Recommended for elementary school students! Science fair topics & craft ideas
Speaking of summer vacation, choosing a topic for the independent research project can often be tough.
Science experiments and crafts are both fun! If your child is good at crafts, we recommend crafts because they can enjoy the process as they go.
When they get absorbed in it, they might even finish in just a few days.
Here, we’ll introduce a variety of ideas for independent research and crafts! If you’re struggling to pick a theme, please use these as a reference.
To create fun summer memories, make a one-of-a-kind project of your own!
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- Recommended for lower elementary school students! A collection of plastic bottle craft ideas made with everyday materials.
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- [Middle School Students] Easy One-Day Science Projects and Crafts Ideas
- Toys you can make from cardboard crafts! Authentic ideas you can build and play with
- Simple but awesome! Craft ideas for upper-grade girls
- Crafts parents and kids can enjoy together. Recommended craft ideas to keep children entertained.
For lower grades (61–70)
small missile
Although we call it a “missile,” it’s basically the same idea as the so-called Mentos-and-cola trick.
It’s easy to make.
Prepare a camera film canister, water, and a bath tablet.
Put water and the bath tablet into the film canister and close the lid tightly.
Then the carbon dioxide from the tablet has nowhere to go, and the whole canister pops and jumps lightly.
It’s recommended if you want to try something quickly!
Put ramune candy in carbonated water
The so-called “Coke and Mentos” that was astonishingly popular for a while.
Watching it erupt is fun, of course, and it’s also a chance to learn why it happens.
As an application, you might even try making a rocket that uses the force of the eruption.
Let’s look into money!
By the time they’re in 4th grade, kids are using money more often—buying things with their allowance or running errands to the store.
How about taking a closer look at money, which we usually handle without thinking, as a theme for an independent research project? You could trace the history of money, summarizing how it has been used from ancient times to today and how its forms have changed.
You might also create a summary of the historical figures printed on banknotes.
In addition, consider including topics like the banknote manufacturing process and the measures used to prevent counterfeiting.
haniwa
Let’s try making haniwa, the clay figures from Japan’s Kofun period that come in many shapes.
Since they were originally made of clay, paper clay gives a convincing finish and is highly recommended.
All you need are easy-to-find materials like a toilet paper roll or straws and some paper clay to get started.
You can create a variety of expressions, like smiling or surprised faces, and pose the arms in different ways.
Give it a go and make your own original haniwa—big, small, and full of personality!
Let’s make glowing balloon slime
An irresistibly tactile slime with a one-of-a-kind feel.
This experiment features that slime glowing in the dark.
You can get the slime ingredients at a drugstore, but using a kit makes it easier and more convenient.
Best of all, it includes phosphorescent powder—the glowing agent—so it’s fancier than ordinary slime and perfect for a science project topic.
Inflate the finished slime with a straw to make it balloon-like and watch it glow.
Even if it doesn’t inflate well, you can try again as many times as you like.
To make it glow, be sure to expose the slime to plenty of light beforehand!
Does a picture change underwater? Let’s learn how light works.
This is an experiment that uses the phenomenon of total internal reflection.
Strangely, when you put it in water, the picture or the object inside looks different.
Prepare a plastic bottle with a smooth surface and place a marble inside.
When you submerge it in a bowl filled with water, the marble inside mysteriously disappears.
This happens because total internal reflection occurs and light reflects off the surface of the container.
Applying this idea, if you draw different pictures on the inside and outside of a bag, only the picture on the outside will be visible while the one inside disappears.
Modes of heat transfer
If you have cups made of various materials at home, this kind of independent study is also recommended.
Pour hot water into different cups and make a prediction, then experiment to see which one gets hot the fastest! Since you’ll be handling hot items, be sure to exercise caution during the experiment.