Recommended for 4th graders! A collection of easy self-study ideas to try
For independent study in fourth grade, I recommend first finding what your child is interested in.
When they learn about what they like, they can keep going and enjoy it.
Here, we introduce simple daily study ideas that are helpful for independent learning.
When children and adults learn together, it sparks more curiosity and makes learning more enjoyable.
Learning opens up new worlds and helps build confidence.
Please use this as a reference to find areas of interest and enjoy independent study!
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Recommended for 4th Graders! A Collection of Easy Self-Study Ideas (51–60)
Let’s investigate delicious/tasty water
In Japan, delicious natural spring water can be found all over the country.
There are kits available from various sources that let you test the taste and pH of such water.
How about a science project where you use these kits to check and compare the taste and pH of Japan’s natural spring water and bottled water? It might also be interesting to investigate the relationship between similar-tasting waters and the terrain where they spring up.
Observing ants
How about observing ants using a kit that lets you watch them build their nest? People have observed ants for ages, but kits make it easier to see and study them.
You prepare a special gel and pour it into the case.
Then put in the ants you’ve caught and observe them every day.
As long as an adult helps with making the gel, the rest is just observation.
It’s a free research project that first graders in elementary school can do.
Making Colorful Flowers
Make Colorful Flowers: a fun experiment to learn what happens when you place flowers in inks of different colors.
Through experiments that make use of flowers’ natural features, you can deepen your knowledge while having fun.
Fill test tubes or plastic cups with printer ink or water mixed with food coloring.
Then simply place white flowers—such as roses, gerberas, or baby’s breath—into the solutions and leave them for 1 to 24 hours.
You can also split a stem in two to create a two-tone flower.
This experiment shows that plants draw water up through vessels called xylem, which carry the pigments.
Let’s try making a squeeze
A squeeze toy you can’t stop touching.
They’re sold at variety stores and 100-yen shops, and the food-themed ones look so cute that you can’t help wanting them.
How about making one yourself? Using a sponge and acrylic paint, you can make donuts or corn dogs that give a satisfying crunchy sound, or use water slime to create a candy apple with an addictively squishy feel.
Making squeeze toys also makes for a great summer science project.
Recommended for 4th Graders! A Collection of Easy Self-Study Ideas You Can Try (61–70)
Self-made game in Scratch
Scratch is a game creation tool that makes it easy to give children opportunities to learn programming.
It’s free to use and runs in the browser—why not make game development your independent research project theme? Choose a game stage from a wide variety of backgrounds and give the stage a name by changing the costume name.
After creating three costumes for the stage, use a new message to set up character selection.
Prepare a character from “Choose a Sprite” and rename it.
By duplicating and modifying the code you create, you can experience programming.
With intuitive drag-and-drop operations, it’s a tool that helps you learn how to use a computer and how to make games.
Skeleton Egg
This is an experiment where you can enjoy watching an egg turn transparent by soaking it in vinegar.
Rinse an egg with water, place it in a glass, pour in enough vinegar to cover the egg, and cover the top with a paper towel—that’s all you need to do.
Leave it for about two days, and the egg will gradually become transparent.
The change happens because the acidic vinegar dissolves the calcium in the eggshell.
The fizzing bubbles are caused by carbon dioxide being released, and the egg becomes larger because water molecules enter through tiny pores in the membrane.
Be careful not to eat the egg made in this experiment.
It’s a perfect topic for an independent research project that you can document with photos, illustrations, and writing.
Snow globe making
During long vacations, we’re swamped with homework, independent research projects, and playtime.
It’s easy to put things off and run out of time.
That’s when this snow globe is highly recommended! The glitter and “snow” that slowly fall and sparkle inside the glass are beautiful, aren’t they? You can get most of the materials at a 100-yen shop: purified water, liquid glue, a hot glue gun, a jar, a sponge, decorations you want to put inside, and glitter.
It also doesn’t take much time, so it’s truly a strong ally for independent research projects.