Outdoor Science Experiments & Lessons for Kids

You’ll need: lengths of brightly coloured wool or yarn cut into “worms” (include at least one shade close to the ground/bark colour), a stopwatch or timer, and a recording sheet or clipboard per pair.

1. Prepare the worms. Cut 30–40 pieces of yarn, roughly 15cm long, in 5–6 different colours — reds, blues and yellows alongside browns and greens.
2. Scatter, don’t place. While students look away, scatter the “worms” randomly across a patch of grass, hedge or woodland edge. Mix them into leaf litter and undergrowth rather than laying them on open ground.
3. Set the challenge. Give students 2 minutes to collect as many worms as they can find, dropping each one straight into a tally sheet by colour as they go.
4. Count and compare. Back as a group, total how many of each colour were found. The colours found in the highest numbers were the easiest to spot — the least-found colours were the best camouflaged.
5. Discuss the science. Ask: why were greens and browns harder to find? Link this to how camouflage helps real animals like caterpillars, moths and ground-nesting birds avoid predators.

You’ll need: magnifying glasses (or a phone camera set to macro), small clear pots or trays, spoons, and samples of soil, pond water and leaf litter.

1. Collect three samples. In small groups, gather a spoonful each of soil, standing water and decomposing leaf litter, keeping each in its own labelled pot.
2. Predict first. Before looking closely, ask each group to predict what — if anything — is living in each sample.
3. Observe closely. Using magnifying glasses, examine each sample slowly. Look for movement as well as shape; many microorganisms are easier to spot moving than sitting still.
4. Record and sketch. Have students draw what they see in each sample and note colour, size and whether anything moved.
5. Compare and conclude. Bring the class together to compare which sample had the most signs of life, and discuss why decomposing matter (like leaf litter) is often the richest habitat.

You’ll need: a large clear tub or bucket of water, and 10–12 varied objects (a stone, a stick, a leaf, a bottle cap, a coin, a piece of bark, a plastic toy, an acorn, foil, a cork).

1. Sort by prediction. Before testing, have students sort all the objects into two piles: “will float” and “will sink,” based purely on guesswork.
2. Test one at a time. Drop each object into the water individually and record the actual result next to the prediction.
3. Spot the surprises. Identify any objects that didn’t behave as predicted — a heavy-looking piece of bark that floats, or a light foil ball that sinks once scrunched tightly.
4. Investigate why. Introduce the idea that it’s not just weight but shape and density that matter. Try reshaping the foil (flat vs. scrunched) and re-test to show shape changing the outcome.
5. Write it up. Have students record one object that surprised them and explain, in their own words, why they think it floated or sank.