• Wonderlab at The Statoil Gallery
    days out - Family Life - London - STEM activity

    Wonderlab at The Statoil Gallery {Science Museum London}

    January 14, 2018 - By 

    Just before Christmas we spent a day at the Science Museum London. It’s a fantastic, free, museum in London which we love to visit. The children love science so we thought we would visit Wonderlab at The Statoil Gallery, a paying hands-on exhibition, specially designed for children. Nothing beats the excitement of walking into the Science Museum. As you pass through security you get the most wonderful view of the huge engines in the Energy Hall. My children love this space, and it’s not hard to see why, especially when volunteers have some of the engines running. Anyway, we dragged the…

  • The Slime Book cover
    Craft book review - Crafts for adults - STEM activity

    The Slime Book

    December 16, 2017 - By 

    Over the summer the children wanted to make endless slime and goo. On the good days we used our tuff spot outside and the kids had so much fun making and playing with slime. We even made a video of one of our attempts. Making and playing with slime is a cool STEM activity so I was excited to receive a copy of The Slime Book to review. The Slime Book Play, poke, push and pull the gloopiest, gooiest slime with The Slime Book – perfect for some family fun or a slime-fest with friends. With more than 30 easy-to-follow recipes,…

  • Xtrem Trooper Bot
    Family Life - STEM activity - toy review

    Xtrem Bot Trooper Bot

    December 16, 2017 - By 

    With only a few days until Christmas, today I’m sharing a review of a really fun STEM toy which would make a perfect gift this Christmas. We love STEM toys and this ticks all the boxes for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Xtrem Bot Trooper Bot The Xtrem Bot Trooper Bot looks pretty fun. He is a big toy and comes with a handheld remote, 5 missiles and charging cable. It was actually pretty easy to get out of the box (for once!) and the only thing we needed to supply was a screwdriver and 2 AA batteries before we could…

  • Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Digital Microscope
    Family Life - STEM activity - toy review

    Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Digital Microscope from Learning Resources

    December 13, 2017 - By 

    I love STEM toys, those which encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Children are naturally inquisitive and there are some amazing toys to encourage them to continue their learning at home. My daughter was recently given a microscope for her birthday. It was a lovely, thoughtful gift, but quite basic. So we were delighted to receive the Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Digital Microscope from Learning Resources to review. Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Digital Microscope The Zoomy 2.0 Handheld Digital Microscope is a compact, handheld digital microscope which is easy for young children to use. It is aimed at ages 4-8 years and gives…

  • competition - parenting - STEM activity

    Calling all aspiring inventors! {Young Imagineers competition}

    September 26, 2017 - By 

    Today I wanted to tell you about a new STEM competition, Young Imagineers, which has just been launched by the Science Museum and Statoil, the Norwegian energy company. Aimed at encouraging children’s involvement in the STEM subjects, the Young Imagineers competition asks children, aged 7-14, “What invention would you create to make tomorrow’s world a better place?” Entry is easy. All children need to do to enter is fill in a form on the competition website:  https://youngimagineers.statoil.com/, including a sketch and a short 100 word summary of their idea. The competition is open until 6 October 2017. Statoil has brought…

  • How to make Putty
    crafts - STEM activity

    How to make Putty {A-Z Play at Home}

    August 18, 2017 - By 

    Last week for the A-Z Play at Home weekly blog hop we had so much fun making SLIME! The kids just love getting their hands dirty so we quickly made a bath of Putty too. It’s not just fun, there’s some science in there too! Ingredients to make Putty: 24 oz flour (2 cups) 5 eggs 9oz PVA craft glue (3/4 cup) 3 tbsp water food colouring (optional) We made a video about our experiences of making putty. It took a while for the putty to come together but it was worth it! Basically, you mix the flour in a…

  • How to make a potato clock
    crafts - STEM activity

    How to make a potato clock {A-Z Play at Home}

    August 4, 2017 - By 

    Something a little different from us today. For the past few weeks we’ve been taking part in the weekly A-Z Play at Home blog hop. Each week we are inspired by a different letter of the alphabet – today is the letter N. It took us a while to think of anything starting with this letter but eventually we decided upon Nails! We used nails and potatoes to show the amazing power of potatoes! Read on to find out how we did it. To make a potato clock you will need: 2 large potatoes 2 large galvanised nails 2 lengths…

  • How to make a Winter Solstice ice lamp
    crafts - Nature crafts - STEM activity - Winter

    How to make a Winter Solstice ice lamp

    December 20, 2016 - By 

    Did you know that tomorrow (Wednesday December 21st) at 10.44 GMT is the Winter Solstice. The winter solstice is an astronomical phenomenon marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It happens when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. To celebrate the Winter Solstice and the shortest day of the year we made a Winter Solstice ice lamp. I’ve wanted to make one for a few years, the kids always enjoy a little science at home, and finally got round to making it with the children. We used: a plastic tub water red…

  • simple melting love hearts science experiments for kids
    Kids crafts - STEM activity - tutorial - Valentines Day crafts

    How to make simple melting love hearts

    January 14, 2016 - By 

    I know that Valentine’s Day is few weeks away but today I’ve teamed up with some other parenting bloggers to bring you some fun Valentines Day learning activities. Every craft activity is also a learning experience and I’ve combined a little bit of science into this fun activity, making simple melting love hearts. You will need: Bicarbonate of soda Water Red food colouring Vinegar Silicone mould How to make simple melting love hearts Mix a little water with a lot of Bicarbonate of Soda to make a paste. Add red food colouring if you wish, pour the mixture into your…