Science Day ideas for OSHC
75 DIY activities for a science day at before and after school care or vacation care, usually run around August or Any time / National Science Week (August). Pick and mix, or build a balanced day in one click.
Bending Pencil Illusion
Children place a pencil in a glass of water and see it appear to bend, learning how light changes direction in water.
Science Day · Volcano Day · Science Week +2Bicarb Soda Volcanoes
Children shape a volcano around a bottle and make it erupt with bicarb soda and vinegar, exploring chemical reactions.
Junior Chef Challenge · Science Week · Science Day +1Blind Taste Test Survey
Children blind taste-test three versions of one food, vote for a favourite and graph the group's results.
Gardening Day · Bug Day · Science Week +3Bottle Wormery
Children layer soil and sand in a clear bottle, add worms and watch how they tunnel and mix the layers over a week or two.
Brick Building Day · At the Building Site · Science Day +2Brick Bridge Strength Test
Children build bridges between tables with building bricks and test how many coins they can hold.
Brick Building Day · Puzzle Day · Inventors Day +2Brick Marble Maze
Children build a maze on a baseplate and tilt it to roll a marble through.
Down on the Farm · Milk Day · Farm to Table Day +1Butter in a Jar
Children shake cream in sealed jars until it separates into butter and buttermilk, a simple food science activity with a tasty result.
Bug Day · Science Week · Science Day +3Caterpillar Growing Habitat
Children care for caterpillars in a habitat and record how they grow and change, watching the life cycle unfold over days or weeks.
Chocolate Day · Science Week · Science Day +2Chocolate Melting Experiment
Children predict and test where chocolate melts fastest, such as in the sun, the shade or in their hands.
Science Week · Weather Watchers · Science DayCloud in a Jar
Older children watch a cloud form inside a jar as warm water meets cold, learning how clouds are made.
Science Week · Science Day · Inventors Day +1Coin Battery LED
Older children stack coins, foil and vinegar-soaked card to build a simple battery that can light a small LED.
Holi · Rainbow Day · Science Day +2Colour Mixing Science
Children predict and test what new colours appear when primary colours are mixed.
Magic Day · Science Day · Milk Day +3Colour-Swirling Milk Magic
Children add drops of food colouring to milk, then touch it with soapy cotton buds and watch the colours burst and swirl like magic.
Lost Creatures · Dinosaur Day · Dinosaur & Unicorn Day +2Cotton Bud Dino Skeleton
Children arrange cotton buds on black card to build a dinosaur skeleton, learning how fossils show what animals looked like.
Detective Day · Spy School · Science Week +1Crime Scene Investigation
Children examine footprints, hair samples and ink tests to work out which suspect is behind a mock crime, practising careful observation and logical reasoning.
After School Quick STEM · Science Week · Science Day +3Cup Tower Book Challenge
Children engineer a tower from cups and card strong enough to hold a book, testing ideas about balance, load and stable bases.
Corn Day · Science Week · Science Day +1Dancing Corn Experiment
Children watch corn kernels rise and fall in fizzy water and explore why.
Pi Day · Science Week · Challenge Day +1Discovering Pi
Children measure round objects with string and rulers to discover the special number pi. Maths that feels like a detective challenge.
Science Day · Inventors Day · Science Week +3Egg Drop Challenge
Older children design a protective package so a raw egg survives a drop from height, testing their engineering ideas.
Rock and Gem Day · Science Day · Science Week +1Eggshell Crystal Geodes
Older children grow sparkling crystals inside cleaned eggshell halves using an educator-made solution, then watch them develop over a few days.
Milk Day · Science Day · Science Week +2Exploding Colour Milk
Children drop dish soap into coloured milk and watch the colours burst outwards in bright patterns.
Spy School · Detective Day · Science Week +1Fingerprint Detectives
Children lift their own fingerprints using pencil graphite and tape, then compare loops, whorls and arches like detectives.
Detective Day · Spy School · Science Week +1Fingerprint Dusting Lab
Children dust surfaces for fingerprints with cocoa powder, lift prints with tape and compare them to solve a mock case.
Wizard School Day · Science Day · Halloween +3Fizzing Potion Making
Children mix coloured vinegar into bicarb soda to brew bubbling magical potions.
Halloween · Volcano Day · Science Day +2Fizzing Pumpkin Eruption
Children add vinegar to bicarb soda inside a hollowed pumpkin and watch it foam up and spill over like a spooky volcano.
New Year's Party · Science Day · Science Week +2Fizzing Soda Fountains
Children drop mint lollies into bottles of soft drink and watch foamy fountains erupt, then compare which drinks fizz highest. A loud, splashy way to ring in the new year.
Volcano Day · Science Week · Science Day +2Fizzing Volcano Eruption
Children mix bicarb soda and vinegar inside a model volcano to create a foaming eruption and talk about the reaction that causes it.
Pamper and Zen Day · Science Day · Science Week +1Fizzy Bath Bomb Making
Children mix bicarb soda, citric acid and colour, then press the mix into moulds to make fizzing bath bombs. Part science, part pamper.
Science Day · Rocket and Plane Day · Science Week +2Fizzy Canister Rockets
Older children add a fizzing tablet and water to small snap-lid canisters and watch the gas build up and pop the lids skyward.
Slime Lab Day · Sensory Day · Messy Play Day +2Fluffy Cloud Slime
Children fold shaving foam into PVA slime to make a puffy, cloud-soft slime and compare how it feels with regular slime.
Science Day · Science Week · Volcano Day +1Foam Eruption Experiment
Older children watch yeast break down mild hydrogen peroxide to make a huge, warm foam eruption, learning about catalysts.
Dinosaur Day · Water Play Day · Science Day +1Frozen Dinosaur Eggs
Children search for ice eggs with toy dinosaurs frozen inside, then work out how to hatch them with warm water and salt.
Messy Play Day · Art Attack Day · Water Play Day +2Frozen Paint Cubes
Children paint with frozen cubes of paint that melt into bright, smooth colours as they glide across paper.
Gross and Messy Day · Slime Lab Day · Science Day +2Gelatine Slime
Children make a stretchy, gooey green slime from gelatine and syrup, exploring how ingredients change texture.
Halloween · Rocket and Plane Day · Science Day +2Ghost Rockets
Children decorate small canisters as ghosts, then launch them with fizzing tablets and water.
Bubbles Day · Science Week · Water Play Day +3Giant String Bubbles
Children dip large string wands into bubble mix and create giant, wobbly bubbles outdoors, exploring surface tension.
Healthy Heart Day · Science Day · Science Week +1Heart Rate Check
Children measure their pulse before and after exercise to see how activity changes their heart rate.
Science Day · Science Week · After School Quick STEM +2Homemade Lava Lamps
Children layer oil and coloured water in a bottle, then drop in a fizzing tablet to make bubbly blobs rise and fall.
Nature Play Day · Science Week · Raw Art Day +3Homemade Natural Paints
Children make paints from kitchen ingredients like turmeric, beetroot and herbs, then test the colours on paper.
Winter Wonderland · Polar Day · Water Play Day +2Ice Block Castle
Children build a castle from frozen ice blocks, using salt and water to help blocks stick together.
Ice Cream Day · Science Day · Cooking Day +3Ice Cream in a Bag
Children shake cream, sugar and vanilla in a bag surrounded by salted ice until it freezes into ice cream.
Bug Day · Science Week · Science Day +1Insect Body Parts Challenge
Children label the head, thorax and abdomen on insect diagrams and models, then test each other in a quick quiz.
Halloween · Science Day · Science Week +3Lolly Colour Chromatography
Children separate the hidden dyes in coloured lollies using filter paper and water, discovering the colours inside.
Slime Lab Day · Science Day · Science WeekMagnetic Slime Demo
An educator mixes iron oxide powder into slime and children watch it creep towards a strong magnet, sparking big questions about magnetism.
Lost Creatures · Science Day · Polar Day +3Mammoth Ice Melt
Children test which methods melt a block of ice fastest to free a hidden toy mammoth or animal.
Milk Day · Science Week · Science Day +1Milk Plastic Experiment
Children watch warm milk and vinegar turn into curds, then mould the curds into shapes that dry into a hard plastic-like material.
Neon Day · Slime Lab Day · Science Week +3Neon Glue Slime
Children make stretchy slime in neon colours using a borax-free recipe, then explore how it stretches and moves.
Aquatic Adventure · Under the Sea · Science Week +3Ocean Fizz Bath Bombs
Older children mix and mould blue fizzing bath bombs with a small sea creature toy hidden inside, exploring a simple acid and base reaction.
Under the Sea · Science Week · World Oceans Day +2Ocean in a Bottle
Children combine oil and blue-coloured water in a sealed bottle and tip it gently to create rolling waves, exploring why oil and water don't mix.
World Oceans Day · Under the Sea · Science Week +1Ocean Layers Density Jar
Children pour liquids of different densities into a jar to create layers like the zones of the ocean.
Messy Play Day · Science Week · Science Day +3Oobleck Exploration
Children mix cornflour and water into a strange goo that feels solid when squeezed but runs like liquid when relaxed.
Photography Day · Science Day · Science Week +1Pinhole Viewer
Children make a simple box viewer that projects an upside-down image through a tiny hole. A hands-on look at how cameras work.
Dinosaur Day · Rock and Gem Day · Science Week +1Plaster Fossil Excavation
Children chip and brush toy bones out of plaster blocks like real palaeontologists, then piece their skeleton together.
Medieval Times · Science Week · Science Day +3Pop Stick Catapults
Children build simple catapults from pop sticks, rubber bands and plastic spoons, then test and improve how far they can launch a soft missile.
Weather Watchers · Science Week · Wet Weather Day +1Rain Cloud in a Jar
Children drip coloured water onto a shaving foam cloud floating on water in a jar and watch it 'rain' through.
Everything's Duckie · Water Play Day · Great Race Day +1Rubber Duck Gutter Race
Children race rubber ducks down a length of guttering or a water trough, using cups of water or breath to push them along.
Around the World Day · New Year's Party · Science Day +2Salt Crystal Fireworks
Children draw fireworks with glue, cover them in salt and drip watercolour on top to watch the colours spread.
Science Day · Rock and Gem Day · Science Week +1Salt Crystal Pipe Cleaners
Older children make pipe cleaner shapes and hang them in a strong salt solution to grow crystals overnight.
Ancient Egypt · Science Week · Science Day +2Salt Mummy Apple Experiment
Children preserve apple slices in salt and compare them with uncovered slices over several days, discovering how drying helped ancient mummification.
Pamper and Zen Day · Science Day · Sensory Day +1Simple Bath Bombs
Children combine citric acid and bicarb soda with a little oil to shape bath bombs. A sensory, hands-on chemistry activity.
Water Play Day · Science Week · Science Day +1Sink or Float
Children predict whether everyday objects will sink or float, test them in tubs of water and sort them by result.
Science Day · Slime Lab Day · Volcano Day +2Slime and Volcano Lab
Children rotate between a slime station and a bicarb volcano station, experimenting with two very different science reactions.
Slime Lab Day · Craft Day · Science DaySlime Jar Decorating
Children decorate a container with stickers and labels to take their slime home, inventing a name for their slime recipe.
Challenge Day · Science Week · Science Day +3Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower
Teams race the clock to build the tallest freestanding tower from dry spaghetti and marshmallows, testing engineering ideas.
After School Quick STEM · Science Week · Science Day +3Spaghetti and Tape Tower
Small teams build the tallest free-standing tower they can from dry spaghetti and tape, learning about triangles, bracing and teamwork.
Rocket and Plane Day · Space Explorers · Science Week +3Stomp Rockets
Children stomp on an empty bottle to send a paper rocket flying through a tube, then experiment with rocket shapes to go further.
Science Day · Slime Lab Day · Science Week +1Stretchy Slime Lab
Children make slime with different recipes and test which stretches the longest, measuring results like scientists.
Balloon Day · Science Week · Rocket and Plane Day +3String Balloon Rockets
Children tape a balloon to a straw on a string line and let it go, watching it zoom along and exploring how air pushes it forward.
Superhero Day · Science Day · Messy Play Day +3Super Goop
Children mix cornflour and water into a strange goop that feels solid when punched and runs like liquid when held.
Science Week · Science Day · After School Quick STEM +1Surface Tension Coin Drops
Children predict and count how many water drops fit on a coin before it spills, discovering how water holds together.
Inventors Day · Maker Day · Science Day +3Tube Marble Run
Children connect cardboard tubes on a wall or board to build a marble run, testing and adjusting until the marble makes it through.
After School Quick STEM · Science Week · Science Day +2Twisted Paper Loop Magic
Children make a twisted paper loop, predict what will happen when they cut it, then discover the surprising one-sided shape that results.
Science Week · Rainbow Day · Science Day +1Walking Rainbow
Children watch coloured water climb up paper towel bridges between cups and mix into new colours over time.
Rainbow Day · Science Week · After School Quick STEM +1Walking Water Rainbow
Children watch coloured water travel along paper towels between cups and mix into new colours. Simple science with wow factor.
Science Day · Science Week · After School Quick STEMWeekly Science Session
A regular hands-on experiment session where children try safe kitchen-cupboard science and talk about what they discover.