melting Snowman Baking Soda Science Experiment | Little Bins for Little Hands Expanding Ivory Soap Experiment | The STEM Laboratory Dancing Oobleck | Housing a Forest Elephant Toothpaste | Preschool Powol Packets Erupting Apple Science Experiment | Little Bins for Little Hands

13 Amazing Science Experiments for Kids in Elementary School

Salt Volcano Liquid Density Science Experiment | What Do We Do All Day? Static Electricity Butterfly Experiment | I Heart Crafty Things Magic Milk Science Experiment | Natural Beach Living How Clouds Make Rain | Mrs. Jones’ Creative Station How to Make a Lava Lamp | 123 Homeschool 4 Me Glowing Tornado in a Jar | Growing a Jeweled Rose Fireworks in a Jar | I Can Teach My Child Crystal Growing Experiment | Creekside Learning The Science of Sound Waves | Edventures with Kids Invisible Ink Science Experiment | Homeschool-101 Snow Volcanoes | Growing a Jeweled Rose Frozen Bubbles Science Experiment for Kids | Growing a Jeweled Rose Homemade Butter Science Experiment | 123 Homeschool for Me

I hope this collection of tips to get kids excited about science, as well as the sensory science experiments for younger kids and the awesome science experiments for older kids we’ve included inspires you in your quest to raise inquisitive learners!

‘We should not teach children the sciences but give them a taste for them.’ -Jean Jacques Rosseau

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If you enjoyed this collection of sensory science experiments for younger kids and awesome science fair projects for older kids, please share this post on Pinterest!

And if you’re looking for more ways to have fun with your students and/or children, please follow our Kids board where we share all kinds of fun ideas we find each day!

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Special Educator Academy

Free resources, teaching science in special education.

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Science in the special education classroom can be one of the most interesting subjects to teach and engage students. You can do a lot of fun things with teaching science in special education, from nature walks to in-class experiments. It can also be one of the toughest areas to teach effectively for students with severe disabilities for a variety of reasons. When I asked for ideas from  Facebook  about new products you needed, science was one of the most frequent answers. I think this is because finding enough material at the right level to support the wide range of special education students that we teach can be really tough.

So many of you may have seen that I have started developing science units to try to provide some of the types of instructional materials that you need to create learning experiences in your special education program to help students master alternate curriculum goals as well as basic science skills. I’ve started with life cycles and will be moving on to habitats and other concepts. So in this blog post I wanted to share some elements of successful lesson plans that are important in teaching science concepts to our students, considerations in having evidence of mastery, as well as some other resources for them to learn and practice skills. These elements are vital for student success whether the student receives science instruction in the resource room or the general education classroom throughout the school year.

Meeting the Standards for Science in the Special Education Classroom

One of the areas that many of the special education teachers I work with have struggled with is introducing science concepts, typically drawn from the state curriculum or alternate / extended standards, to students with significant special needs. Most states now require that K-12 students have goals in their IEPs that address the state standards through either modifying grade level standards or applying alternative or extended standards specifically designed for special education. 

Science is one of the areas that are particularly addressed in some states and there are specific skills that have to be mastered to pass the alternate assessment. Science teachers must assure that we clearly know the standard and what is required–because it’s not always completely evident what specifically an individual student has to demonstrate to show mastery.

One of the things that I think is a really difficult issue I find in special education with all subjects, but particularly with science, is getting enough repetition for the students to truly master the concept. Typical students can learn from science experiments or activities that relate to the skill and they don’t need tons of practice to learn, for example, the butterfly life cycle. Students with special needs need high quality activities with a good bit of repetition to practice the skills they need to master as well as to truly understand the topic. In order to meet special education students’ needs, we must provide them with multiple opportunities to practice the science vocabulary and skills in the standards.

Variety of Presentation

Addressing the needs of students receiving special education services requires a variety of learning activities using different strategies. Because our students need so much repetition, special educators must present the material in a variety of ways to ensure student learning and keep them engaged. Think about how boring it would be if we just did one worksheet over and over of the life cycle of a butterfly (or any animal). Having a variety of materials that present the same material is a way to keep students engaged while presenting it to them multiple times to facilitate learning. For instance, in my butterfly unit I included:

• A PowerPoint of facts about butterflies, it can be printed as a pdf book or read on a tablet as well.
• Mini-books that students can color or take home to practice the stages of the life cycle as well as brief facts about them.
• Adapted books (or interactive books) that the students manipulate pictures and/or words to read about butterflies.
• Flip books that the students can refer to with information about each stage of the life cycle.
• Multiple ways to practice putting the life cycle together

In addition, you might want to include some crafts practicing the life cycle, like this one from OurScienceNature .  You can also find videos and experiments to supplement a variety of science activities on my Science in the Special Ed Class Pinterest Board.

Easy Ways to Demonstrate Mastery

Finally, particularly because we are often teaching the science standards as part of the IEP and/or alternate assessment, we need an easy way to demonstrate mastery. We don’t want to add something on that creates more work through data collection, so permanent product is a good way to go. For instance, in the butterfly unit I included a number of different ways students can demonstrate mastery depending on their skill level. There are worksheets for cutting and pasting the stages using pictures, using words and pictures, and using writing with picture cues.

So, interested in checking out the butterfly unit? Check out the video below and click the picture to check it out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I will be creating more so if you have topics that you are interested in materials for, let me know and I’ll see if I can help!

Video of the Science in Special Education Butterfly Unit

Click the picture to the left to hop over to my TpT store to check out the Butterfly Life Cycle .  Looking for something with the Plant Life Cycle?  Check out this unit .

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Special Needs for SPECIAL KIDS

The scientific method for kids in a special education setting.

• January 28, 2019
• Teaching Tips

Teaching the scientific method to kids can be a challenge. We also know teaching the scientific method steps to students is part of almost every science curriculum. But how can you address teaching the scientific method to kids if you teach in a special education setting? What if the students you teach are severely impacted? Can you still teach the steps of the scientific method? Should you teach the steps to the scientific method? Yes and yes. Let’s look at how you can take this abstract concept and provide enough support (and a lot of repetition of course) to allow your students to make real connections to this process. Oh, and there is a FREE download at the end of this post. ?

Step 1: Ask a good question

This is probably the most difficult step of teaching the scientific method to students for me because asking questions in general, can be really difficult for our kiddos. The key here is to get your kids to :

• Just ask general questions about the material you are studying
• Start deciding if their questions contain something that can be measured
• Come up with questions that can be measured AND are relevant

So, as you can imagine, this takes a lot of guidance and a lot of practice. I try to validate as many questions as I can. Remember, this is NOT the formation of a hypothesis. That comes in step 3, and we will provide a lot more support for that step. For now, I then help guide them as much as I can, while letting them explore possible questions. In the end, it is okay if you, as the teacher, come up with the best question to base your research and experiment around.

Step 2: Research and gather information

This is the next step in teaching the scientific method to kids and is the easiest, in my opinion. If you have a well-structured lesson then you are naturally helping students research and gather information every day through the stories you use, videos you show, and activities you have students complete. The other part of this step is deciding on what you will need for your experiment and gathering those materials. Here is how I set that up to make it as structured and independent as possible.

Step 3: Make a hypothesis

This step in teaching the scientific method to kids needs some structure to be sure our students truly comprehend what a good hypothesis looks and sounds like. For that reason, I use the format shown below to allow students to formulate their OWN hypothesis. That means I try to provide answer choices that make sense, but I also know might be proven wrong. It is OKAY to have a hypothesis proven wrong. It is important to let students know that, so they do not feel like they have done something “wrong” if things do not turn out as expected.

Step 4: Conduct experiments

Yep, this is the best part of the scientific method. All kids love to do experiments. Although you may not wade into the territory of independent, dependent, and controlled variables with your students, you, as the teacher, need to be aware of them to protect the integrity of the results. For that reason, I make the experiment very structured and the directions very visual. Honestly, some experiments go better than others, but my ultimate goal is to allow students to do as many of the steps themselves with only some guidance from me. I try to stay away from the “now watch me” model. I think the kids need to get their hands in there and actually DO the experiment themselves.

Step 5: Analyze the results

You may think this is the hardest step of teaching the scientific method to kids, but really it’s not. With the right amount of support and visual structure, students are able to collect the data on their own AND compare it to their hypothesis.

Step 6: Present your conclusion

The moment of truth. Students get to share what happened in their experiment and how that compared to their hypothesis. Circling back and connecting their results to their predictions is critically important in the process of teaching the scientific method to kids. I also think it is the step that is often glossed over in many regular education settings. But, I have found a great way to help students “see” this connection. This is one of those times, that I try to include only the correct answers. I make this last page as errorless as possible. I want my students paying attention to how their results compared to their hypothesis, NOT trying to figure out what the right answer is. It has worked really well for me.

My hope is you will feel like you have the tools to help your students not only conduct experiments in your classroom, but to do it with validity and respect for the scientific method. I use this exact same set up for every experiment I have included in my science units. If you want to try one out, click the button below to download this experiment from my unit on the Scientific Method : Turning a Penny Green. I think your students will really love it!

If you are also interested in adding more STEM activities to your lessons this year (even if you are distance learning), then be sure to hop over to this blog post. You will get a free STEM activity that will give you the perfect formula for creating these types of activities for your students who may have significant needs. Read about STEM activities HERE!!

I hope this post helped you see how to teach the scientific method to kids in a special education setting. Once you find the templates that work best for your students, your kids will be successful using the steps of the scientific method to conduct their own experiments.

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Special Education and Inclusive Learning

150 EYFS & SEN Sensory Learning Ideas

Free, simple sensory activities for eyfs or sen.

There are many options for embedding effective sensory learning curriculums for children who cannot access worksheets and online teaching resources. Sensory learners need sensory learning ideas. Preferably simple and free ones. This list of 150 (ish) ideas should give you some ideas to try at home, EYFS settings and in classrooms. You may also like our post on Scavenger hunts for children at home.

 If you really liked this list of sensory learning activities and SEN activities for Early Years please consider sharing it on Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook.

Frequently Asked Questions about Sensory Learning

Before we look at the ideas here are 10 FAQs about educational sensory learning:

• What is sensory learning? Sensory learning involves using the five senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste – to engage students in the learning process. When multiple senses are stimulated during hands-on activities, it can enhance memory, and focus and help children understand concepts.
• How does it benefit students? Sensory learning activities have been shown to boost brain development and skill retention. Multi-sensory input allows students to make real-world connections and learn in their preferred modalities. Research also links sensory activities to improved behaviour, focus and academic achievement.
• What types of sensory activities are most effective? Activities involving movement and tactile experiences tend to be most engaging. Things like outdoor exploration, playdough, sand or water play activate vestibular and proprioceptive senses for better attention. Multi-step sensory bins require problem-solving, numbering and literacy skills.
• How can it be used across subjects? Sensory maths uses objects like paint, rice or play money to learn addition/subtraction. For science, students can touch/observe real plants/animals. Sand trays bring stories and history to life. Music encourages creativity and language development. Cooking integrates reading/following directions and collecting data.
• How do I get started with sensory activities? Begin by only selecting 1-2 activities related to your lesson to keep focus. Introduce materials one at a time. Model expected behaviours. Give concrete directions and don’t expect too much at first. Remember to make activities open-ended for various engagement levels. Start simply and expand options over time. Do not worry about having your activities look instagram-worthy.
• Are there safety considerations? Yes, supervise all activities closely at first. Avoid anything with small parts for choking hazards. Be conscious of allergies/sensitivities. Wash hands after messy play. Sanitise materials and organise areas to be clutter-free. Be inclusive of sensory needs and don’t force participation.
• How can I fit it into a busy schedule? Incorporate movement into transitions whenever possible. Use sensory activities at centres during work time. Replace less engaging tasks with sensory options. Sensory stations outside of lessons can stimulate development too. Just 5-10 minutes regularly makes a difference without disrupting routines. Finger Gym can be a brilliant filler activity and sometimes you need hands-on activities that calm the class .
• How do I ensure focus on learning? Explain how sensory activities connect to subject learning. Have students discuss the purpose and identify targets. Guide participation toward goals using specific questions/feedback. Rather than rewards, praise effort/progress in skill-building. Observe for understanding before/after doing a hands-on task.
• How can parents support at home? Suggest carrying over learning from activities by discussing takeaways from school. Recommend using common household items for sensory experiences related to current topics. Share activity ideas through newsletters and encourage caregivers to participate in school events promoting the approach.
• What research supports the approach? Studies have found that sensory-rich classrooms see increased engagement, self-regulation, literacy/numeracy skills and focus. The neural mechanisms behind multisensory learning are well-documented too (Shams & Seitz, 2008) .

Proprioceptive Sensory Learning Activities

Balance walk along masking tape on the floor:

Tight hugs administered by a trusted adult.

Sensory Circuit Activities:

• Wall pushes
• Hand Squeezes
• Superhero poses
• Animal Walk – Based on our sensory trail
• Bear stretch

Follow the light/Follow the sound – The child’s whole head/body follows the movement of a torch

Vestibular Sensory Learning Activities

Imitate head positions

Sway in time with chill out music

Back and forth rowing

Spinning (10 seconds in each direction)

Jumping Jacks

Musical statues

Scooter rides

Cone spinner

Auditory Sensory Learning Activities

Guess the sounds:

• Animals – Great animal sound video here.
• Vehicles – Great vehicle sound video here.
• Instruments – Pretty tricky instrument video here

(you can link this to a “What’s in the bag” game)

Make a rain tube

Bottle blowing

Guess the song intro – Use favourite cartoon theme tunes. A CBeebies video playlist here.

Follow a drum beat – use biscuit tin or saucepan with wooden spoon

Follow a clap pattern

Discrimination Sound Game make a sound and see if the child can work out if it is:

• Near or Far
• Soft or Loud
• High or Low

Visual Sensory Learning Activities

Drop & watch bouncy balls

Colour mixing

Washing up liquid and food colouring experiment

Torch/Light Activities:

• Shadow Puppet Play
• Make numbers with your fingers
• Guess animals from silhouette
• Tray and guess shapes from silhouette
• Guess book characters from silhouette (Gruffalo etc)
• Put into tupperware and retrieve/Watch
• Create a light table .

Find items of interest in a picture/Find self in pictures

Sensory bottles

Sort boxes shape/size

Pile and knock down boxes/tower building

Pull colourful fabric slowly from a bag

Taste and Mouth Sensory Learning Activities

• Boats with straws
• Cotton Balls

This can help with limited diets and support food chaining .

• Crunchy/Chewy Items – Alternate
• Smooth, rough foods (smooth and crunchy peanut butter)
• Frozen Fruits
• Drink through a straw
• Cut vegetables into strips
• Smoothies – blend and taste
• Ask questions like, “Which food here tastes salty? Which ones are sweet?
• Colour cubes (cut food into cubes and sort by colour i.e cucumbers, apples.)
• Mashing foods, ripe pears, potatoes, grapes

Tactile Sensory Learning Activities

This can include essential hygiene routines such as hand washing etc. Here are more tactile sensory learning ideas that use your outdoor areas.

Sensory Ball Games:

• Throw/roll into bucket
• Different textured balls – Wrap in paper, cling film, tin foil
• Roll from head to toe and back
• Roll in playdough to make patterns
• Splat into paint and roll/throw onto paper

Touch and Texture Sensory Learning Ideas

Put objects in a box and feel/guess

Sandpaper shape cut-outs

Tearing paper (either to glue onto something or just to tear up)

Crumpling newspaper

Sponges- Get out bowls and a sponge to transfer water from one bowl to the other.

Bubble wrap popping

Tin foil sculpting or squishing

Salt painting

Shaving foam art

Sand art – glue and sand and glitter

Fizzy water play (bath bombs)

Water play – using bottles, sprays and tubes.

Stress balls

Goop/slime manipulation

Earth, sand and water trays – Classic “ We’re going on a bear hunt ” sensory activity

Hay play – hide items in hay or straw (allergies allowing)

Fine Motor Sensory Learning Activities

AAC games – Especially Shark Bite !

Use rubber gloves to make dots

Cotton buds to make dots

Use a stick to trace letters/mark making

Cutting with scissors paper, straws

Ten Tweezer games

• Move items into different pots
• Pick items out of slime
• Pick items out of water
• Put items into a pattern
• Feed the dog
• Feed toy spiders to a frog
• Put beads into a bottle
• Bean number matching game
• Coloured pom-pom drop

I ce Excavations (freeze objects in ice)

Retrieve items from shaving foam

Hole punch coloured paper then use to blow/for art

Trace numbers in sand

Use a pipette to drop liquid watercolours/food colouring onto toilet paper

Clothespin Number Match

Use clothes pegs and sort by colour to a “line” of wool

Core Strength Activities

Circuit Training

• Bicycle kicks
• Stand on one leg
• Hop, skip, jump

Cosmic yoga

Body Awareness Sensory Activities

Sensory Ball throw/roll

Which hand is hiding the object?

Obstacle Course

Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

Self-Regulation Sensory Ideas For Anxious Children

Breathing activities for anxiety. Find other self-regulation home learning ideas here.

• Blow out the candle
• Blow the windmill
• Smelling a flower
• Open a window
• What can you smell game
• Blow up a balloon

Make faces in the mirror

• Tense all face muscles
• Relax all face muscles

Count backwards

Count to 5 with a deep breath

Put beans/dried peas/rice in a balloon

Fiddle toys

Follow simple lego instructions

Make a Calm Down Jar

Create a Daisy chain or flower Bouquet

Blow up balloons

Guess the smell:

• Spices (mix with water to avoid sneezing)

Scavenger Hunts

A sensory garden is great for embedding sensory learning ideas. The suggestions below should be findable in any garden.

• Short Stick
• Thick Stick
• Shiny Stone
• Little spoon
• A frying pan

References and Further Reading About Sensory Learning

Shams, L., & Seitz, A. R. (2008). Benefits of multisensory learning .  Trends in cognitive sciences ,  12 (11), 411–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.07.006

We would love to hear your suggestions for simple free sensory learning ideas and activities that you have used. If you have a site that has a demo or resources linked to these ideas let me know and I will add a link to it.

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STEM for Students with Special Needs: Part 1

STEM. We’ve all heard of it. Some of us are implementing it, while the other half of us have no idea what it means or what it is or how to even implement it… especially in a special needs classroom .

And some of us still have absolutely no idea what STEM stands for… that was me about a month ago.

Enter Brooke Brown . I met this amazing woman through TeachersPayTeachers and she forever changed my classroom and how I lesson plan for science… and math… and technology… and apparently I now teach engineering. Yes ya’ll, in a moderate to severe SPECIAL NEEDS CLASSROOM. I teach STEM.

Wow, that was pretty amazing to say. I teach STEM.  AHH! It’s so exciting!

So what is STEM? Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. But it’s so much more than just teaching those subjects and implementing them into our classrooms. It’s about the thought process and the higher order thinking that goes in to solving problems.

Why should we, special education teachers, teach STEM?

Because not only are we knocking out pretty much all subject areas at once, but we are allowing our students to problem solve and think critically. STEM gets my students collaborating in a high engagement, hands-on activity, all while using their smarts to generalize and apply this knowledge into the real world. Plus, STEM touches on multiple learning styles and intelligences!

It’s like walking into Target only to find out the Dollar Spot was just freshly stocked up. It’s like a gold mine!

Let me just say that special education teachers are pros at modifying stuff… and accommodating stuff. Everything really. We are kind of like lesson planning superheroes when it comes to taking a set general ed curriculum on a 4th grade level and morphing it to fit the needs of a student on a kindergarten level… and another student on a first grade level… and four more students on a second grade level. I mean, we’ve got it covered .

So what I’m going to do is show you two different STEM activities that we did this week. I’ll first show you the recommended way to try the activity, and then show you how I modified it to fit the needs of my students with special needs.

The first activity was building a waterproof house for a critter.

I didn’t have an empty tissue box to use for this activity, so I modified it a lot based on the supplies I had in my classroom.

To save time, I let my student choose clip art animals. He was so excited that I had dinosaur clip art too!

Then he had to cut out each animal and tape it on to a small dixie cup. Inside of each cup, we put a piece of sponge (I cut up a kitchen sponge I had left over from making glue sponges).

Since we tested 6 critter houses and not just one, I made him a super quick graphic organizer to keep track of his data on the back of the worksheet provided in the STEM packet.

Since we had 6 different critters, he had to build 6 critter houses. He used foil, a small baggie, a large baggie, cling wrap, Legos, and a plastic container.

We lined all of the critter houses up in front of our “pond.” I let him choose critter houses in any order he wanted. Then we set a timer for 1 minute and he had to hold the critter house under the water for 1 minute.

After the timer went off, he would pull the critter house out of the “pond” and deconstruct the house to see if the sponge got wet. If it got wet, he wrote “no” and if the sponge stayed dry, he wrote “yes.”

I would have guessed that the foil critter house would be waterproof…

…along with the Lego house… but I was wrong 🙂 LOL so it was a learning experience for me too!

The second STEM activity we did this week was building straw rockets.

This activity did not need modified for my student…

…but he did struggle a little bit with figuring out how to construct his rocket. This made it a great real life problem solving activity for him. He used the rocket “pocket” that I constructed as a model after a few minutes.

Then it was time to test out the rockets. He created 4 different rockets. We use two different straws: a small, thin straw and a longer, wider straw. So we trialed each straw twice.

He quickly realized that the larger, wider straw worked better to launch his rockets. He also learned really quickly that he needed to leave space at the top of the rocket for his air to blast the rocket off of his straw. He’s so smart!

One modification we used for this STEM activity was practicing measurement with nonstandard units of measure instead of using a ruler or a yardstick. He chose to use the ten frames to measure ( he said it was because they were the longest and it would go quicker… see what I mean? SO SMART ! )

We used the green tape on the floor as a baseline for him to begin his measurement.

We labeled each of his rockets and then measured them and recorded the data one by one.

After seeing how much fun we were having with straw rockets, the other students wanted to join in with us. So I made a fun game out of it.

I used red painter’s tape to tape numbers on the line ( as shown in the picture above ). They each got one rocket and four rounds. Whoever earned the most points after four rounds was the winner… although everyone got 3 M&M’s for participating, so we all won 🙂

The numbers are actually still on our classroom floor… 3 days after the lesson… and the kids are still exciting about their new “game.”

My friend also worked on this STEM activity with one of our paraprofessionals.

You could say that after two weeks of implementing STEM activities into my special needs classroom, I am hooked. My students are hooked… and the best part is, they WANT to do these activities!

You can find all of these activities in Brooke’s TPT store .

Read STEM for Students with Special Needs: Part 2 here .

Do you teach STEM in your classroom? Tell us in the comments below! *I was not compensated to write this blog post. The views within this post are strictly and honestly my own.*

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Home / Teachers News / 7 easy STEM activities for students with developmental disabilities

7 easy STEM activities for students with developmental disabilities

• January 27, 2020

Teaching STEM is now a standard component of early childhood education, but do we pay enough attention to students with special needs?

Educational institutions – from traditional schools to home school programs – are recognising the value of early childhood STEM programs in teaching critical thinking, encouraging curiosity and fostering a love of collaborative learning and problem-solving.

However, as educators continue to build out their STEM offerings for younger children, it’s important they pay attention to the needs of students with developmental disabilities. All too often, students with disabilities find that STEM activities aren’t designed with enough consideration for their needs. That lack of consideration is an especially big loss considering that STEM-focussed activities can be especially stimulating and enjoyable for many students with disabilities and that disability-inclusive STEM education can have substantial benefits for childhood cognitive development.

Fortunately, incorporating STEM education for kids with disabilities doesn’t have to be difficult. If you’re an educator interested in creating fun and interesting STEM activities for younger children with developmental disabilities, try these seven easy and fun activities in your classroom. They’re designed to be accessible, interesting and rewarding for students of many different ability levels, and they help lay the foundations of logical and creative thinking that lead to a world of discovery.

1. Sticky-note matching numbers

A Post-It Number Match Game is a great way to teach basic math skills using a method that also provides the kinetic stimulation that many learners with disabilities need in their lessons. All you need for this activity are some markers, sticky notes, painter’s tape and butcher paper.

RELATED: The rise of cybersecurity education 

Create a wall display with dots for each number, as well as a numeral on a sticky note to match. Then, hide the numbers around your classroom and send your kids on a hunt. Kids will love the accomplishment of finding each number, counting out the dots and applying each note to its spot! Best of all, the activity can be easily modified for identifying shapes, colours or any other learning goal.

2. Microscope activities

Microscopes are a classic way to get kids interested in the world around them, and starting with a student microscope kit will help introduce these important tools in a way that’s accessible for young children with disabilities.

Learning to manipulate the different parts of a microscope can be an excellent sensorimotor experience for students with disabilities and can help improve their confidence in operating STEM equipment, with many student microscope kits also coming with learning aids such as books, experiment cards and prepared slides. Finally, microscopes with digital cameras are also available that are great for guided learning exercises, as they make it easy for educators to display specimens on larger screens for easy viewing.

3. Popsicle stick builders

Experimenting, creating and building are all key parts of the STEM process, and popsicle stick builders can be an excellent way to get kids going on these key concepts. All you’ll need are a few velcro dots and a big bag of multicoloured popsicle sticks (also called craft sticks). Each dot should come as a pair with a hook and a loop side. Place one of each on each end of the craft stick and you’ve got a fun and versatile building toy great for building letters, numbers, shapes and anything else a child’s mind can dream up!

4. Classroom caterpillars or tadpoles

Classroom caterpillar or tadpole kits can be a great choice for STEM classrooms with students with disabilities. Watching and caring for a living creature as it grows and develops is a priceless STEM experience that can foster a lifelong love of life sciences. Students of all different ability levels will learn about the life cycles of the animals around us, and they’ll love watching the amazing transformation of caterpillars into butterflies or tadpoles into frogs. On top of that, these kits help teach responsibility and care for living things, which can benefit children’s social and emotional learning.

RELATED: 7 Benefits of inspiring STEM education in young girls

5. Easy stick blocks

With bristles that let them stick together on all four sides, these fun building blocks (also called bristle blocks) offer all kinds of building opportunities that other block toys don’t. They’re easy to stick together, but also require effort and concentration, so they can help students with disabilities learn to solve problems and work independently. Grab a big lot of them and let your learners’ imaginations run wild, or challenge them to build structures that support small objects in the classroom.

6. Solar UV Beads

A box of solar UV beads offers two activities in one — a creative exercise that children of different ability levels can do, plus an awesome demonstration of a key concept in STEM. Making jewellery with these clear white beads is a great fine motor skill activity that offers simple, creative fun, but the real enjoyment begins once you take them out in the sun. Kids will be amazed to watch the colours of the beads change when they’re exposed to sunlight, and it offers a great opportunity to show them the power of the sun and how natural forces can change the things around them.

7. Pattern Blocks

Recognising, matching and manipulating patterns is a key early skill for STEM learners of all ability levels, and pattern blocks are an accessible and fun pattern-teaching tool that has been used for decades. These brightly-coloured blocks are an early childhood classic that give children a dazzling array of shapes that they can rearrange to learn critical STEM concepts such as how parts come together to form a whole, shape symmetry and measurement. They’re also great for many different kinds of learning, from structured lessons in which learners work to imitate a design, to creative play exercises in which they make their own.

A disability-inclusive classroom is one in which all students are given opportunities to thrive, and inclusive STEM education is a key part of cognitive development for students with disabilities. With these easy and fun activities, educators can provide a range of appropriate STEM lessons that will ensure students with disabilities are included in the thrill of discovery.

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Super Science - For Groups With Special Needs

The activities in this pack have been designed for use with children who have difficulty following instructions given purely in text and may have difficulties remembering a series of verbal instructions.

The activities cover a mixture of topics including: magnets, forces, light, states of matter and sound. Using symbols and photographs to support learning, they are designed for use in class, within a science week or club to promote investigative work.

Activities include:

• changing the pitch on an instrument
• investigating planes
• the water cycle

The activities and investigations have been adapted from existing STEM enrichment resources provided by the British Science Association for its National Science & Engineering Week and Crest Star Investigator award programmes. Widgit Software have translated existing activities from National Science & Engineering Week and CREST Star Investigator activity packs to symbol-supported activity sheets.

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Please be aware that resources have been published on the website in the form that they were originally supplied. This means that procedures reflect general practice and standards applicable at the time resources were produced and cannot be assumed to be acceptable today. Website users are fully responsible for ensuring that any activity, including practical work, which they carry out is in accordance with current regulations related to health and safety and that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out.

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Science Experiments | Special Education

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Visual science experiments for the special education classroom! Quick and easy science experiments to hold your students attention and make them THINK! These engaging, interactive science experiments follow the same format as my visual recipes, making it a familiar resource for students to use!

Click HERE to save 20% by purchasing this resource as part of the Best- Selling Simple Science Curriculum Bundle

HOW MANY EXPERIMENTS ARE INCLUDED?

10 visual science experiments and worksheets that go along with them are included in this set.

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Inflate a Balloon

Walking Water

Bubble Snake

Bouncy Ball

Floating Egg

WHAT'S INCLUDED FOR EACH EXPERIMENT?

- Visual directions

- Tools and materials List

- Sequencing Page

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You can grab the simple science bundle here. This resource is included in that bundle.

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Science for All

Modifying labs for students with special needs

Science Scope—January 2020 (Volume 43, Issue 5)

By Kaitlyn McGlynn and Janey Kelly

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Why modify labs?

We spend so much time as teachers modifying quizzes, tests, and other assignments to fit students’ needs, it is strange to think about how rarely labs are modified. Oftentimes, students with special needs are placed in a group with strong students to “support” them in completing the lab tasks. Sadly, this often results in a practically meaningless experience for these students because they are told what to do, instead of being able to get their hands dirty and figure things out themselves. What is worse is that many of these students also begin to realize this themselves, which leads to them sitting back and letting their group mates take control, simply because it is the easiest thing to do. In order to provide all of your students with a meaningful opportunity to engage in the lab activity, it is imperative to find ways to subtly modify the lab or provide accommodations to scaffold your students while they complete the lab.

Modifying labs and accommodating students with special needs during labs

There is a difference between making accommodations for students and in modifying an assignment/assessment for students. Accommodations are changes made to the lab environment to the available lab equipment, or in how the lab is being completed by a student. Modifying a lab would involve changing the content of the lab, and therefore modifying your expectations of what that student is required to complete. Below are some suggestions of accommodations and modifications we both frequently use to support our students with special needs during lab activities.

Lab accommodations

Ensure your lab space is user-friendly.

Considering students with mobility impairments and attention disabilities is essential for ensuring their safety and success during a lab. Keep your classroom accessible by providing wide aisles through which to travel. Also, keep lab tables uncluttered by only supplying the essentials students will need to complete the activity. Finally, consider materials that lower the potential risk of a lab, such as plastic instead of glass, nonslip mats, and even adjustable-height work areas. These considerations can go a long way to help your students have a rewarding lab experience ( Burgstahler 2012 ).

Group students strategically

While grouping students heterogeneously may be beneficial sometimes, other times, it may be better to group students homogeneously. The decision to do either/or depends on your students. For example, Janey and her co-teacher have grouped students with special needs with students who may be stronger academically if they are confident that students will play an active role in completing the lab. When they are not as confident that all of students in the group will actively participate, they will speak to each of students in the lab group individually.

For students in the group who may be willing to do whatever it takes to complete the lab—even if it means doing it all themselves— Janey and her co-teacher assure them that they want to do everything they can to support them in that endeavor. They tell these students that it is unacceptable for any of their group mates to “take a back seat” and allow them to do all the work. If they notice any one of their group mates exhibiting this behavior, Janey and her co-teacher tell these students to alert one of them right away. The consequence for students who do not participate is to remove those students from the group, and make them complete the lab activity by themselves.

For students in the group who are content to allow everyone else to do the work, Janey and her co-teacher communicate a very different message at the start of the lab. They tell these students that they have a responsibility to get involved, ask questions, and play a part in helping their group accomplish the lab tasks. They also assure these students that they have confidence in their abilities to be valuable members of their group. If they do not participate, however, Janey and her co-teacher assure these students that they will be removed and forced to complete the lab on their own.

This consequence may seem harsh, but in middle school, it is important to set firm boundaries early. By reinforcing your confidence in your students to play an important and active role in their lab group, you are communicating a very important message to them as their teacher: I believe in you. All students need to hear this, but especially students with special needs, who have often been made to think that they cannot offer anything of value to their lab group because of their learning difficulties. If these students know that you believe in them, they will not want to disappoint you.

If this approach does not seem like it will work with your students, however, you could also try defining roles within the student’s lab group so that he/she knows exactly what his/her role is within the group. This will help to reduce any anxiety the student has related to knowing how to get involved meaningfully in the group task.

Provide alternate work spaces for students

Labs can get chaotic, and sometimes, we need to provide alternate spaces for students to be able to focus and work to their greatest potential, depending on their needs. For example, if you have a student with autism who gets easily stressed with a lot of noise and commotion in the classroom, try allowing his/her lab group to work out in the hall. This can also work well for students with attention needs who get easily distracted by peers or other stimuli.

Provide lab procedures in multiple modalities and include visuals

It is common practice for teachers to provide directions in more than one format, often auditory and visual. In addition to having directions written out to supplement your verbal directions, include photos or drawings along with these instructions. It is also helpful to review lab procedures and demonstrate them as you do so. This is particularly helpful for students who struggle with reading comprehension or impulsivity, as well as those who are visual learners. Because they have seen you do it once and have pictures to refer back to, they are more likely to carry out the directions correctly and safely, just like you modeled ( Burgstahler 2012 ).

Change how students are recording lab information

If you have a student or group of students with occupational therapy needs (i.e., they struggle with handwriting and may need more white space to write), can you create an electronic version of the lab they could type on instead? If not, you could also create and print out another version of the lab that has more white space and lines to assist students with writing with greater ease.

Lab modifications

Change the expectations of the lab to meet student needs.

Sometimes, accommodations are not enough to meet the needs of some children. A former student with processing and working memory needed to have labs, as well as the rest of the curriculum, whittled down to the most essential concepts, otherwise, the sheer volume of any task would be incredibly frustrating. Janey would modify this student’s labs by: (a) eliminating any nonessential parts of the lab (i.e., they were either repetitive in concept or above the level of expectation for the student) and then (b) making sure all directions and questions in the lab were stated as directly and simply as possible. Sentence starters were also often added for open-ended questions to help prompt this student toward the kind of response that was desired.

Group homogeneously

Grouping homogeneously is a good idea if you sense that you need to modify the lab expectations for a particular group of students or if you want to be able to more easily support various groups of students. For example, when Janey’s students were completing a lab involving chemical changes, she knew that there were entirely too many steps in the two-part lab for her students to complete. So, she modified the lab by requiring these students to only complete part one of the lab and placed these students together in the same lab group.

Janey and her co-teacher have also grouped homogeneously when they believe doing so would force students to work at a higher level. For example, Janey and her co-teacher frequently group gifted students together so that they could provide enrichment to these students without frustrating other students who may not be ready for it. Similarly, grouping homogeneously can also be good for students with special needs because they will have a greater comfort level and will be more likely to participate. When there is not just one student who traditionally takes the lead, these students are more likely to be active throughout the lab. In our experience, some students with special needs often need to feel confident in front of their peers to take risks in their learning environments. If one student is dominating the lab and asserts himself/herself as the leader, our less-confident students may be more likely to follow in his/her footsteps, rather than take risks to try and assert themselves as a leader for fear of failure.

Bringing it all together

Lab activities are often the parts of middle school science that students will remember more than anything else that takes place in our classrooms. Because of this, we want to give students as many chances to explore hands-on opportunities as possible. While it may seem daunting, especially if you have students with a variety of different learning needs in your classroom, there are some simple ways to help students meet success in a safe learning environment. Ensure your classroom and work areas are user-friendly to all students, not just the general population, and employ strategic grouping strategies, either homogeneous or heterogeneous, depending on students’ specific strengths and needs. In addition, have an option for alternate work spaces, present lab procedures in multiple modalities, including demonstrations, and provide an accessible way for all students to record their data as they conduct the experiment. Finally, if students’ disabilities require, you can change what is expected of them to ensure they will not become overly frustrated. With these strategies, you will guarantee that labs will remain your students’ favorite, and the most valuable, part of science class!

If you have a classroom situation that you’re having trouble finding a solution for, send it their way. You can contact Kaitlyn and Janey at [email protected] with any questions you may have or suggestions for future columns.

Burgstahler S. 2012. Making science labs accessible to students with disabilities.

Disabilities Equity Labs Middle School

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Summer Activity Ideas for Children with Special Needs

RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

When you have children, summer is usually a time dedicated to relaxing, perhaps family vacation, and a more laid back schedule overall. Even before summer rolls around, many parents are on the hunt for activity ideas such as summer camp to keep their children active both physically and mentally.

If you have a child with special needs, keeping their unique challenges in mind helps you sort through the seemingly endless list of fun, summer opportunities. Games for special needs children that include tactile and sensory activities can be not only calming and soothing, but also help with fine motor skills.

Below are few summer activities for special needs students that will keep them active, engaged and happy these next few months.

Let the Summer Fun Begin!

Finger-painting – Put on a few old shirts and don’t be afraid to get messy. Finger-painting is a fun way to keep children engaged and is great for strengthening the muscles in their hands and arms as well as improving fine motor skills.

Chalk art – Whether it’s on a blackboard or on a cool sidewalk, have your child scribble and scrabble to their heart’s content. You can also draw pictures, practice spelling words, or learn new shapes.  Sidewalk chalk is usually large and chunky, making it the perfect compliment to your writing program for dyslexic students and other special needs.

Sensory bins – Grab a few small boxes and create a summer sensory station with different themes. Create an underwater setting with smooth, blue beads for the ocean, green felt for sea kelp, and small, marine animal toys. You can also ‘take’ a trip to the beach and use sand, small shovels and a variety of sand molds. This activity is ideal not only for children with special needs, but also toddlers and preschoolers.

Indoor camping – If summers are rainy in your neck of the woods, your child need not miss out on the fun of camping. Whether you use an actual tent or throw a big blanket over some chairs, creating a fun and cozy indoor camp will be an enjoyable experience for any child – with or without special needs. Be sure to bring in some favorite toys and snacks. S’mores anyone?

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Water play –  Most children love just about any activity that entails getting wet. Whether you head to a nearby water park, turn on the sprinklers in your yard, or blow up a small inflatable pool, your child will have a blast keeping cool when the temperature spikes.  Your child will develop their gross motor skills thanks to all the physical activity.

Summer camp – Perhaps your child will benefit from attending a camp devoted to students with special needs. This can benefit your child in a number of ways by maintaining a daily routine, expanding their social skills, keeping them physically active, and more . Unlike traditional summer camps, these usually enlist specially trained staff to help students feel more at ease.

Arts and crafts – Use household items to create works of art. Pasta in different shapes like bow-tie and macaroni are great for gluing onto construction paper. Use safety scissors to cut from magazines and create a summer collage.

Hide and go seek – In addition to being tons of fun, playing hide and seek with your child will teach them how to remain calm when looking for you. The game is also great for your child’s physical development and for learning how to count.

Shapes in the clouds – Grab a blanket and a grassy area to lay down in and look for shapes in the clouds. Ask your child to use their imagination and creativity when searching, and then describe what they are seeing.

Stars and constellations in the sky – When you homeschool a child on the spectrum , one of the best ways to reduce sensory overload while reinforcing your space studies is identifying celestial objects in the night sky away from bright city lights. Look for the moon and Venus, as well as constellations such as Orion and the Big Dipper.

Make up the story ending – Read all but the last page of a storybook and ask your children to suggest an ending. Another option is to have them draw the ending. This will give them an opportunity to use their imagination and creativity, known strengths for many students with dyslexia .

Water balloon target – Draw a target on the ground and mark each circle with a point value. Then fill up some water balloons and try to aim for the circle with the most points. This fun game will help your child with improve their math skills by adding up scores, and help develop their fine motor skills.

Color match buckets – Grab a few buckets and balls of varying colors, and have your child pick a ball to throw into the corresponding bucket.  Invite siblings and friends to play for added fun and assign a particular color to each child. Whoever fills their bucket first wins the game. This can be a great opportunity to teach your child about the importance of good sportsmanship and build social skills.

Petting zoo – Many animals can have a therapeutic effect on both children and adults. Find a local farm or petting zoo and enjoy a few hours  of cuddle time with all sorts of cute critters.

Plant a seed or tree – For another fun and educational activity that will make the most of the summer sunshine, plant a seed or tree in your backyard. Students can use a ruler to monitor how much it grows every week, and in the process also learn about math and science.

Every child with special needs has their unique likes, dislikes, and fears.  Making any necessary accommodations to any of these activities can help ensure a fun, stress-free time for everyone involved.

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Hello, and thank you for stopping by our blog! If our customer support team can assist you with questions about Time4Learning, please don’t hesitate to let us know! https://www.time4learning.com/contact-us/

Thank You for sharing these great ideas of summer activities for special kids.

Our pleasure, Sherllin! We’re glad to help! 🙂

A lot of good ideas… however you will not be able to find Orion in the summer.

Hi Amanda! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment! Summer months vary depending on where you are geographically (Northern Hemisphere vs Southern Hemisphere). If Orion is not visible during your summer months, you can substitute finding Orion for finding any of the other constellations visible where you are. 🙂

I’m interested in setting up a curriculum for this summer for my son. Any suggestions? He is very tall and strong. He is a runner and is very aggressive about food. Rana

Hi Rena! You could create a training plan, if there is a run goal in mind. That would incorporate both the physical aspects of running, as well as making sure he trains nutritionally. Of course, that’s just a suggestion and you should always make sure you consult with a doctor before starting any new activity. 🙂

In addition to anything you plan physically, Time4Learning can be a great resource for summer learning. As a member, you have access to 6 week plans that we’ve curated that can be used to review, reinforce, or preview concepts in math and language arts. If you’d like to learn more, or if you have additional questions, please do feel free to reach out to our customer support team! https://www.time4learning.com/curriculum/contact_us.php

I like the Homeschooling information, I have referred two single parents who were truly interested, due to their job or career, it makes it easier for them to educate their children

We’re thrilled to hear that you’re happy with Time4Learning, and we appreciate your referrals, Kathleen! 🙂

I home school two special needs children and would like to get an idea how to keep things moving thru out summer .

Hi Trina! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

Here is a link to some additional summer blog posts we have. There are some great ideas/tips within them. https://www.time4learning.com/blog/tag/summer/

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50 Top 8th Grade Science Fair Projects and Classroom Activities

Find interesting ideas to engage all learners!

Whether your students are preparing for the science fair or you’re looking for classroom ideas to grab their interest, we’ve got the answers! Find lots of 8th grade science fair projects across a spectrum of topics and difficulty levels (including plenty of easy science fair project ideas). Plus, check out fun classroom demos and hands-on experiments and activities your students will love.

To make it easier to find classroom activities or science fair projects for 8th graders, we’ve rated all the projects and activities by difficulty and the materials needed:

Difficulty:

• Easy: Low or no-prep experiments you can do pretty much anytime
• Medium: These take a little more setup or a longer time to complete
• Advanced: Experiments like these take a fairly big commitment of time or effort
• Basic: Simple items you probably already have around the house
• Medium: Items that you might not already have but are easy to get your hands on
• Advanced: These require specialized or more expensive supplies to complete

Biology and Life Science 8th Grade Science Fair Projects

Chemistry 8th grade science fair projects, physics and engineering 8th grade science fair projects, 8th grade science classroom demos, experiments, and hands-on activities.

Explore human behavior, plants and animals, the water cycle, and more with these 8th grade science fair project ideas.

Measure and compare lung capacity

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Medium

This experiment combines math and biology to measure lung capacity using a balloon. There are a lot of interesting hypotheses students can form, document, and explore while taking these measurements.

Learn more: Measuring Lung Capacity at Blog She Wrote

Guide a growing plant through a maze

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Basic

Prove that plants really do seek out the light by setting up a simple or complex maze. This is a simple 8th grade science project with really cool results.

Learn more: Plant Light Maze at KiwiCo

Explore symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Difficulty: Medium / Materials: Medium

Many plants depend on nitrogen for growth, but how important is it? This science project compares the growth of pea plants with and without nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

Learn more: Nitrogen and Plants at Education.com

Test water quality

A water-testing kit opens up limitless options for 8th grade science fair projects. Test the water quality of local streams, swimming pools, or even the taps at home.

Learn more: Water Quality Experiment at The Homeschool Scientist

Cast animal tracks

Explore wildlife biology by becoming an expert tracker! Learn to identify tracks and take casts. Turn this into an experiment by trying different methods to take casts, or use it as a method of identifying wildlife in the woods.

Learn more: Casting Animal Tracks at Blog She Wrote

Determine a plant’s favorite music

Play different types of music for plants, then observe and document any changes in the growth and development of the plants as they’re exposed to different genres of music.

Conduct fingerprint analysis

Budding forensic scientists will love this idea. Learn to dust for prints and try a technique called “fuming” for trickier surfaces. See if you can compare prints and make accurate matches in the classroom. You can buy a fingerprinting kit just for kids  or use supplies from around the house.

Learn more: Fingerprinting at Home Science Tools

Examine the connection between personality and memory

Do introverts have better memories than extroverts? This science project aims to find out. Round up some willing volunteers and administer the Myers-Briggs personality test, then challenge your subjects with a memory test. The results may or may not surprise you!

Learn more: Memory and Personality at Education.com

Measure algae growth

Fertilizer runoff has become a serious cause of water pollution. In this experiment, students will see its effects firsthand and brainstorm ways to keep it in check.

Learn more: Algae and Pollution Experiment at Layers of Learning

Water plants with different liquids

In this easy science fair project, kids water plants with different liquids, like rainwater, tap water, salt water, and even soda. They might be surprised at the results!

Learn more: Effecting Plant Growth at Calm the Chaos Parenting

Beakers and test tubes, pouring and mixing … do it all with these fun chemistry science fair project ideas for 8th graders.

Perform a starch test with iodine

This simple chemistry experiment uses iodine to determine the starch content of food items. Use the process to perform a variety of 8th grade science experiments related to food.

Learn more: Starch Test at Biology Notes for IGCSE

Keep your hands warm

If you live in a chilly part of the world, chances are you’ve seen chemical hand warmers for sale. In this 8th grade science fair project, use oxidation to make your own hand warmer, and find other creative ways to use this heating process.

Learn more: Homemade Hand Warmer at Steve Spangler Science

Compare electrolytes in sports drinks

Sports-loving kids will enjoy the chance to learn just how many valuable electrolytes their favorite sports drinks contain. Compare them with water or orange juice for a cool science fair project. You’ll need a few special supplies, like a multimeter and an ohm resistor , but they’re not too expensive and they’re easy to find.

Turn juice into spheres

You’ll need a few special supplies for this experiment , but the results are so cool. Turn spherification into a science fair project by experimenting with different beverages and liquids.

Block the sun’s UV rays

Use color-changing UV beads to test the protective power of medicine bottles, hats, clothing, and more. This is an easy 8th grade science fair project with nearly endless possibilities.

Grow a carbon sugar snake

Remember those little black pellets that fire up into long snakes on the 4th of July? This is the same concept but much bigger! The simple chemical reaction of sugar and baking soda makes it happen. Turn this into an 8th grade science fair project by varying the formula to create even bigger results!

Learn more: Carbon Sugar Snake at KiwiCo

Create a rainbow of flames

You can change the color of fire by adding chemicals found at your local grocery store—what a sight! How can you use these flame colors to determine the chemical content of other materials? Sounds like a cool 8th grade science fair project!

Get your laundry really clean

Find out if all those laundry detergent commercials are really telling the truth with this 8th grade science fair experiment. Test their cleaning power on a variety of stains and fabrics, and analyze your results.

Learn more: Science of Cleaning Products at Steve Spangler Science

Study the effects of acid rain

Difficulty: Easy / Materials: Basic

In this project, students use chalk as a stand-in for stone to learn how acid rain affects buildings, statues, and more. Turn this into a science fair project by exploring ways to mitigate the effects of the acidity.

Extract bismuth from Pepto Bismol

Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Advanced

This is the kind of project that really makes you feel like a scientist. Grinding tablets with a mortar and pestle, filtering in beakers, heating over a Bunsen burner … this is what chemistry is all about!

Learn more: Extracting Bismuth at Popular Science

Optimize fermentation temperature

Delve into the mystery of how temperature affects the fermentation process and determine the optimum temperature for yeast development. (Test your hypothesis by baking a loaf of bread!)

Learn more: Hot Yeast at Elemental Blogging

Brew up some root beer

Who says science can’t be delicious ? Tinker with the basic root beer recipe to make it sweeter, fizzier, or better in any way you like!

Learn more: Root Beer Science at Steve Spangler Science

For those who love to build and tinker, try a science fair project that experiments with various physics concepts like energy, electricity, motion, and more.

Build a better light bulb

First, use the steps at the link to build a simple light bulb with a jar, some wire, and a 6-volt battery . Then, turn it into an 8th grade science fair project by tinkering with the various materials to make a light bulb that lasts longer, burns brighter, or is powered by an alternative source.

Learn more: Build a Light Bulb at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Test the strength of interleaved paper

Paper seems smooth and slides apart easily, right? Not when you add friction into the mix! Mythbusters was amazed at how much strength it took to pull apart two interleaved phone books. Try this with smaller books for an 8th grade science fair project that people won’t believe!

Stand on a pile of paper cups

Combine physics and engineering and challenge 8th grade science students to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.

Learn more: Paper Cup Stack at Science Sparks

Cook up a tasty treat with solar energy

Students can design and build a solar oven, and then use it to cook food to compare the cooking time and temperature with a conventional oven. See if you can improve on the original design by changing up the materials or construction.

Investigate advanced properties of liquids

Do surface tension and viscosity decrease with increasing temperature? Find out in this 8th grade science fair project.

Learn more: Surface Tension and Viscosity at Education.com

Make a solar desalinator

Clean freshwater is a valuable commodity. Construct solar-powered desalination devices with readily available materials, and find the most effective desalination methods.

Engineer a roller coaster loop

Kids may have created marble roller coasters before, but have they ever built one with a loop-the-loop? They’ll have to experiment to find out which initial height gives a marble the speed it needs to complete the journey.

Capture a picture of lightning

Difficulty: Advanced / Materials: Medium

Lichtenberg figures capture the branching path of electricity as it travels through an object. You can make your own in a variety of ways, including burning it into wood or acrylic.

Learn more: Lichtenberg Figures at Science Notes

Crash cars for science

This is a great class project for teachers, but it’s also excellent for an 8th grade science fair project. Build cars and crash-test them to learn the best methods of keeping passengers safe.

Learn more: STEM Car Crash Project at The Ardent Teacher

Discover the center of gravity

Once you find and maintain its center of gravity, almost any object will balance, even in surprising circumstances. Using this concept, what amazing objects can you balance and where?

Learn more: Center of Gravity at Rookie Parenting

Power up homemade batteries

Building batteries is a classic science experiment for any age. Make it into an 8th grade science fair project by trying different variables and exploring the amount of power you can produce.

Learn more: DIY Batteries at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Assemble a spring balance scale

Apply Hooke’s law to find out if the stretching of a spring can be used to accurately measure the weight of objects. The materials are simple, but you’ll need patience and physics to calibrate a spring and use it to test weights.

Design a robotic hand

This is a project that can be tweaked by coming up with ways to improve upon the design. Can you build a hand that can pick up a ball? How about one that can pluck up a piece of string? So many possibilities!

Learn more: DIY Model Robot Hand STEM Activity at Mombrite

Build an infinity mirror

Experiment with optical illusions by creating a tunnel of lights that seems to stretch away into infinity. Eighth grade science students will learn about engineering and the physics of optics along the way.

Construct a Rube Goldberg machine

Create a machine to complete a simple task in the most complicated fashion! This is a neat 8th grade STEM fair project because it allows you to use a variety of physics concepts in a fun way.

Explore a wide variety of 8th grade science concepts with these fun and engaging activities.

Protect an egg in a crash

We love this spin on the classic egg-drop project. In this version, students build a structure to protect an egg during a collision with a wall, making the connection between crash tests and physics concepts.

Drop an egg to prove the first law of motion

This experiment looks like a magic trick, but it’s firmly grounded in Newton’s first law of motion. When you knock the pie tin out of the way, the egg falls straight into the glass thanks to inertia. (Worried about making a mess? Use plastic eggs instead.)

Learn more: Egg Drop Inertia Challenge at Steve Spangler Science

Break out the leaf blower to teach Bernoulli’s principle

Eighth grade science students have probably seen a Bernoulli demo or two, often with straws and Ping-Pong balls. So grab their attention by trying it with a leaf blower and a beach ball instead!

Assemble a Newton’s cradle

Newton’s cradle is a fascinating way of demonstrating momentum and energy transfer. Follow the directions at the link to build one, or challenge 8th grade science students to experiment with their own construction methods.

Learn more: Newton’s Cradle at Babble Dabble Do

Extinguish a candle without blowing it out

Combine an acid/base experiment with some fire science in this really popular classroom science demo. It seems like magic, but it’s just science!

Relight a candle without touching it

Tell students you’re going to relight a candle without touching the flame to the wick. The results will boggle their minds!

Learn more: Magic Traveling Flame at Steve Spangler Science

Demonstrate the “unpoppable” balloon

Your students won’t believe you when you say you can hold a balloon up to a flame without popping it. Use the conductivity of water to prove your point.

Extract your own DNA

DNA is the blueprint of life, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to extract your own with a few simple supplies. Preserve it in alcohol in the freezer when you’re done.

Learn more: How To Extract DNA at Home at Home Science Tools

Build a trash can air cannon

This is such a fun way to demonstrate an air vortex! It takes a little effort to build the air cannon, but you can use it year after year for amazing 8th grade science demos.

Separate water into hydrogen and oxygen

Use electrolysis to prove that water really is made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It’s a simple concept but one that never fails to amaze.

Learn more: Separating Water at Navigating by Joy

Assemble a ring of Pringles

Everybody loves an edible STEM challenge! Here’s one that seems simple but takes some time to work out: Build a ring of Pringles chips without using any other materials.

Construct a cup holder

Can your 8th grade science students build a device to stabilize and carry two cups of water, using only a few simple supplies? Oh, and can they manage it in just 5 minutes? This timed challenge pushes their creative engineering limits!

Learn more: Cup Holder STEM Challenge at Homeschool Creations

Navigate a light maze

Here’s the STEM challenge: Bounce a beam of light around a corner past an obstacle. Increase the difficulty by adding more obstacles and variables.

Engage your 8th grade science students further with these 24 Science Kits for Middle and High School That Make Hands-On Lessons Easy .

Plus,  sign up for our newsletters  to get all the latest teaching tips and ideas straight to your inbox..

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50 Easy Science Activities For Preschoolers

Curious kids turn into junior scientists with these fun and easy preschool science experiments . Th ese science activities for preschoolers are doable and use simple supplies for home or in the classroom. Plus, you can scale any of these activities to use with kindergarten through elementary-age students!

Science for Preschoolers Engages the Senses

Preschool science encourages observations of the five senses, including sight, sound, touch, smell, and sometimes taste. The more kids can fully immerse themselves in an activity, the greater their interest will be !

Kids are naturally curious creatures, and once you have piqued their curiosity, you have also activated their observation, critical thinking, and experimentation skills.

These science activities are perfect for the senses, allowing play and exploration without adult-led directions. Kids will naturally start to pick up on the simple science concepts presented just by having a fun conversation about it all with you!

• 5 Senses Exploration Station
• 5 Senses Coloring Book (Free)
• 5 Senses Discovery Bags
• Apple Taste Test with the 5 Senses
• Pop Rocks and 5 Senses

Awesome Science Activities for Preschoolers

💡 Many of the preschool science projects below can be adapted to your kids’ current level. Also, these are perfect for kids of multiple ages to work together in small groups.

Click on each link below for full instructions. Also, look through our seasonal preschool science activities and grab the free science experiment cards!

• Spring Preschool Science Experiments
• Fall Preschool Science Experiments: apples and pumpkins
• Winter Preschool Science Experiments

Check out how different materials absorb water with this simple what absorbs water activity. 

ALKA SELTZER CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Make an Alka Seltzer Rocket , try a simple Alka Seltzer Experiment or a homemade Lava Lamp to check out this neat chemical reaction.

BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR EXPERIMENTS

Who doesn’t like a fizzing, foaming eruption? From an erupting lemon volcano to our simple baking soda balloon experiment. . Check out our list of baking soda science activities to get started!

BALLOON RACE CARS

Explore energy, measure distance, build different cars to explore speed and distance with simple balloon cars. You can use Duplo, LEGO, or build your own car.

BALLOON ROCKETS

Gas, energy, and power! Make Go power! Set up a simple balloon rocket. All you need is a string, a straw, and a balloon!

BURSTING BAGS

Definitely take this bursting bags science activity outside! Will it pop? This science activity will have you on the edge of your seat!

BUTTER IN A JAR

The science you can spread with a tasty homemade butter, after a good workout for the arms anyway!

BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE

Explore the butterfly life cycle with a free printable pack and butterfly sensory bin idea. Or create an edible butterfly life cycle instead!

Explore the simple fun of bubbles with these easy bubble experiments ! Can you make a bubble bounce? We have a recipe for the perfect bubble solution too.

Check out even more bubble fun with 2D bubble shapes or 3D bubble shapes , bubble painting , and bubble snakes !

BUILDING BRIDGES

This bridge building activity is an easy engineering project for young kids. It starts with the planning and designing process and ends with the building process. Construct your own bridge from simple supplies.

BUILDING TOWERS

Kids love building, and building structures is a great activity that incorporates many skills and is also frugal. Check out a variety of building activities .

CANDY SCIENCE

Play Willy Wonka for a day and explore candy science with floating m&m’s, chocolate slime, dissolving candy experiments, and more!

CELERY AND FOOD COLORING

Watch how water moves through a plant with a simple celery food coloring science experiment!

CHICK PEA FOAM

Have fun with this taste-safe sensory play foam made with ingredients you probably already have in the kitchen! This edible shaving foam, or aquafaba as it is commonly known, is made from the water chickpeas are cooked in.

COLOR MIXING

Color mixing is a science. Learn colors through play with these preschool color activities .

CRYSTAL GROWING

Growing crystals is simple! You can easily grow your own crystals at home or in the classroom with our simple recipe. Make a rainbow crystal , a snowflake , hearts , crystal eggshells , and even crystal seashells.

DENSITY {LIQUIDS}

Can one liquid be lighter than the other? Find out with this easy liquid density experiment!

DINOSAUR FOSSILS

Be a paleontologist for a day, make homemade dinosaur fossils , and then go on your own dig . Check out all our fun preschool dinosaur activities .

DISCOVERY BOTTLES

Science in a bottle. Explore all kinds of simple science ideas right in a bottle! They are perfect for themes, too, like these Earth Day ones!

Test how strong an egg is with this easy eggshell strength experiment. Find out what happens to an egg in vinegar , and try our mess-free egg drop challenge for young kids.

Have you ever changed the color of a flower? Try this color-changing flower science experiment and learn about how a flower works! Or why not try growing your own flowers with our list of easy flowers to grow .

What goes up must come down. Have young kids explore concepts in gravity around the house or classroom with simple objects you already have.

FIZZING LEMONADE

Explore the senses and a little chemistry with our fizzy lemonade recipe.

ICE CREAM IN A BAG

Homemade ice cream is yummy, edible science with only three ingredients! Don’t forget the winter gloves and sprinkles—this gets cold!

ICE MELT SCIENCE

An ice melt activity is a simple science you can set up in many different ways with many themes. Ice melting is a wonderful introduction to a simple science concept for young kids! Check out our list of ice activities for preschool.

Try the classic expanding ivory soap experiment! One bar of ivory soap can be very exciting! Also see how we experimented with one bar of soap and turned it into either soap foam!

Another must try science experiment using oil and water, a lava lamp experiment is always a favorite!

LETTUCE GROWING ACTIVITY

Set up a lettuce growing station. This is fascinating to watch and pretty quick to do. We watched the new lettuce grow taller each day!

Magic milk is one of our most popular science experiments. It is also just plain fun and mesmerizing!

What’s magnetic? What’s not magnetic? You can set up a magnet science discovery table for your kids to explore and this fun magnet activity !

MIRRORS AND REFLECTIONS

Mirrors are fascinating and have wonderful play and learning possibilities plus it makes for great science!

BOUNCY EGG EXPERIMENT

Ah, the egg in vinegar experiment. You need a little patience for this one {takes 7 days}, but the end result is really cool!

OOBLECK {NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS}

Oobleck is 2 ingredient fun! A simple recipe using kitchen cupboard ingredients, but it is the perfect example of a non-newtonian fluid. Also makes for fun sensory play. Make classic oobleck or colored oobleck.

Take the penny boat challenge and find out how many pennies your tin foil boat will hold before sinking. Learn about buoyancy and how boats float on water.

Make a simple pulley that really works, and test out lifting loads.

Learn about the science of rainbows as well as fun rainbow-themed science experiments. Check out our fun selection of simple-to-set-up  r ainbow science experiments . 

RAMPS AND FRICTION

We use cars and balls all the time with our rain gutters! Even flat pieces of wood or stiff cardboard work! Newton’s laws of motion really come alive with simple toy cars and homemade ramps.

ROCK CANDY (SUGAR CRYSTALS)

Another tasty science activity as you explore how sugar crystals form!

FOUR SEASONS

What’s the reason for the seasons, perfect for kids?

SEED GERMINATION

Our simple seed jar science activity is one of our most popular science activities for preschoolers. It is an excellent way to see how a seed grows!

THE 5 SENSES

Let’s explore the senses! Young kids are learning to use their senses every day. Set up a simple 5 Senses Science Table for exploring and learning how their senses work! Our candy taste test and senses activity are fun, too.

SHADOW SCIENCE

Explore shadows in several ways! Make shadows with your body (fun outdoor play and learning idea) and animal shadow puppets to check out!

Every kid should build a volcano with a simple chemical reaction, baking soda and vinegar! Build a sandbox volcano or a LEGO volcano ! Learn about fun volcano facts too!

Young kids learn by exploring, observing, and figuring out the way things work with hands-on activities. This volume activity encourages all of the above and is simple to set up.

WATER EXPERIMENTS

There are all kinds of fun science activities you can do with water. Use your STEM design skills to build your own water play wall , observe refraction of light in water , explore what dissolves in water or even try a simple solid liquid gas experiment .

WATER XYLOPHONE

Learn a little bit about the science of sound with a simple water xylophone.

WEATHER SCIENCE

Explore weather with rain clouds and tornados or even make a water cycle in a bottle!

TORNADO BOTTLE

Create a tornado in a bottle and study the weather safely!

We made both an indoor and outdoor zip line this year. Explore science concepts through play.

How to Teach Science to Preschoolers

Teaching science to preschoolers is a wonderful way to spark their curiosity about the world around them. Making the learning process fun, engaging, and age-appropriate is essential.

Make sure to check out…

• STEM for Toddlers
• STEM for Kindergarten
• STEM for Elementary

Begin by incorporating hands-on activities and experiments that encourage exploration and observation. Use simple and relatable examples from their everyday lives, such as observing plants grow, mixing colors, or exploring the properties of water.

Encourage questions and provide simple explanations that align with their level of understanding. Picture books can also be valuable tools for teaching science concepts. Add fun themes and colors for the holidays and seasons!

Additionally, fostering a sense of wonder and excitement about the natural world will lay a strong foundation for their future scientific learning. Remember that patience, repetition, and a nurturing environment are key to helping preschoolers develop a lifelong love for science.

Helpful Resources

Check out the links below to prepare yourself, your family, or your classroom for these easy preschool science experiments and activities. The key to success is in the preparation!

• Preschool Science Center Ideas
• Sensory Science Activities
• Fine Motor Activities
• Preschool Math Activities
• STEAM Books with Activities for Kids
• Make a homemade science kit that’s inexpensive!

Printable Preschool Pack

Get ready to explore this year with our growing Preschool STEM Bundle ! Or grab the individual packs.

What’s Included:

There are 12 fun preschool themes to get you started. This is an ” I can explore” series! You’ll find both seasonal and non-seasonal themes appropriate to preschool learning throughout the year.

Each unit contains approximately 15 activities, with instructions and templates  as needed. Hands-on activities are provided to keep it fun and exciting. This includes sensory bins, experiments, games, and more! Easy supplies keep it low-cost, and book suggestions add learning time.

22 Comments

Hi, this sounds like a neat activity for young toddlers to explore for texture. Could u please share the ingredients. My profession is in childcare. The children would like this activity I believe. Again, please share your slime recipe. Thank you!! LaTonia Jackson Armstrong

Hi! You simply need to click through the liquid starch slime link or get your recipe here box. However, I would suggest one of our taste safe slime recipes for toddlers as regular slime contains borax, sodium borate, or boric acid. These slimes should not be tasted!

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It’ fun for kids to experiment and science activities of any kind are a great way to encourage kids to explore. I will encourage my son about this hope so he will enjoy it. Thanks for the sharing such a interesting article.

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