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DS6 loves to do experiments. How do you do experiments with your kids? Do you do a kit? Do you try to assemble everything yourself? Is there a website you use? I always feel like I can do a much better job with him, but I am not sure how to go about it.

My DD9 also loves to do experiments. We enjoy this website:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiments

I found a few clearance books re: science fair projects using household materials when she was about five. We used them for years. They were a great jumping off point for additional variable manipulation and data collection, since the bare bones of the experimental design was already laid out for us.

Be aware, though, that this works best with parents that know a LOT of the theory behind why certain things work (and why some of the experiments/demos do NOT work as they are 'supposed' to). We had a lot of flexibility in improving design and improvising materials.

We sometimes use experiments and ideas from http://www.science-sparks.com/

My kid loves to experiment -- so, sometimes he comes up with his own experiments. Sometimes, they work as expected. Most times, they produce very different results. LOL.

Our local library has been a great resource for us - science fairs are so big in schools that the library has a large collection of kids' science experiment books all grouped together in one place, and we've used those as a jumping off point for one of my science-kids. She likes to look through the books for ideas. My other science kid (my EG ds).. came up with his own experiments and ideas as a young kid and didn't care about getting ideas from anyone else

FWIW, I'm a scientist and so is my dh. Most of the early elementary level science experiments my dd has looked through have come with good explanations of the concepts behind the experiment and the simple experiments are to a certain extent easily reproducible so you don't have to overly-worry about them not working. If you're moving on into more complex ideas I'll second HK's advice - it helps to have someone working with your child (parent or other person) who understands the science concepts being tested. OTOH, I think that simply being enough of a scientist to realize not every experiment "works" (and that most actually "fail" - ie don't prove the original hypothesis), but every experiment, no matter how it works out, is giving you data that means *something* - that plus a little bit of patience, is really what's important. If you run into something you don't understand, you can always seek out someone to help you figure it out at that point.

Have fun!

polarbear

Our sons are the same age. My DS has found the kits to be fun, as they usually contain all of the materials needed. We stared out with small kits, and have ended up buying some rather large ones with a lot of experiments.

We liked these kits -DS7 was a magic school bus fan so we did these from 3 up, they come with the esoteric stuff and then ask you to provide common household items. But what's liked best was that the booklet asked interesting questions and walked the kids through the scientific method. We kept our own lab book and used their approach to do it. Worked very nicely.

Magic school bus kits

DeHe

Just a quick question??
Kids no matter what age come up with experiments all an their own?? Ask your child what he/she is interested in... And why?? And you will get a great... Unique... Science experiment all on your own!!! Just use the books for general science experiments format ...... Forget what other kids have done ..... Kids have the best imaginations out there..... Let them question and explore the world as they see fit.... And the science will follow

My kids are very interested in birding (this is a family interest). If your child is interested, there is a lot out there for kids--events, nest watch/feeder watch in the yard, etc, a lot of it with an explicitly scientific bent. Look up the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. DD has an account on eBird, a site where you enter bird observations. Some amazing citizen science has come out of eBird. There are many other citizen science projects your child can participate in--there is one where you plant sunflowers and observe the bees that come. Again, you are actually contributing to valuable science when yout ake part in these. I know this isn't a "mix things together and see them foam" kind of thing, but I find my kids learn a lot about the scientific process and scientific thinking from this stuff. I'm not such a fan of the "make it go boom" style of science teaching because there often isn't much theory behind it. We have and love Snap Circuits, but I don't know that the kids are really processing the concepts.

Frogwatch is another of those programs-- it was shut down/moved/on hiatus for a while, but then I noticed that I was getting the e-mails again, so I think it may have switched homes.


I think that the whiz-flash-bang science DOES require a lot more effort on the part of a parent/adult in order for it to actually convey meaning.

We always approach that kind of thing with a "multiple trials" and "reproducibility/appropriate controls" standpoint. My DD had learned the importance of controls and variable isolation before she even knew the technical terms for them (at about five).

It's completely internalized at this point. Her first question when she sees something cool/interesting is "huh... wonder if that's reproducible?" and then it goes from there. She's got better instincts for experimental design than many graduate students I've worked with, and I think that the early exposure to proper experimental design with the inclusion of controls is the reason why.