The summer holidays are a great time to get outdoors and try some science experiments and investigations. I’ve chosen some of my favourite summer science experiments to keep the kids busy all summer long!
I also have ideas for a three week summer science camp if you need even more inspiration!
Summer Science Experiments
Ice painting
Freeze a sheet of ice and try some ice painting. This is a great activity for learning about changes of state, or just a fun art project!
Grow a Grass Head
Create some crazy hair styles with these grass heads from Red Ted Art, or how about this cool cress head?
Dig for Dinosaur Eggs
Go digging for dinosaur eggs with Rainy Day Mum.
Make S’mores!
Make S’mores with this easy solar oven.
Make a slushy drink
Sticking with the ice theme, try making your own slushy drinks. What colours can you make?
How to make a sun print
These sun prints are great from Creative Family Fun, what picture would you make? You could try this using different types of paper instead of the coins to see if some let more light through than others.
Giant bubbles
Giant bubbles are ALWAYS fun. Experiment with different types of bubbles mixtures ( try adding cornflour and/or glycerin ) to create the perfect recipe. Children should be able to find rainbows in the bubbles too!
Make a volcano
Can you make a reusable volcano? Volcanos can be a bit messy so perfect for the garden, and we love that you can erupt this one over and over again thanks to a cling film covering.
Frozen Jelly
We love the look of this frozen jelly activity from The Imagination Tree. I bet it feels amazing.
Launch a Film Canister Rocket
Try a film canister rocket.What happens if you add some extra weight? Can you try launching with alka seltzer, baking soda and vinegar and an effervescent vitamin tablet to see which is the best rocket fuel?
Fizzy paint
Make some fizzy paint, it’s a bit on the messy side, but great fun.
Design and build a water wall
Can you construct a colour mixing water wall? Or any kind of water wall?
More summer science ideas
Inspiration Laboratories has some great outdoor science activity ideas. We especially love the scavenger hunt.
How about making these lovely chalk ice paints from Learn-Play-Imagine.
This backyard tightrope walk looks amazing from Kids Activities blog. Can you try it with different materials of rope? Which are the easiest to traverse?
If you’ve got the paddling pool out, try one of our easy paddling pool science ideas!
There are some great summer science for toddlers ideas over on Inspiration Laboratories too!
These sun melted upcycled crayons are brilliant from Mama Smiles.
Try some weather science, a mini water cycle is always fun.
What are your favourite science experiments for Summer?
Even more summer science experiments for kids
These 10 outdoor summer science experiments includes learning about splatter patterns and painting with syringes.
Or, if a STEM Challenge is more up your street we’ve got plenty of summer STEM challenges too, including free printable challenges!
Last Updated on September 9, 2022 by Emma Vanstone
I love your article Emma, This one is really interesting, I can’t wait to try this.
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Some great summer science activities, I love the solar smores oven idea
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Great to see this article. This info is useful to many students do the science experiments in summer.
Great to see this info. It is useful to students can do the summer science experiments.
Thanks for your dear sharing this valuable knowledge