The weekends are often the only time during the school year the family can kick back and relax from the busy daily routines of work and school. This is a great time to get into the habit of doing something hands on with your kids to get them away from their electronic devices for awhile. The first things that comes to mind is doing something crafty, putting a puzzle together, or baking cookies together. Another idea that you may not have thought of is to search for some simple one day science fair projects that use everyday household materials to answer everyday questions that come up naturally, like “Is there the same amount of vitamin C in juice as there is in oranges?” This article will explore some of the benefits bringing a science project into the weekend mix of activities.
One HUGE benefit that goes without saying, is the opportunity for quality time. Those words have become a catch phrase, and overused at times, but the bottom line is any chance to spend some time with your child without other distractions, is time well spent. Doing a hands on project is even better since it encourages healthy conversation, and a chance to give advice without appearing to nag. Since it is a science project, it opens their curiosity doors to talk about other science things in our everyday world.
Another benefit of bringing one day science fair projects into your weekend routines whenever it works out, it that it will give your child a sense of independence. These are not projects that need a parent hovering, they can be involved in the process, but a well organized project with easy to follow directions will give the child ownership of the project and the ability to do it themselves. Eventually they will learn from doing these projects how to set up up follow up projects of their own. Once they learn how to look at vitamin C, they might take a look at different salsa sauces.
Enough can’t be said about the benefit of understanding that 21st century learning is a blend of electronic time saving devices and old fashioned hands-on doing. The experience of actually doing something yourself can not be replaced, like building, creating, baking or experimenting with things you gather, touch and use. For example, the stash of one day science fair projects you find could be stored online, so kids might use their phones or computers to get the directions, and record the data,but the actual doing it part, will be a hands-on event. It ends up being a lesson in how to blend the best of both worlds.
Taking the time to work some hand-on activities into your weekend schedule will be a valuable habit for any family. You will be happy to get more cookies baked, cool projects made of wood and interesting one day science fair projects results stuck on your refrigerator. Do not worry, you still have plenty of time for laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning the bathroom, and paying your bills.
Here is a link to a great digital resource for simple, easy to follow 24 hour science projects, weekend projects and demonstration projects. Often these digital products cost less than what you would pay for a pizza.
Go to my Blog!
One Day Science Fair Projects
Step by Step Blueprints for Students and Parents
http://24hourscienceprojects.blogspot.com
Look for great Middle School Science Projects too!
(on the blog’s top right side bar!)
http://24hourscienceprojects.blogspot.com
My name is Sue Gnagy Fegan and I used a structured, sequential multisensory teaching approach for the past 34 years. I saw first hand the benefits of engaging students in productive, hands on activities to make learning more meaningful and more fun.