4 Water Activities to Cool Off Your Summer

Is the hot summer sun soaking up your time for STEM learning? Don’t worry! We have put together a list of four awesome activities that will help you stay chill, get creative and learn new science concepts using the star of summer fun – water! With options for indoor and outdoor experimentation, get ready to put on your thinking caps and have the coolest day of the season.

Build a Walking Rainbow

If you’re not ready to see the end of spring rainbows, you can create your own – right in your kitchen! Using a few common household supplies, you can complete this colorful experiment. Watch the water climb paper towels, mix across cups and result in a beautiful rainbow. As you complete this activity, discuss capillary action – the same process that helps the water climb paper towels also allows plants to draw up water from their roots!

Design a DIY Water Sprinkler

On an exceptionally warm day, few things reach the same level of childhood excitement as a backyard water sprinkler! To design one of your very own, you’ll need PVC pipes, connectors, a drill and a hose. Use these guiding questions to help your child channel the mindset of an engineer and dream up the size and structure of their sprinkler. Do you want to jump over or run under it? Will water point to one spot or cover all directions? Once their plan is set, work together to bring it to life and turn it on. Then it’s time for the best part: test it out!

Uncover the Science of Supercool Water

What’s cooler than cool? Supercool water! Take purified water below freezing temperature while keeping it in a liquid state, then freeze the water instantly with this experiment. Using basic kitchen materials, learn that ice crystals need a surface to grow on. Then, use your findings to chill a refreshing summer drink to reward yourself for another lesson learned.

Practice the Scientific Method With Water Balloons

Did you know you could practice the scientific method by playing with water balloons? It’s true! Experiments generally start by asking questions. From there, you can develop a hypothesis or prediction of what you think will happen. Next, use the water balloons to test your hypothesis. Then, analyze your results to uncover the hidden “why” of your given result. Together, you and your child can collect research and come up with a conclusion.

A few questions you can ask to start your experiment:

• Will a water balloon float or sink in water?
• Does the size of a water balloon impact its likeliness to pop?
• What happens to a water balloon left out in the sun?
• How far can you drop a water balloon without it breaking? Does the weight of the balloon matter?
   

For the sake of the local environment and the safety of our animal friends, please be sure to clean up any leftover water balloons and the scraps of rubber they leave behind.

Keep the Fun Going

To discover additional opportunities for year-round STEM learning, keep exploring our blog!