Family Science-Engineering Nights

Family Science-Engineering Nights

Family Science-Engineering Nights are a great opportunity to bring the whole school community together to play and learn. Schools can hire outside organizations to bring the activities and train the volunteers that you will need to provide or you can plan the event yourself with the help of the activities below.

CRS members can make a request for scientist volunteers to help with science fair judging or with science activities during a family science event. The more advanced notice you can give us, the better your chances will be to connect you with a STEM professional.

Do-It-Yourself Family Science Night Activities

Our collection of activities have been selected for their ease of preparation and effectiveness during family science nights. Each activity download has a list of contents with a brief description of each of the items, a lesson plan for the science night planner, and table top documents for the night of the event.

Activity	Grade Level	STEM Field	Activity Requires Adult Assistance	Description
Tops, Dowels, Catapult, Parachutes	3-6	Physical Science	Yes	Learn about the physics behind tops, dowel building, catapults, and parachutes and how to launch things
RotoCoptor	K-5	Physical Science	Yes	Build Roto-Copters and have them land within a target
ExploraGoo	K-5	Physical Science	Yes	Learn about the properties of this Goo that makes it not quite a liquid and not quite a solid
Balance	3-6	Physical Science	Yes	Learn about how to balance things using toothpicks and marshmallows
Charge It	K-5	Physical Science	No	Use balloons to learn about static electricity in three different activities
Black Magic Markers	K-5	Physical Science	Yes	Learn about light absorption with black markers and how the color black contains all the colors of the rainbow.
Outrageous Ooze	K-5	Physical Science	Yes	Another gooey activity for students to create their own ooze using white craft glue.
Food Fat	K-5	Physical Science	No	Test different foods’ fat content by rubbing the foods on pieces of brown paper and comparing fat absorption
Best Adapted Beak	K-5	Life Science	Yes	Learn about adaptive changes that organisms make to survive in their environment
Reaction Time	K-5	Life Science	Maybe	Test students’ reaction times based on where they catch a falling object (a ruler)
Domino Games: Five Spots Count	3-6	Math	Maybe	Earn the most points before a player puts down all of his/her dominoes. Student-directed, domino game for 2-8 players. An adult may need to read and explain directions/game play.
Domino Games: Match Mine	K-2	Math	Maybe	Be the first person to put down all of his/her domino tiles. Student-directed, domino game for 2-8 players.
Domino Games: Mexican Train	3-6	Math	Maybe	Be the first player to use all of his/her dominoes. Activity overview and background: Student-directed, domino game for 2-8 players. An adult may need to read and explain directions/game play
Bean Salad	1-5	Math	No	Learn how to count using different kinds of beans
Leaf Chromatography	K-6	Math	Yes	In this activity students will explore the different kinds of pigments in leaves, how the pigments in various leaves differ, and raise questions about how colors are created.
Color Lines	K-3	Math	No	A word problem activity that requires math to solve puzzles
Value of Words	2-4	Math	No	Each letter of the alphabet is assigned a currency value and students will use the alphabet chart to determine word values.
Human Shapes	K-3	Math	Maybe	Measure arm length and body length to see if they are perfect squares or perfect rectangles
Keep-a-Cube	K-6	Math	No	Try to keep an ice cube form melting for 30 minutes using a set of materials
Mystery Coin Puzzle	3-6	Math	No	Try to solve math word problems to figure out the correct number of coins
Map Challenges	1-5	Math	No	Use logic to find an approach to color the map using as few colors as possible
It All Adds Up	K-3	Math	No	Solve one-digit, addition or multiplication problems
Mind Explorer	3-6	Math	No	Use addition, subtraction, and multiplication skills, along with mathematical precision, to perform a card trick
Rainbow Logic	1-5	Math	Yes	Identify the pattern of all the colors on a grid after as few questions as possible
Rolling Rectangles	2-6	Math	No	Predict the volume of various cylinders
Rotations	K-2	Math	Yes	Recognize shape attributes and patterns by tracing a two-dimensional shape
Snail Races	K-6	Math	No	Use addition to advance game pieces to the finish line and analyze winning patterns with knowledge of probability
Target Addition	1-5	Math	Maybe	Use addition to precisely reach the “target” number
Who Won the Race	2-6	Math	No	Use deduction and critical thinking to solve ordinal word problems
Aluminum Boat	K-5	Engineering	Yes	Learn about density with this water activity
Extraction Challenge	K-5	Engineering	Maybe	Construct a contraption to extract a ball from a circle of string. Difficulty can be varied by changing the size of the circle or placing the objects in a box
Meet in the Middle	4-7	Engineering	No	An engineering activity that requires students to work in pairs and plan together to ensure their entrance of a tunnel matches their partners.
The Tingler	3-6	Engineering	Yes	Build a whistle out of cardboard and see how changing different factors affects the noise production
Stomp Rocket	K-5	Engineering	Yes	Design and improve rocket bodies and then launch them using a plastic soda bottle and bicycle inner tube.
Lots of Math Activities	K-5	Math	Some	Every JRMF puzzle is hands-on, play-based, and standards-aligned. All puzzles come with free festival guides that help you use these activities at home, in the classroom, or during math festivals.

Family Science Nights for Hire

These Bay Area Organizations are currently offering Family Science Nights for a fee.