I have been trying to find time during the last year to teach my DD8 some chemistry. We bought a chemistry set but I was not happy with it. I found an introduction to Chemistry book at the book store that I have started working through with her when I have time. It is nothing that I would recommend. I have been looking for some material that teaches at a high level but is more accessible to a young visual-spatial child. Basically I want something with lots of good visuals and good practical hands-on applications. In general, the materials designed for kids do not take the information to a high enough level and the higher level material does not provide the hands-on applications for which I am looking.
Therefore, I have been looking at the basic concepts taught in chemistry and creating my own hands-on kid friendly activities to explain the concepts.
I found a great way to make molecular models using Magnetixs. I lined all the rods up and for each rod I mark one end with a "+" and the other with a "-". I marked the balls with the names of the common elements. With the balls and rods you can create the elements with the appropriate charges. Then you can create molecules with the elements which magnetically "form" bonds with each other. It also requires energy to break the bonds.
I searched and search for a good periodic table that provided the information I thought was important. I finally found one with combining capacities that I felt had everything I needed at this stage without the stuff that I didn't need.
http://members.shaw.ca/cpf99/Periodic-Table-Of-The-Elements-With-Capacity-PDF.pdfI also found this fun periodic table that is great as an introduction to the periodic table.
http://www.chemsoc.org/viselements/pages/pertable_fla.htmSummer
