Subscription boxes offer a range of hands-on activities aimed at particular age ranges and interests. They’re all about learning through doing and imagining rather than only reading. Your level of supervision depends largely on your child’s need, but some need more adult involvement than others.

Suitable for: Ages 3-8, sibling boxes available

Frequency: Monthly

Price: 1, 3, 6 and 12-month subscription packages from £5.95/€8.50 per month + postage

This is a good all-rounder activity box that includes craft activities, a magazine featuring puzzles, games, recipes, and an assortment of stickers. Your child’s personalised box contains all supplies needed to make that month’s craft.

toucanBox boasts Montessori-influenced STEAM learning and creativity. They’ll have some hands-on fun and learn a bit about science and artists as well. Parental involvement will depend on your child’s age.

Suitable for: Ages 3-8, sibling boxes available

Frequency: Monthly

Price: £13.95/€16 per month

Getting muddy has been popular with children since forever, but now you can channel their love of mud for education and creativity.

Mud & Bloom boxes include seasonal activities such as nature crafts, seeds to plant, and games. Children will search for some of the materials outdoors, and there are small parts and things to read, so parents should supervise.

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Suitable for: Ages 4-10

Frequency: Monthly

Price: £25/€30 for the initial shipment, then £12/€14 per month

Geo Journey is a fun way for children to learn about the world around them via facts, fun and even souvenirs.

The initial shipment is a sturdy little suitcase, a personalised letter, passport, travel journal and more. After that, each month your child will receive a personalised letter from Geo the owl and Atlas the puppy about their travels around the world with stickers, activities, booklets and a little souvenir from each destination (e.g. a boomerang from Australia). Smaller children will need help reading the letter, but older ones can do it independently.

Space Journey is a similar offering, instead focussing on the solar system, space and astronaut life.

Suitable for: Ages 6+

Frequency: Monthly

Price: From £11.25/€15 per box

If your child enjoys science and engineering, the Letterbox Lab subscription is just the thing. Everything you will need for the experiments is provided, so there is no prep time or extra materials to go hunting for.

There are two subscription offers to choose from:

• Explore is for kids aged 6+ and includes 3-4 activities designed to occupy a few hours.
• Investigate is for ages 8+ and includes experiments and lab equipment (save everything for future boxes!) and can keep children busy for about six hours. The age is higher because it involves some reactive chemicals.

These boxes require supervision, but they include everything you’ll need except water.

Suitable for: Ages 3+

Frequency: Monthly

Price: From £7.25 per month for 12 months

Receive a fun-filled seasonal box every month to combat any day, not just rainy ones. Each Rainy Day Box contains several fun activities, separately packaged within the box, simple instructions, a reward chart, reward sticker and more.

Suitable for: Ages 7-11

Frequency: Monthly

Price: €140 per year

This one is a great gift for animal-loving children. First, you’ll receive a welcome pack which includes an interactive world map, collectible animal cards, and an exclusive Amazing Planet pin badge. Then, each monthly Amazing Planet box focuses on a different part of the world and its animal population, allowing your child to get up-close-and-personal with the local wildlife, with the help of themed booklets, interactive animal cards and gifts.

This one won’t get the kids off the screens entirely as it pairs with the Amazing Planet app (available for both iOS and android) for photos, quizzes and games that bring everything to life using augmented reality. Parental involvement depends on your child’s reading ability.

Suitable for: Babies to teens

Frequency: Monthly or bi-monthly, depending on the subscription

Price: Varies

KiwiCo offers a range of boxes for different ages from newborns to older teens, with plenty to appeal to all ages and interests, from science and crafts to kitchen skills and art.

• The Panda Crate caters for babies up to age 2 with the contents changing as your baby develops. This could be a good gift for anyone who is expecting because you can order it in advance and give the due date.
• The Koala Crate for preschoolers includes 2-3 projects around a theme such as camping, rainbows or a doctor visit.
• The Kiwi Crate for ages 5 to 8 features STEM-focused crafts for fun, interactive learning. They can make a kite, a stomp rocket or an arcade claw game, for example.
• The Atlas Crate teaches 6-11 year olds about different countries through crafts, recipes and games.
• The Yummy Crate gets 6-14 year olds into the kitchen to unlock the science of cooking and gain confidence in the kitchen.
• The Tinker Crate is aimed at ages 9+ and takes the STEM learning up a notch with projects such as building a walking robot, a hydraulic claw and a trebuchet.
• The Doodle Crate is full of crafts for young artists aged 14+, such as felt succulent plants and homemade soap.
• The Maker Crate is a more design-oriented collection of crafts for ages 14+, such as a clay desk organiser and macrame plant hangers.
• Budding engineers aged 14+ will enjoy the Eureka Crate projects, including an articulated desk lamp and a wooden ukulele.

Suitable for: Teens

Frequency: Monthly

Price: £24.95 per month

Each month, you’ll receive a limited edition craft kit to make beautiful things and learn new skills. It could be book-binding, ceramics, macrame, paper-making, cyanotype printing – or something completely different!

All Craftiosity kits come with the essential tools and materials in the box and step-by-step instructions to make something you’ll love. Better still, there are video tutorials you can watch to help you complete the project.

Suitable for: Ages 2+

Frequency: Monthly

Price: 1, 3, 6 and 12-month subscriptions available; from $87 for 3 months

Each month your budding chef can look forward to a new culinary adventures with award winning educational food and culture kits from Eat2Explore. They will get to explore a new country across 4 continent groups every month.

They also offer gluten-free and vegetarian subscription gifts.

Suitable for: Babies to teens

Frequency: Monthly

Price: From £34.99 for 3 months

The Willoughby Book Club offers numerous book subscription gifts to choose from, including several for children:

• Baby Book Club is a great introduction for children aged 0-12 months
• Toddler Book Club will help foster a lifelong love of books and reading for 1-3 year olds
• Children’s Book Club is the perfect gift for budding readers aged 4-12 years old, based on their reading interests
• Young Adult Book Club for ages 13+ will introduce new fiction titles and keep teens engaged with reading.

Suitable for: Ages 5+

Frequency: Monthly

Price: 1, 3, 6 and 12-month subscriptions available; from £2.oo per month

Make reading and writing the highlight of your child’s week with this highly personalised subscription that includes real letters from a magical cat!

With his first letters, Banjo sends a big, beautiful world map poster so that your child can track along with him on his travels and add stickers to it with every country that he visits. Twice a month Banjo visits new countries and sends personalised letters, along with a recipe, stickers, colouring-in sheet, reply stationery and travel guide for that country.

Better still, Banjo will reply to your child!

Suitable for: Varies

Frequency: Monthly

Price: From £9 per month

The Little Bakers Club is a monthly box which is delivered to your Little Baker, so they can learn to bake something, from monster cupcakes to flapjacks to cake pops. Each box includes all the pre-weighed dry ingredients, a step-by-step recipe card, and a little activity to do.

Suitable for: Ages 0-14

Frequency: Monthly

Price: €150

Imagine the excitement of receiving a new book in the post each month! This book subscription gift from Dubray is ideal for the younger booklover in your life, as a new, gift-wrapped book is delivered each month, chosen to suit their tastes and interests and to encourage a love of reading.

Currently this service is only offered to a delivery address on the island of Ireland.

Magazine subscriptions are a tried and true staple for all ages, and most magazines will offer some kind of subscription (frequency may vary). These are a great idea for both avid readers and for kids who need some fun encouragement to read.

Suitable for: Ages 6-11

Frequency: 13 issues per year

Price: €45 per year

Each month’s issue of Nat Geo Kids is packed full of fascinating facts, puzzles and breath-taking imagery about the environment, animals, history and culture.

Suitable for: Ages 7-14

Frequency: Weekly

Price: £84.99/€100 for 6 months

If you’ve ever hidden vegetables in other foods, you’ll appreciate the logic of this comic. Yes, The Phoenix includes fun and silly comic stories, but it also sneaks in some history and encourages children to draw their own comics.

Suitable for: Ages 8-13

Frequency: Monthly

Price: €76 per year

Aimed at curious and confident readers, Aquila makes science, history and general knowledge accessible to children, combining articles with puzzles and beautiful illustrations. Each issue focuses on a theme such as dinosaurs or coding.

Suitable for: Babies to teens

Frequency: Weekly

Price: Intro offer of first 3 months for £10; £49 for 6 months

Join Dennis, Gnasher, Minnie and all their Beano friends in this classic comic favourite that generations have enjoyed. With a Beano subscription, you’re guaranteed your weekly helping of mischief, mayhem and crazy comic fun by having it delivered straight to your door, before it’s in the shops.

Building a fort in the house or the garden, if the weather is good enough, is a super way to get the kids imagination and engineering skills working!

Forts can be built indoors or outdoors using cardboard boxes, rugs or sheets, clothes driers, sofas, chairs, beds and tables and offer hours of fun.

For a temporary outdoor fort, use rugs, wall/fences, clothes lines etc. Or if you wanted a bigger project, get the children to design and build an outdoor fort using trees, wood or old pallets etc.

If this seems like too much and you have a tent, why not put that up and let the children decorate it to use as their Den HQ. Remember, tents can be pitched indoors too!

When my girls were young, they loved to write their own mini-plays and perform them for us. They spent hours perfecting the show, creating the costumes and props and getting the ‘stage’ set.

Encourage your kids to be creative and plan an entertaining show for you and other family members or friends to enjoy. They could write or adapt a favourite book or TV show into a play, sing, dance, play an instrument or recite a poem, the possibilities are endless.

No matter what age your children are, teaching them some basic cookery skills is something that will last a lifetime.

If they are old enough you could get them to plan a menu, create a shopping list and make a family meal during midterm break. There are so many different options for all ages. Here are some ideas to inspire you.

• Soup (chop the vegetables you want to use, fry in a small amount of oil and butter in a large saucepan, add stock, cover and boil until vegetables are soft and blend if needed.) We love this Carrot soup.
• Salad (use a packet of salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber and create or buy a dressing)
• Pizza (use a pre-made base and a jar of passata. Spoon the passata onto the base and spread evenly to cover. Then add everyones favourite toppings for a quick, easy and tasty pizza that just needs to be oven cooked.) Check out these inspiring recipes from Pizza da Piero.
• Risotto (once you have the vegetables chopped and softened in oil on a large non-stick pan, add the rice and once coated in oil, spoon on a ladle of stock, let it absorb and continue to add stock, one ladle at a time, until the rice is cooked) This mushroom risotto.recipe is a firm favourite in our house.
• Stirfry (use pre-sliced meat and a packet of stirfry mixed vegetables. Heat oil on a wok and cook the meat, add the vegetables and once cooked serve with noodles or rice.) Check out this Chinese Beef Stir Fry.
• S’mores Dessert Pizza (for a real treat, use a pre-made pizza base and cover with chocolate spread and marshmallows, bake until the marshmallows melt…so tasty.)
• Muffins (for a post dinner treat, these blueberry muffins are easy to make)

Get creative and active by designing your very own obstacle course. Ideal for the garden but you can also create an indoor version for days when the weather is not co-operating!

We have some ideas here for an outdoor obstacle course. You could also include a scavenger hunt as part of the challenge.

For indoors, cushions can be used to create stepping stones, stairs can be used to hop up and down, a laundry basket and soft ball make a perfect throwing challenge and you could add an indoor scavenger hunt to make it more interesting.

Create your very own home cinema with posters, tickets and cinema treats!

Get the kids to pick some films they want to watch and use their choices to design ‘cinema posters’ and tickets.

Once they have the room set up, it’s onto the cinema treats, which could include making it a pizza and movie night with microwave popcorn, drinks from re-useable sports bottles (to avoid spills) and pick’n’mix. For this just buy several different packets of sweets and place them in bowls then give everyone a bag of their own to fill with their favourites.

Check out our top picks of family favourite movies for inspiration. Or you could choose by theme e.g. Halloween, 80’s Family movies etc.

One of the benefits of the internet is the ability to explore the world…from the comfort of home. So if you are not planning a trip away this mid-term how about getting the children to plan a virtual trip instead?

Possible virtual field trips include the Arctic, the great wall of China, a chocolate factory, a space center, or how about a day at the Zoo?

You could get your child to make a travel diary of their day out to the amazing place they pick to explore. What did they eat? Who did they meet? What did they see? How did they travel there?

When was the last time you all played a board game together? From Jenga to Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly to Pictionary we all have board games that we don’t play enough.

So, this midterm get out all your board games and have a family challenge or challenge the kids to have a board game marathon to see how many they can play in a certain amount of time!

Do you have a budding magician? We have some excellent easy magic tricks for them to perfect before trying them out on you.

For those who prefer cards, check out these traditional card games and card tricks to learn and enjoy.

This one could get a bit messy. My advice would be to cover the table where the kids will be getting creative with a disposable table cloth or give them each a tray to work on.

When it comes to homemade slime, there are hundreds of different options. We have rounded up our top homemade slime recipes which include rainbow unicorn slime, safe no borax slime and glow in the dark slime!

Playdough is also easy to make and can be moulded into many different shapes for hours of enjoyment. Get our simple Playdough recipe.

Gardening is a wonderful way to teach children about the plant life-cycle as well as the eco-system of birds, insects and plants. If you don’t have a garden, it is possible to grow herbs, flowers and vegetables in pots which can be kept indoors or on a patio or balcony.

Kids that actively engage in nurturing plants also learn responsibility and the pride of seeing a tiny seed grow into something that can be consumed or shared with others.

Growing your own is also a good way to get children interested in food and where it comes from. In my experience, my children loved growing potatoes, onions, carrots, raspberries and strawberries which we then used in cooking.

One project that is easy to achieve is to grow your own pizza garden!

I don’t know about your house, but in mine I always have a bagful of single socks with no matches!

This sock animal craft is a great way to repurpose those single socks that seem to multiply with every wash!

When: November 12th and 13th

Where: National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology, Kildare Street, Dublin 2

This Science Week, come to the Museum and view the Medieval Glendalough LEGO model, created by LEGO artist Jessica Farrell, containing over 40,000 bricks!

The Medieval Glendalough LEGO Model will be on display at the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology. Hands-on LEGO workshops will be available where children can contribute to the longest LEGO wall ever built in Ireland (booking required, see details below).

Throughout the day, meet archaeologists and expects to discover more about the history and archaeology of the valley of Glendalough. View some replica artefacts found through excavations in the area, watch a video on the history and archaeology of Glendalough.

Booking is required for the 45-minute LEGO workshops. There are five workshops available in total and are for children aged between 7-12

All participants will have their Medieval Glendalough-inspired LEGO creation put on display during the event for all visitors to enjoy!

For more information, click here.

When: November 12th

Where: Rediscovery Centre, Ballymun, Dublin 9

The Let’s Talk Science Festival 2022, hosted by the Rediscovery Centre, it revolves around the theme of conversations around STEM, aiming to engage and inspire young people to get involved with STEM.

Engaging workshops, demonstrations, experiments and talks about science, technology, engineering and maths.

For more information, click here.

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When: November 18th

Where: Blanchardstown Library, Dublin

Journey to the Heart of the Cell is an interactive, entertaining science show suitable for children and young people aged 10+. Through drama, the show informs the audience about the biology of the cell, the concept of cell differentiation and the manipulation of cells in the laboratory.

For more information, click here.

When: November 5th

Where: Tallaght Library, Dublin

When will humans return to the Moon? Will there ever be a footprint on Mars? Just who has been on the International Space Station lately? Join ESA Champion and space storyteller extraordinaire Dr Niamh Shaw share her passion for space, bring you up to speed on her recent adventures (from NASA Kennedy Space centre for astronaut launches, chatting with Chris Hadfield or flying on a plane with a telescope on board) and inspire you to Dream Big, and see your name among the stars.

For more information, click here.

When: November 13th

Where: Western Gateway Building , University College Cork

Laugh and learn as Doctor Brain shows students juggling and circus tricks, explains how they are done, and then brings the students up to try their hand at tricks. This show is packed with entertainment and has a real wow factor that will have all ages buzzing.

Topics include:

• How gravity affects falling objects
• Can centripetal force be stronger than gravity?
• How optical illusions work
• How things balance

This show is facilitated by Jeff Keough who performs as Doctor Brain. Jeff has over 25 years’ experience as an entertainer and has performed at the White House, Leinster House, toured America and Canada with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey’s “Greatest Show on Earth”. Jeff survived a tiger getting loose backstage, a voodoo ceremony performed on his trunk and a performance for his daughters Senior Infant Class.

When: November 15th

Where: Nenagh Library, Nenagh, Co Tipperary

Are you ready to unlock the Secrets of Superhero Science with Tipperary Festival of Science?

Superheroes are known for their incredible superpowers. Supergirl can effortlessly lift cars, trains, and aeroplanes; Tony Stark flies around New York City in his Iron Man suit; Spider-Man climbs walls; and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four has the incredible power of invisibility. But how likely are we to replicate these superpowers? And besides defeating supervillains, where could we use these superpowers in modern society.

In the Secrets of Superhero Science, Dr Barry Fitzgerald will take you through the science behind the superpowers of some of iconic superheroes such as the amazing the Iron Man suit, the real-life scientists trying to make artificial spider silk, and the technology behind invisibility, and lots more.

Dr. Barry Fitzgerald is a physicist, speaker, author, speaker trainer, event host, and science communicator. Barry has spoken all around the world at schools, science festivals, and companies about the science of popular culture, in particular superheroes. He is the author of three books including ‘Secrets of Superhero Science’ and ‘How to Build an Iron Man Suit’.

For more information, click here.

When: November 13th

Where: National Space Centre, Midleton, Co Cork

Rain or shine, join a family activity day at the National Space Centre celebrating all things clouds! Become a citizen scientist armed with an app to report cloud measurements; create your own fluffy light-up cloud and become part of the space exhibition at the NSC; and learn about weather and Earth observation satellites and the data carried through a tour of the NSC ground stations.

GLOBE Ireland will show participants how to complete citizen-science cloud observations using the GLOBE Program Observer App. Participants will learn all about cloud formation, the water cycle, and about the connection between climate, weather, and the global energy budget in a 30-minute workshop.

Visitors will then create their own LED clouds in a 30-minute hands-on creative session for all ages led by Greywood Arts‘ Rysee Lennon and using recycled materials to create fun cloud sculptures.

Finally, the afternoon will wrap up with a guided tour of the National Space Centre and the groundstations on site surrounding Ireland’s iconic 32-metre Big Dish.

For more information, click here.

When: November 10th

Where: Dundalk Library, Roden Place, Dundalk, Co Louth

Gerry Murphy, a meteorologist with and senior weather forecaster with Met Eireann, will describe how the Earth’s climate is changing and will discuss how climate change is contributing to significant weather events around the world.

For more information, click here.

When: November 15th

Where: National Space Centre, Midleton, Co Cork

What happens when an aeriailst and an engineer collide? Find out in this 2-hour physical physics demonstration and workshop focused on the mechanics of flight.

Engineer and performer Brian O’Mahony will work with performers from Circus Factory to explain conservation of angular momentum and its importance in both flight and aerial work. Concepts will be demonstrated by Circus Factory artists and audience members will have an opportunity to volunteer in demonstrations and to practice fundamental concepts.

The workshop will take place in the unique setting of the roundroom control centre below the Big Dish.

Suitable for ages 16+. For more information, click here.

When: November 13th

Where: ATU Sligo, Ash Lane, Sligo

Sligo Science Fair marks the start of a week of Science Week events. This family event explains science in a fun way!

The all-day Annual Science Fair will include a wide range of performances, interactive displays and demonstrations for all the family to enjoy, including:

• Sustainable Foods: What Would You Eat to Save the World?
• Kitchen chemistry
• Mermaid with Circus 250
• Scientists on stilts
• Wonderstruck Dangerous Science Show
• Exploration Dome with Martin Conroy
• Dr Ken’s Spectacular Science Circus Show
• Science…It’s Like Magic But Real with Graham Hewston

For more information, click here.

When: November 12th

Where: Monaghan Institute, Armagh Road

The Big Family STEM Day is back at Monaghan Institute! Join in for a jam-packed day of activities, workshops and demonstrations including Scientists on Stilts, LEGO Robotics, Coding, Kite-Making, Farming, Ocean exploration and much more!

For more information, click here.

When: November 14-19th

Where: National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9

As part of Science Week, the National Botanic Gardens are hosting a Plant Science Festival to investigate and celebrate plant science via talks, demonstrations, tours, botanical art workshops, and interactive experiments.

Do you want to know about the diversity of plants from tiny seeds to towering trees? Find out about the ingenious adaptations that have evolved in the plant world. Or how about some tea and chocolate? We will have a talk on tea with a tea ceremony and tea tasting. We will also have a talk on chocolate and maybe some tasting at that too!

On Saturday 19th there will be family activities, such as partaking in experiments and botanical art workshops.

For more information, click here.

When: November 19th at 10am, 11.30am and 1pm

Where: MTU Kerry North Campus, Tralee, Co Kerry

Build a robot with your family and complete a relay race. Learn while you build and hear about some interesting robot facts and fiction.

Suitable for ages 6 to 12 years. For more information, click here.

When: November 19th from 10am-12pm and 2-4pm

Where: MTU Kerry North Campus, Tralee, Co Kerry

This practical, problem-solving activity will use miniature wooden planks to create structures. Participants will have the guidance of practicing engineers from the region, and there will also be information displays about engineering. Drop in and try your skill!

For more information, click here.

There are regional Science Week 2022 Festivals taking place around the country with online events:

• Cavan & Monaghan Science Festival
• Cork Science Festival
• Festival of Farming & Food Teagasc, Galway
• Galway Science & Technology Festival
• Limerick Festival of Science
• Mayo Science & Technology Festival
• Midlands Science Festival
• Southeast Science Festival
• Sligo Science Festival
• Tipperary Festival of Science
• WexSci Wexford Science Festival

Sound is a type of energy made by vibrations. These sound vibrations move through the air (or other matter) to our ear and our brain can then work out what we are hearing.

Sound vibrations travel as a type of wave that we cannot see. These sound waves need something containing molecules (particles) to travel through. Sound waves can travel through solids, liquids and gases (air), because they are made up of molecules. The molecules carry sound waves by bumping into each other, just like dominoes knocking each other over.

Did you know? Sound waves travel in water at a speed of nearly one mile (1.6 km) a second, which is more than four times faster than sound travels through air!

We need two ears to work out exactly where a noise is coming from. Our brain can compare the level of noise reaching each ear and calculate the position of the source of the noise.

Did you know? During the making of the film Jurassic Park, Stephen Spielberg wanted a dramatic effect to signal the arrival of the T. rex.

Inspiration finally came while he was driving home listening to Earth, Wind and Fire and noticed the vibration effect of the base rhythm.

In the film we see ripples in a glass of water, caused by the T. rex‛s footsteps. This special effect was achieved by someone plucking guitar strings under the dashboard.

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Sound waves need molecules to travel through so, as there are no molecules in space (or very little), there is no sound in space.

Did you know? Thunder is the sound made by lightning? Sound travels in air at a speed of about one mile in five seconds.

If you count the seconds between seeing the lightning and hearing the thunder you can work out the distance from the source of the thunder.

For example, if you count ten seconds between the lightning and the thunder then you can tell the storm is about two miles away.

An echo is made when sound waves you make bounce off a solid object and travel back to your ear. Some mammals use echoes to help to navigate and to find food – this is called echolocation.

Bats use echolocation to fly and hunt at night. They send out high pitched squeaks and clicks almost constantly. These sounds are called ultrasonic, they are too high for humans to hear. A bat can tell from the echoes bouncing back to it, where an object is, its size and shape and whether it is moving or not.

Whales and dolphins use echolocation just like bats, but the ultrasonic sounds they make travel through water instead of air.

Did you know? A bat can detect an object as small as a human hair using echolocation!

You Will Need:

• a balloon
• a radio

What to Do: Blow up the balloon and tie it closed. Turn on the radio to a song with low base music. Hold the balloon between your two hands and hold it very near the speaker of the radio. What can you feel? Change to a different radio station and see if the vibrations change.

What is Happening? The sound coming from the radio makes the air near it vibrate. The air molecules in the balloon are squeezed more tightly together making them vibrate more strongly. We feel these vibrations in our hands.

You Will Need:

• two identical bottles
• water
• a spoon

What to Do: Fill one of the bottles two-thirds full with water and the other bottle one-third full. First, blow across the top of each of the bottles – which one makes a higher sound? Next, tap each of the bottles with the spoon – now which one makes the higher sound?

What is Happening? Blowing across the top of the bottles makes the air inside vibrate. The bottle with less air will make the higher sound. When you tap the bottles it is the water that vibrates. The bottle with less water will make the higher sound. Small amounts of air or water vibrate more quickly, making a higher sound.

Next Step: If you want to make this even more fun, you can use a lot of bottles with different amounts of water in each and see how many different sounds you can get!

You Will Need:

• a small plastic drinking bottle (empty)
• a scissors
• a small piece of plastic (i.e. a plastic bag)
• an elastic band
• a tea-light candle
• matches

What to Do: Use the scissors to carefully cut the end off the plastic bottle (ask an adult to do it for you). Stretch the piece of plastic over the open end of the bottle and secure it using the elastic band. Ask an adult to light the tea-light for you, and remove the bottle cap. Hold the narrow end of the bottle near the flame and then tap on the plastic at the other end of the bottle. What happens to the flame?

What is Happening? When you tap the plastic it acts like a drum. The sound waves it creates make the air molecules vibrate. These vibrating molecules then make the molecules beside them vibrate. The vibrations travel through the air in the bottle and blow out the flame.

You can see these sound experiments demonstrated here:

Visit Science Wows for more fun science facts and experiments and follow Dr How on Facebook and Twitter.

What happens:

Once 36-48 hours have passed, carefully remove the egg from the jar and you will see that the shell has disappeared and your are left with a delicate but intact egg!

An egg shell is made up of calcium carbonate which is an alkaline, while the vinegar is an acid. Acid reacts with alkaline to produce salt and carbon dioxide.

As soon as you cover the egg with the vinegar you will notice little bubbles of carbon dioxide forming. During the time the egg is in the jar, the shell dissolves leaving you with a delicate see through membrane keeping the egg intact.

If you shine a light near the egg you should be able to see the light through it.

For this project you will need:

• Clear jar with a lid
• Adhesive tape
• Scissors
• Sheet of white paper
• 3 x 3volt coin-shaped batteries
• 3 x small LED light bulbs with prongs or a string of LED lights

How to make your Hex Allen nightlight:

1. Place the prongs of one LED bulb on either side of a battery. Make sure the longer prong is in contact with the plus side
2. Hold the prongs tightly against the battery and it should light up
3. Tape the prongs in place so the light stays on and repeat for the other bulbs/batteries
4. Tape your battery/bulb combos inside your jar. You could tape one to the underside of the lid and one on the bottom of the jar and one along the side
5. Place your paper around the jar and cut a piece to size so that it completely covers the clear surface of the jar
6. Tape it in place
7. Turn off the lights and you will have a night light ready to use.

What Happens:

The white paper spreads the light and makes it stand out better. You can also draw a design on your paper or experiment with different types of materials to see which one best spreads the light.

How to make a CD hovercraft:

1. Make a small cone shape with the card. The biro lid should be flush with the top of the cone when placed inside, and the bottom of the cone should be slightly larger than the hole in the centre of the CD.
2. Without covering the hole in the biro lid, affix it to the top of the cone using adhesive tape.
3. Place the CD shiny side up on the table.
4. Place your cone construction over the centre of the CD and form an airtight seal between the bottom of the cone and the hole in the centre of the CD using adhesive tape.
5. Fix the balloon over the top of the cone and hold it in place
6. Move your CD around on a hard, flat surface and watch as the movement inflates the balloon!

How to create your erupting volcano:

1. Take the materials outside as this is going to be messy!
2. Place the bottle in the centre of the tray
3. If you are making your volcano, mix all the ingredients together and mould the dough around the bottle leaving the mouth of the bottle open
4. Add the baking soda to the bottle
5. Pour in some food colouring
6. Carefully but quickly pour the vinegar into the bottle
7. Stand back and watch your volcano erupt!

A quick alternative to this method is to use a packet of Mentos and a bottle of fizzy drink. Remove the lid from the drink and drop in a full packet of Mentos. Stand back and watch it erupt! This is also best done outside.

What happens:

When acids and bases come together they go crazy! Acid+Base = Salt + CO2. So in the first example the vinegar (acid) reacts vigorously with the baking soda (base) and causes the eruption.

How to filter your dirty water:

1. Make your dirty water
2. Cut the top half off the bottle
3. Invert the top half of the bottle so the mouth faces downwards
4. Sit your inverted bottle top, mouth facing downwards, into the bottom of the bottle leaving the mouth of the inverted section hanging a few inches above the bottom of the bottle, so your water can filter in without covering the mouth of the bottle.
5. Layer in your filter materials to the inverted section starting with the coffee filter paper, next add the kitchen towel, next the cotton wool, followed by the charcoal, fine sand and the top layer should be gravel.
6. Pour the dirty water into the filter you have just made and watch it come out clean in the bottom of the bottle

What happens:

The particles of dirt become trapped in the filter layers and only clean water filters though. This is how underground water gets purified. Chemical engineers use this method as one of the stages of water treatment in a water treatment plant.

Can a can balance at an angle? The answer is yes, so long as it it weighted at the bottom!

What you will need for this experiment:

• An empty aluminium drinks can
• Some water
• A tray (in case of spills!)

How to balance your can:

1. Try to tilt your can when it is empty – frustrating as it just falls over
2. Add a little water to the can so that it just covers the bottom
3. Place the can on a tray and try to tilt it again
4. This time it should balance at an angle and hold

What happens:

By filling a small amount of water into the can you change the centre of gravity. Now when you tilt the can the water acts as a weight and helps it to balance perfectly when it comes into contact with the surface of the tray.

The lovely green of most leaves is caused by the pigment chlorophyll, which is green in colour (obviously) and capable of using sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into energy (sugar) for the plant.

However, when the sunlight hours fade coming into winter, so too does the chlorophyll in the leaves of trees – or, to be more precise, the pigment begins to degrade and is not replaced. Once the green colour is gone, other pigments that are often present in the leaf come into view:

• Carotenoids are pigments responsible for the yellow/orange colour of leaves.
• Anthocyanins are responsible for the redder colour of leaves.
• Tannins are responsible for the brown colour.

Within this pigmented system, there is a sense of hierarchy.

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Once chlorophyll is reduced, what happens to the colour of the leaves?

1. Carotenoids are the pigments responsible for the orange colour of carrots. If carotenoids are present in leaves, their colour tends to dominate leaving the leaves yellowy and orange.
2. In the absence of carotenoid, anthocyanin is the dominant pigment. Anthocyanin (the same pigment found in red onions, red grapes, red apples and red cabbage) is a natural pH indicator, meaning that it can change colour depending on the levels of acids or bases/alkali in its environment. At the beginning of Autumn the levels of sugar in the leaves tends to be quite high, increasing the acid levels in the leaves, this strengthens the red colour of Anthocyanin if it is present.
3. At the end of Autumn the leaves die off and the levels of carotenoids and anthocynins die off too, leaving another pigment to dominate… and this is the brown pigment of tannin, the same pigment that gives a cup of tea its colour!

So why do some places have really spectacular autumn displays while others fall a bit short?

1. The type and age of the trees.There are plenty of trees that really add some vibrant colour displays from yellow to red to purple. Acers (maple trees) are one very good example.

2. The type of soil the trees grow in influence the general health of the tree, its leaves and the final colour display. Nitrogen level and the overall acidity of the soil are two important factors.

3. The summer weather will also influence the colours seen in the autumn, too little or too much sun earlier in the year will reduce the display when the leaves change colour. Droughts and floods can also have a negative impact.

4. Sugar levels in the trees at the turn of the season can be a big factor in the colour of the leaves.

5. The levels of air and soil pollution will affect the health of the tree and the uniform colouration of the leaves. Some species of trees are more resistant to pollutants than others.

6. The weather conditions in Autumn are also obviously very important. The best colour displays are favoured by dry, sunny autumn days and cool, crisp autumn nights.

7. How long the leaves stay on the trees – if the stormy winds arrive too early in the season, the leaves may fall before we get to enjoy their full spectrum of beauty.

So next time you are crunching through those leaves you may wonder why you are suddenly thinking of carrots and cabbages and cups of tea!

This is definitely, by far, our favourite Halloween experiment – just look at the photos if you need any convincing!

You will need:

• Two small bowls or cups
• One large bowl
• PVA glue (white or clear if you can get it)
• Fluorescent paint (you can get non-toxic fluorescent paint in most craft shops)
• Food colouring (optional)
• Something to stir or mix with
• Borax powder (available from your local pharmacy)

Method:

1. To the first cup, add half a cup of fluorescent paint and half a cup of PVA glue. Mix well.
2. In the other cup, add half a teaspoon of borax powder to one cup of water and mix well until all the powder is dissolved.
3. Now for the fun bit… pour the glue mixture into the bowl then add the borax solution, mixing all the time. After a while you can use your hands to mix and mould until you have one big lump of slime.
4. You can store your slime in a ziplock bag or clean jar, it lasts a very long time once you do not let it dry out.
5. If you have a UV light (black light) you can make this experiment even more fun by checking out how your slime glows in the dark once the lights go out and the UV light is turned on.

So what is the science bit?

Congratulations… you have just experimented with polymers! In simple terms, a polymer is a substance made up of lots of molecules arranged in long chains.

If you imagine that the glue is like cooked spaghetti, it slides and slips around the place quite easily. When we add the borax to the glue it causes some of the molecules in the glue to stick together, making the glue more rubbery and less liquid. Imagine if you took those strands of spaghetti and tied them together in places, the strands would not be able to slip and slide around nearly as much – the borax and glue mixture is just like your knotted spaghetti.

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Halloween is all about dressing up and sometimes you just need a little fake blood to really set an outfit off.

We love making our own and, with a little science knowledge, you can get just the right consistency and colour that you are after.

You will need:

• Smooth peanut butter
• Golden syrup
• Washing up liquid
• Red food colouring
• Green food colouring

Method:

This is one of these experiments that does not come with an exact protocol, just add the following ingredients until you are happy with the appearance of it, then apply and freak out all your friends!

When you think you have the fake blood just the way you like it, do a little test on a white cloth or tissue and adjust further if necessary.

If you want to experiment a little more, try making your own fake blood choosing your ingredients from the following list:

• Smooth peanut butter
• Golden syrup
• Washing up liquid
• Red food colouring
• Green food colouring
• Blue food colouring
• Chocolate syrup
• Cornflour
• Cocoa powder
• Ribena
• Chocolate syrup
• Tomato ketchup
• Brown sauce

So what is the science bit?

The trick to making good fake blood is to get the colour and consistency right. The food colouring, washing up liquid, cocoa powder, ribena, peanut butter and ketchup will all influence the colour of the blood. You want to get a dark, deep red colour – the chocolate and green food colouring will often give the red a darker effect.

It is not just about the right colour though, the consistency of the blood is important too. The cornflour will thicken the blood and make the colour more transparent, as will the peanut butter, syrup and washing up liquid.

The fun is in mixing and changing until you get your ideal fake blood, then apply and freak out your friends and family, all in the name of Halloween fun.

We love things that glitter and glow and this time of year allows us to really indulge this side of science. Here’s a few new favourites of ours, in case anyone wants to add some glowing fun to their Halloween parties or games!

We love making lava lamps but made a few modifications to add a bit more glow to this favourite.

You will need:

• An empty plastic bottle or a clear plastic cup
• Water
• Vegetable oil
• A funnel
• Florescent paint (or glow in the dark paint*)
• Alka Seltzer (or similar antacid tablets)
• A UV light (also called a black light), if possible

Method:

1. Put a small amount of water (about an inch or two) in the bottom of the plastic bottle or cup. Add some fluorescent paint to the water and mix.
2. Using the funnel, pour the vegetable oil into the bottle, filling almost to the top.
3. You will see that the water and oil settle into two layers, with the water at the bottom.
4. Break up the Alka Seltzer tablets into smaller piece, and, if you have a UV light, turn it on and turn off the regular light.
5. Add some pieces of the Alka Selzer tablet to the bottle to start off your lava lamp.
6. Once the bubbles stop rising you can add more tablets to keep the lava lamp going.

This is what we did:

We had lots of different colours and types of fluorescent paint so, of course, we had to try them all! We tried both fluorescent and glow in the dark paints for this experiment and found the fluorescent paint worked best.

So what is the science bit?

The Alka Seltzer tablets drop to the bottom of the bottle and dissolve in the water.

These tablets contain an acid (citric acid) and a base/alkali (Sodium hydrogen coarbonate) in powder form. When these dissolve in water, the acid and the alkali start to react together and form carbon dioxide gas. This gas forms bubbles with the water, and these bubbles are lighter than the water and oil so they travel up the bottle to the top. Once they reach the air they burst, and the water droplet is now heavier than the oil and drops back down to the bottom of the bottle again.

You can’t have Halloween without pumpkins and it is great fun to carve them and cook them. You can even cover them in glow in the dark paint for an extra bit of spooky fun. Or, if you are really feeling adventurous with your Halloween science experiments, you can do this…

If you want to try this at home, we advise that an adult do the experiment!

You will need:

• A carved pumpkin (use a small one)
• 250mls 6% Hydrogen Peroxide
• 2 teaspoons (or 2 sachets) dried yeast
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• Washing up liquid
• Food colouring (optional)

Method:

1. Place a small plastic container inside your pumpkin (large enough to contain 300mls but small enough to leave plenty of room between the container and pumpkin lid).
2. Carefully pour in the 250mls hydrogen peroxide. Add a BIG squirt of washing up liquid and about 5 drops of food colouring, if using.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the dried yeast into the warm water. Carefully add this to the hydrogen peroxide mixture inside the pumpkin, replace the lid and then stand back and enjoy!

So what is the science bit?

This is an example of a catalytic reaction, which really just means that something is added to the reaction to make it happen a lot faster, but that it is not chemically changed by the reaction. The something added is called a catalyst.

In this experiment, the yeast is the catalyst in this reaction. It splits the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen without getting chemically changed itself. The oxygen produced then combines with the washing up liquid to produce a LOT of foam!

This is a nice spooky science experiment. Try it out and see what kind of sounds you can make.

You will need:

• A plastic cup
• A paper clip
• Some twine or string
• A knife or scissors
• A piece of kitchen paper
• Water

Method:

1. Tie the paperclip to one end of the twine.
2. Ask an adult to make a small hole in the base of the cup, using the knife or scissors. Hold the cup upside down and thread the twine through the hole. The paperclip will stop the twine from coming all the way through.
3. Fold the kitchen paper in half and then quarter and then dip it in water. You want it wet but not dripping.
4. Holding the cup in one hand, fold the wet kitchen paper over the twine with the other hand and hold between your thumb and first finger.
5. Pull the wet kitchen towel down along the twine, pinching between your fingers all the time.
6. You should notice it makes a really spooky sound!

You can try this experiment without the wet kitchen paper, just wet your thumb and finger instead; Does it make a different sound?

You could also see what happens if you use a different type of twine, or some ribbon, or use a larger cup!

So what is the science bit?

As you pull the kitchen paper down along the twine, the friction between the two makes the twine vibrate. These vibrations travel through the air and are bounced around the walls of the upturned cup – amplifying the vibrations so we get to hear a loud, spooky, screechy sound!

Stop motion animation is great fun, both to watch and to create. This is an interesting (and secretly educational!) way for your kids to start using tech, use their imaginations and boost their own creativity.

Here are some recommended apps to use on phone or tablet.

A useful app, Stop Motion Maker has functions such as:

• Shooting mode with manual / automatic shooting
• onion skin
• preview
• export into avi or motion-jpeg format.

You can also frame edit and import image files in jpeg, png format.

Cost: Free

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PicPac offers stop motion animation and time lapse together in the one app.

Features:

• Add audio and music easily
• No upload to server or PC required.
• Use your gallery photos, gallery videos (broken down to pictures), Instagram photos, or capture time-lapse photos to create stop motion/timelapse videos and animations. You can also do Hyperlapse.
• Hands-free sound-controlled in Timelapse Manual mode. Simply make a loud sound and a photo will be taken!
• Add voice or music

If you upgrade to the Pro version you can also:

1. remove watermark
2. generate 480p,720p,1080p videos/animations
3. duplicate and merge projects
4. use your own ending logo

Cost: Free (€4.99 for Pro)

With Stop Motion Studio you can create stop motion animated movies anywhere instantly on your device. Everything you need is right at your fingertips. No computer needed. It’s simple to use, deceptively powerful and insanely fun to play with. Cool themes, titles and sound effects are easy to add, too.

Stop Motion Studio has these features:

• Overlay mode to show you the differences between frames for precise control
• Grid mode to position animated objects more easily
• Ability to use the volume button on your device to capture images
• Integrated movie editor with frame-by-frame preview at different speeds
• Cut, copy, paste, delete and insert frames at any position
• Automatically capture frames with an adjustable time interval feature
• Zoom in and out on the timeline view so you never get lost, even if you have hundreds of frames
• Fade your movie in or out for a professional look

Cost: Free (There’s also a Pro version €6.99)

iMotion is an intuitive and powerful time-lapse and stop-motion app for iOS. Take pictures, edit your movie and export 1080p & 720p HD videos to your device or directly to Youtube.

Features:

• HD capture & exports
• 4 capture modes (time-lapse, manual, wifi remote, microphone)
• Ultra speed shooting up to 10fps (*)
• Variable frame rate playback
• Portrait and landscape orientations supported
• Useful capture tools (Manual Focus, Exposure Lock, Onion skin, …)
• Export your videos and photos to your Photo Library, iTunes Sharing Folder or YouTube, Facebook and Mail (Full Version In-App required)
• Autosave and direct preview
• Unlimited movie length
• Retina Display

Cost: Free with in-app purchases to access some of the extra features

“This is probably better suited to older kids – not as kid-friendly, and less available on free version” – Jennifer

Also available for iOS, Stop Motion Studio lets you create stop motion animated movies anywhere instantly on your device. Everything you need is right at your fingertips. No computer needed. It’s simple to use, deceptively powerful and insanely fun to play with. Cool themes, titles and sound effects are easy to add, too.

Stop Motion Studio has these features:

• Overlay mode to show you the differences between frames for precise control
• Grid mode to position animated objects more easily
• Ability to use the volume button on your device to capture images
• Integrated movie editor with frame-by-frame preview at different speeds
• Cut, copy, paste, delete and insert frames at any position
• Automatically capture frames with an adjustable time interval feature
• Zoom in and out on the timeline view so you never get lost, even if you have hundreds of frames
• Fade your movie in or out for a professional look

Cost: Free and purchase all the features forever once for €6.99

Stop Motion Factory allows you to easily take pictures and make stop motion animations. It comes with some special features:

• Add text and images: You can easily add text and images to the video to make the video content richer.
• Add Sound. There are many ways to add sound, you can even convert text to speech.
• Various filters to make your video more exciting.
• Voice-activated shooting – use sound to trigger the camera to avoid shaking caused by touching the phone.
• Frame capture. Every frame taken can be shared or downloaded to the album.

Cost: Free (some in-app purchases)