science

This simple salt lava lamp is a fun twist on the more traditional homemade lava lamp that uses a fizzy tablet. The salt lava lamp doesn’t look quite a good, and isn’t as reusable but is still a nice science activity for learning about density.

You’ll need

A glass jar or glass

Vegetable oil – or other cheap cooking oil

Water

Food colouring -optional

Salt

Instructions

Fill the glass or jar about three quarters full.

Top up with vegetable oil to almost the top.

Sprinkle salt slowly for about 10 seconds over the top of the oil.

Sit back and watch!

Keep adding more salt to keep it going.

Why does a salt lava lamp work?

Oil floats on water because it is less dense than water. Anything less dense than than water will float. We’ve demonstrated this before with a basic density jar.

Oil and water are immiscible liquids,

Over the many years I’ve been writing Science Sparks, Autumn has always been my favourite season to design themed activities for. I love the colourful leaves, dark nights, cooler weather and of course the run up to Christmas is always exciting too! This collection of fall science experiments and activities makes me smile every time I read it and hopefully has something to excite kids ( and adults ) of all ages.

I also have a fun collection of fall STEM challenges you might like!

Fall Science Experiments for Kids

Create your own exploding seed device or spinning helicopter seeds to learn about seed dispersal. These are lovely hands on activities that would work well after going on a treasure hunt to search for different types of seeds.

This leaf chromatography experiment from Playdough to Plato is fascinating and very colourful.

Fall Kitchen Science Experiments

Learn about changes of state

These science experiments Key Stage 1 are great for school or home and perfect to sit alongside science in the classroom for Key Stage 1 in the UK or for children aged between around 4 and 7 who love science!

I’ve also got a FREE printable experiment sheet you can print out to use with the investigations. Huge thanks to Mrs Mactivity for creating it.

If a science challenge is more your thing, we’ve got some easy STEM challenges using newspaper to try. You might also like our Science Fun at Home ideas created in association with the Primary Science Teaching Trust.

Plants and Animals

Flower and Plant Investigation Ideas

Grow a sunflower and measure how tall it grows. Position two sunflowers so one is in the shade and one in the sunshine and compare the differences as they grow.

Our cress caterpillar is a great longer term investigation which

We’re celebrating the first day of autumn with some lovely apple experiments today! Turn apples into boats, experiment with different ways to preserve them, find out why food goes bad and make your own delicious apple cider.

If you’re not a big fan of apples, but still love autumn try my autumn and fall STEM challenges instead!

Autumn is a great time of year to get outdoors. Crisp colourful leaves, shiny conkers and falling pine cones make forests and woodlands the perfect way to recharge after a busy day!

Autumn Scavenger Hunt

This FREE autumn treasure hunt is a fun and simple way to keep kids busy while you walk!

Take a pencil and tick items off as you find them.

More autumn treasure hunt ideas

Collect as many different shaped leaves as you can and identify them with a book or tree identification app.

Make a face, object or something else recognisable from a selection of leaves, sticks and seeds.

Great tree and plant identification apps

These free tree and plant identification apps have kept my kids entertained on lots of walks recently and we’ve all learned a lot about different trees!

Tree ID app

The Wildlife Trust has a free tree id app that’s easy