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 middle elementary grades (1–10)
Research brimming with love for Dragon Ball
I think it would be fun to choose Dragon Ball, an anime that’s extremely popular with kids, as the theme for an independent research project! Dragon Ball is loved by a wide range of generations, from children to adults.
You could count the sound effects that appear in the manga, present them with graphs and numbers, and note how many times the same sounds are used.
It might also be enjoyable to think about how powerful the Kamehameha is, or to research how nutritious senzu beans are.
Over the long summer vacation, incorporating something you’re interested in into your independent research could help deepen your knowledge.
The relationship between bread and sugar
Let’s explore how different amounts of sugar change bread by conducting a free research project on the relationship between bread and sugar.
Prepare several bowls, each containing the same amounts of cake flour, dry yeast, salt, butter, and water.
Vary only the amount of sugar in each bowl, then knead the doughs.
Carefully observe how the dough feels while kneading: what texture appears in doughs with more sugar, and what texture appears in doughs with less sugar? It might be helpful to record each stage—first proof, second proof, and baking—with photos to see how the dough responds at each point.
Enjoy this hands-on research project using everyday bread!
Let’s make rock candy
Let’s try making sparkling, magic-like rock candy for a science project.
Prepare granulated sugar, water, sticks, wooden chopsticks, glass cups, liquid food coloring, and a pot.
Put the granulated sugar and water into the pot and simmer until it boils.
Wet the tip of the stick with sugar water and coat it with granulated sugar.
Pour sugar water and your favorite color of liquid food coloring into a glass cup, then sandwich the stick between a pair of chopsticks and set it so the stick doesn’t touch the bottom of the glass.
Cover with plastic wrap and leave it for 3 days to 1 week while observing.
Take photos and keep records to track any changes you see.
My first YouTube video
Children learn various information and have fun through videos.
Many of them even say they want to be YouTubers in the future.
So why not try making a video as a summer vacation research project? From planning and filming to editing, it will probably be much more challenging than you expect, but there’s nothing more valuable than the experience of actually doing it.
Since adult support is essential here, please work together to think about how to make the video better, and help the children create a film that truly reflects who they are.
Challenge in video production
It’s a great idea to incorporate video production into an independent research project, especially for today’s kids who are used to watching videos on YouTube and other platforms.
By switching roles—from watching to actually filming and creating their own videos—they can gain a deeper understanding of how videos are made.
It could be interesting to decide on a theme, such as who the video is for, what kind of video it should be, and how long it should be, and make that the focus of the project.
To keep it fun and engaging, it’s best to choose a topic they’re genuinely interested in.
Water and Oil Experiment
Here’s an experiment with water and oil that transforms into mysterious water.
Gather a bottle, small figurines, salt, oil, and food coloring.
After putting salt and oil into the bottle, add a small figurine and begin the experiment.
See how the figurine floats in salt water, and compare it with plain water to observe what state the figurine is in—these comparisons can lead to new discoveries that elementary school students will enjoy.
It’s also interesting to see what happens when you mix water and oil.
Try coloring the water and get creative as you enjoy your independent science project!
I tried expressing sound with salt
Let’s observe how salt patterns change with sound! Tape a black plastic bag over a bowl, then poke a small hole to keep the air pressure inside the bowl stable.
Wipe the surface with a damp tissue to remove static electricity, and sprinkle salt on top.
Now you’re ready—try making different sounds near the bowl, such as low and high voices.
The salt will respond to the sound and move, creating various patterns.
It will be helpful to note which sounds produced which patterns and to take photos, making it easier to compile your report.