Each experiment uses everyday materials to create anything from enormous bubbles to gorgeous geodes to an anemometer. Kids will love building their own periscope or making a wormery, whilst learning about what they are and how they work.
The activities cover four main categories – nature watch, world of weather, water power and earth and sky. Each experiment contains detailed, easy to follow instructions, with photos of each step, an estimate of the time needed to undertake it, and suggested difficulty level.
They can create a spinning whirlpool using plastic bottles, make a water rocket or an air cannon and even make their own ice cream (without using the freezer!). The more scientifically minded might like to attempt to make a latitude locator to identify their position by the stars, or a barometer to measure atmospheric pressure.
There are a range of activities in this book to appeal to kids with varying interests, as well as those that just want to have fun by making a kite or a butterfly feeder. There are a variety of difficulty levels and I would suggest the easier ones could be done by 8-10 year olds on their own but some of the more complex ones may still need some help up to age 12.
There are templates at the end that can be photocopied and used again, as well as a glossary explaining all the tricky terms used in the book. This will be a great one for keeping the kids occupied in school holidays and will also encourage them to question the world around them and think creatively about how they use everyday items at home.
Title: Outdoor Maker Lab
Author: Robert Winston
Publisher: DK, $29.99
Publication Date: 19 March 2018
Format: Hard Cover
ISBN: 9780241302200
For ages: 7+
Type: Non Fiction
