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!
- For summer vacation homework! Simple and amazing crafts for elementary school students that you’ll want to make after seeing them
- Simple yet amazing crafts: craft ideas that elementary school students will want to make
- Elementary School Students: Simple One-Day Science Project and Craft Ideas
- DIY science projects that elementary school boys will love: ideas you can make with everyday materials
- [For Upper Elementary Students] Simple but Awesome! A Collection of Summer Vacation Craft Ideas
- For upper-grade boys! Simple yet awesome craft project [Don’t call it lazy]
- Fun crafts using straws
- Recommended for lower elementary school students! A collection of plastic bottle craft ideas made with everyday materials.
- Simple and cute summer project crafts! A collection of ideas for girls that will make you want to create
- [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 (121–130)
Color water experiment with morning glory flowers
Experiments where the color of water changes are visually striking and fun, aren’t they? A perfect one for a summer vacation project is a colored-water experiment using morning glories.
First, fill a bowl with water and gently knead morning glory flowers in it.
The water will take on a pale tint.
Next, pour this colored water into separate containers and add baking soda, citric acid, or lemon juice.
You should see the color change before your eyes.
You can use this to paint pictures or dig deeper into the reasons behind the changes—it would make a wonderful independent research project.
Insect collecting
A classic summer activity for kids! This is an independent research project where you actually collect and examine what kinds of creatures live in places like forests, fields, and rivers.
You can have fun interacting with the animals.
It’s also a good idea to set out bait you made yourself in the forest, wait a while, and then check what kinds of insects gather.
If you go to the forest at night, be sure to go with an adult!
Hatena Block
Super Mario Bros.
is loved by both kids and adults.
Among all the items in Mario’s world, hasn’t everyone dreamed of trying a Question Block? Here’s an idea to make an easy DIY Question Block.
Take a box of the right size, cut out the side that will stick to the wall, and for the bottom, cut it so that about a 1 cm edge remains.
Inside, attach two sheets of construction paper together so they spring open, then stick a magnet onto them and attach drawings of items like a mushroom or a star on top of the magnet.
Embed a magnet in the wall as well, and you’re done.
Enjoy a Question Block you can play with over and over!
Let’s make it with beads and pipe cleaners
If your child is interested in crafts, sewing, or making accessories but isn’t quite ready to use needles or a sewing machine, we recommend projects using pipe cleaners and beads.
Use larger beads that fit onto pipe cleaners and try making a bracelet.
Gather three pipe cleaners together and thread a bead onto the middle.
Cross the left and right pipe cleaners and braid the three strands.
Thread another bead onto the middle, braid again, and repeat.
Shape it into a circle to fit the wrist, and finish by securing the ends so no wire sticks out.
Your bracelet is complete!
For lower grades (131–140)
I wonder what color it will be?
If it’s a fun experiment that feels like an extension of play, everyone will be eager to try it, right? This one can be enjoyed like playing with colored water using just paint, water, and a plastic bottle.
First, fill the plastic bottle with water and dab a little paint on the inside of the cap.
Close the cap tightly and give it a vigorous shake! The plain water instantly turns into colored water.
Try putting two or three colors of paint on the underside of the cap and predict, “What color will it make when they mix?” You might even create a color with no name!
Floating vegetables? Sinking vegetables?
As a way to spark interest in science, trying out whether vegetables float or sink is a great idea.
First, prepare your favorite vegetables and drop them into a paper cup filled with water.
You should find that some vegetables float while others sink.
Next, try the same with saltwater and salad oil.
From these experiments, you can see that lighter things float and heavier things sink.
Finally, you can mix salad oil and water to let them separate, or compare the weight of water and saltwater.
This will make it easier to understand.
Swirling Tornado
A tornado is a natural phenomenon where air swirls in a spiral—it’s fascinating to wonder why the vortex forms.
This experiment lets you create a tornado using simple tools.
All you need is a plastic bottle, a foaming bath bomb, and hot water to dissolve it.
Put hot water in the plastic bottle, dissolve the bath bomb, close the cap tightly, and spin the bottle vigorously to generate a vortex.
It’s a simple experiment to try after studying how tornadoes form, helping you deepen your understanding.
