How can I help my child with chemistry at home?

Science at school

Your child will study science from the beginning of primary school up to the end of Key Stage 4 and perhaps even beyond. Science is one of the 'core' subjects at school: the others are English and maths.

Science at school is traditionally divided into three areas: biology, chemistry and physics. Your child will study topics from all three areas each year. As well as learning facts, he will work on investigations and experiments.

Children constantly ask questions - Why does my boat float on the bath when this plastic shape sinks? Why does the tide go in and out? Why is my ice cream melting? Science helps all of us to make sense of the world and answers these and countless other questions.

Chemistry activities to do at home

Science is not all about laboratories and experiments. There is a lot you can very easily do at home to keep your child enthusiastic about finding things out. These science activities are suitable for you and children of any age, since they teach (or revise) basic chemistry which is important throughout the school science curriculum.

Chemistry is the study of materials and how they interact.

Investigate how all matter changes state. Matter exists as a solid, liquid or gas. Each state is determined by its temperature. Make ice lollies to see water becoming ice at 0°C, then watch them melt (or experience them melting in the mouth!) as the ice returns to water. Fill a pan with cold water and add a light lid. Watch it boil at 100°C: the lid will lift, as the water molecules move faster and randomly when they become steam.

Boiling an egg, making yoghurt and watching dough rise are great ways to show how chemical changes take place in certain conditions (such as heat), which can't be reversed.

Try some chemical reactions! Set up four pots, each containing a white powder: flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and sugar. See what happens when these are mixed with various liquids - try water, then vinegar for some more dramatic results. Older children should be able to explain what happens and why. (If they need a prompt, remind them that vinegar is an acid!).

Your local library and museum should have hundreds more ideas to develop a child's interest in science.

Based on an article by Lorna Smith

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