Think you need a lab to get your young scientist’s brain bubbling away?
Think again. Everything you need in order to go on a science learning adventure can be found scattered around the house and stuffed into drawers.
We believe that every child is a scientist and every home can be turned into a laboratory, space station, weather station, observatory or archaeology dig (OK, it might be best to take the last one outside…)
Making a birthday card? What happens when you mix two colours together? Planting seeds? Why do shoots grow up, instead of down? Cooking? How is it that water can start out as a liquid, then be frozen solid and then be heated back into a liquid or even a gas?
Sure, these activities aren’t rocket science. But approach them with curiosity and imagination, and they can spark the kinds of questions and investigations that could turn a curious child into a real-life astronaut one day.
“Science is all around us, all the time,” explains Dr Sophie Dauvois, OKIDO founder. “The early years of a child’s life is the time when they have a natural interest in science and constant curiosity about the world.
“They ask questions all the time! At OKIDO, we want to do everything possible to encourage and develop this, so that learning turns into a lifelong adventure for them.”
OKIDO’s own materials are developed by scientists and educators like Sophie, specifically to engage young children’s innate creativity and playfulness, and to stimulate what we like to call ‘The Four C’s’: collaboration, curiosity, creativity and critical thinking.
Pick an activity guide from the links below, add a few craft-box staples then watch your family explore the wild side of science. The hardest part is choosing which adventure to go on first…
1. Grow some cress... in the shape of your name!
2. Make a creepy crawly that really creeps and crawls
3. Launch your own rocket into space (and explore air pressure)
4. Fire a marshmallow catapult
5. Build a skittlescope (and make some sweet art…)
