30 Summer Science and Numeracy activities

Last week, I wrote about how we plan to continue literacy learning over the holidays. This post is about science and numeracy learning. As before, there are 30 activities on the basis that the holiday has about six weeks and activities are done on five days. The plan is to have a maths or science related activity for each weekday of the holidays. 
These ideas aim to continue practice with number operations in different and hopefully practical ways. The science is designed to encourage interest and curiosity about the subject rather than around a curriculum.
Please add more ideas as having a variety is useful!

• Planting seeds. Cress grows quickly but radishes and green leaves also give fairly quick results. Try growing the seeds in different conditions. Cress and green leaves will grow inside on a sunny windowsill.

• Harvesting potatoes. If you haven't grown them then a friend or family member may let children help. This is an activity which my children look forward to each year.

• Growing crystals-this is surprisingly easy using table salt and a piece of string.
• Maths games e.g.Trilemma, Sum Swamp, BrainBox

• Fizz-Buzz. A quick tables game. All the multiples of one number are replaced by the word fizz. Those playing then count replacing the relevant numbers with the word fizz. For example, if three were selected, the players would say one, two, fizz, four, five, fizz. Another table can be added, for example five which can be replaced by buzz. Using both tables together, counting would be one, two, fizz, four, buzz, fizz, seven etc. Fifteen is fizz buzz. 

• Butterfly count.

• Practice doubling while doubling up a recipe.

• Practice weighing and estimation while cooking

• Work out pocket money or holiday money, what it will buy and change.

• Work out the areas if you are planning to do any decoration over the summer. 

• Grow a plant from a leaf

• Multiplication pebbles-I'm going to need a large number of pebbles the next time we go to the beach.

• Investigate a rock pool

• Use a timetable on a bus or train journey

• Nature walks

• Visit a science related museum

• Visit a different nature habitat-woods/marshlands

• Check out the many activities in the Dyson challenge cards

• read some science and maths books

• Smartie maths-yes, maths with sweets. I don't intend to do this more than once but one of my children keeps asking for this!

• make cardboard clocks

• make bread or sourdough bread for a change

• make yogurt

• devise a healthy family menu to the appropriate budget. When we have done this with the older children we let then put in the on-line order so that they can be sure that they are within budget. Do check the items before finalising the order!

• calculate the cost effectiveness of different garden crops. When we did this before, I altered the vegetables that we grow so it might be useful to repeat this.

• dot to dots-these can be found on the internet using multiples to help skip counting

• suduku

• filter muddy water 

• volcano making with sodium bicarbonate and vinegar-we have done this so many times that I don't think of this as educational but we might try using lemon juice instead of vinegar for variation.

Please add more ideas. It is useful to have a choice of activities for me to choose from, even if I only put out one for my children!

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