I’ve written several articles recently about having science adventures with your kids and students. Depending on how in-depth you go with these, they can take more or less work. I’d recommend starting simple. In fact, I’d recommend keeping most of the Adventures simple, and working for incremental progress from one session to the next, rather than attempting to exhaust an entire subject in a single sitting.

For one thing, anybody who’s ever been on Wikipedia knows you can never exhaust a subject in a single sitting. Or 10. Or even 100 sittings. Granted, you might start with black holes and end up reading about kittens, but that’s how our strange and wonderful world works. Everything is connected somehow, so don’t try to teach everything at one time. You’ll starve to death while you try to get through the whole subject!

So how do we make it easier? Well, as you may have guessed, I have 10 tips to do just that!

1. Follow NASA on Twitter. They have a bunch of different accounts for all different types of projects and focuses. Pick something you like, and follow it. Then you’ll see current, exciting science articles without having to go look for them. They might overwhelm you, though, since NASA is doing a lot all of the time.
2. Follow  us on Twitter @TheSeekersStone. We find an interesting article everyday and  tweet it. That will keep you from getting overwhelmed and also keep you notified when we release new books or other content on our website.
3. Sign up for our email list. I know these sound like shameless self-advertising, and I suppose in a way they are, but the email list literally exists to provide free Science Adventure content. Sometimes we send out notices for free book offers. Other times we send out do-it-yourself science experiment resources, pre-made Science Adventure games, Science Adventure themed coloring pages, and other fun stuff. It’s always free and we will never ask you to buy anything.
4. Ask your kids what they are learning in science class at school. Then you can do some research and help them see how amazing whatever topic they are covering right now really is. If this is a struggle, then don’t do it. The point is to reinforce what they’re learning at school while they’re at home. That should help them stay interested while they’re actually at school.
5. Ask your kids what they want to do when they grow up. Separately, do a little research on what they would have to do to get there. Then when you talk to them about it again you can help them see the road map to their goal. Once you start planning out what they have to do to achieve their goal, you can show places in the map where they will have to master certain science concepts. You might have to think about this for a while on your own before you sit down to guide them through the discussion. You might also have to do this in small chunks, depending on how patient your kid is. Again, if they hate this exercise, don’t do it yet. Kids are interested in different things at different ages, so wait for the right time on this type of thing. Unless you are an amazing salesperson. Then you probably don’t need much help getting them to do anything (except that they’re still kids, so just kidding).
6. Do something simple and straightforward like go to an aquarium or a museum. Pick something your kid likes to do and do it! This would even work if you decided to go to a place like Disney World or six flags. Depending on which type of park you go to, you can talk about physics or biology or zoology. Heck, if you go watch fireworks you can talk about chemistry and physics. Don’t talk about the science so much that it takes the fun out of the activity though. Keep it mostly fun and learn a little bit along the way, maybe during the drive when you’re going crazy on the road trip anyway.
7. Do something outdoors. Earth science is a pretty important and large field, so just being out in your yard is an opportunity to bring up some simple science facts. If you go hiking you might see some interesting animals, or at least their footprints. If you are in the mountains you can talk about geology. If you’re at the beach you can talk about why the waves crash and how the moon makes the tides. Whatever cool place you go, there’s cool science happening also. Be creative.
8. Make it a challenge. If your kids are as competitive as mine, even the hint of a challenge, competition, or race will be enough to get them into action. If your kid hates competition,  maybe skip this one. You can make the competition as light-hearted or serious as you want to fit your family dynamic. I wouldn’t pit my kids against one another at this point, but instead I would focus on helping them set personal records of some kind, or succeeding as a team. Or maybe racing me. Or racing a timer. What kind of a race would it be? Who knows? It depends on the topic how I would structure it. Creativity is a pretty strong theme with this type of thing. If you need some examples fill out the Contact Us form and I’ll write another post about it soon.
9. Talk about the physics of the sports they like while you’re watching with them. Why do wind and snow make it harder for football players to throw accurately and maintain possession? What goes into a perfect 3 point shot? What does it take to hit a homerun?   I could go on and on about this one but you probably don’t want me to… I think you get the idea.
10. Look into whether your school has a robotics program. If your kid likes building with Legos or building things in general, lots of schools have teams that compete to build robots that compete in various games. The main organization that I have worked with is called FIRST which stands for: For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The program is great. Late Elementary School is the earliest that your kid can start this officially, I believe, but I would have to look into it again. The main Lego competition is for Middle School ages while the full-size robot competition is for high school students.  Your kids might still be able to attend meetings without officially being on the team before those ages though. Ask your local teams!

As promised, there are my 10 tips. Do I have more tips?  Absolutely. I have Q-Tips and sirloin tips, I’ve left tips for waiters and waitresses, and I’ve heard about frosted tips (but don’t have them myself). I’m sure there are more useful tips out there, and I will probably write another list later. For now I’m all tipped out.

 

Good luck adventuring!

Kelly