Myschool54a schoolchild's home lab

An independent reference of home experiments for schoolchildren. It is not a school or educational institution and is not connected with the former website on this domain; every experiment is done only together with an adult.

Topics

Learning topics

The same phenomenon can be explored at age seven and at age fifteen — only the questions and the way you record them change. A younger child just needs to notice and draw; an older pupil will enjoy measuring, repeating and comparing. Below, the topics are split into two levels so it's easier for an adult to pick a suitable one.

A topic is good not because it's difficult, but because you want to keep coming back to it and asking new questions.

— Editor's note

How this section works: for each topic we suggest a main question, hint at what you can observe at home and point you to the right section of the site. School years are approximate — go by the child's interest and independence rather than their age.

For younger pupils

Topics where the main thing is to see, describe in words and draw.

What grows by the window

Main question: what does a seed need to sprout? Compare seeds in light and in shade, on a damp and a dry paper towel, and draw what has changed.

Tasks

Water comes in many forms

Liquid, solid, melting. Watch water freeze in a plastic cup and melt on a plate, and learn to keep track of time.

Lessons

Colours and shadows

Catch a rainbow with a glass of water, trace shadows and mix food colouring in water to make new colours.

Lessons

For older pupils

Topics where you can measure, repeat an experiment several times and build simple tables and graphs.

Levers all around us

Find levers at home — scissors, a door handle, salad tongs — and use a ruler to test how the length of the arm affects the effort needed.

Lessons

Safe kitchen chemistry

Baking soda and vinegar, starch and iodine. Learn to describe the signs of a reaction — gas, a change of colour — and to record the conditions so that someone else could repeat the experiment.

Methods

A long observation

A two-week diary of a plant or of the weather outside the window. Learn to make notes at the same time each day, compare days and draw careful conclusions.

Methods

Article catalogue for English-speaking readers

This catalogue will publish standalone articles about home experiments and observations. Our editors write them in English specifically for this version of the site; they are not translated from other languages.

What the editors are working on

  • Setting up a safe corner for experiments in an ordinary home
  • A plant observation journal: a sample two-week page layout
  • When an experiment doesn't work: what went wrong and what to try next
  • Presenting your science project to the class in three minutes

Editorial rules

  • Articles in this catalogue are written separately for each language version and are not translations.
  • Some articles link to third-party websites, including gaming services; we do not control their content, prices or terms.
  • We do not publish advertising for kits, schools or courses, rankings, prices or reviews.
  • Lessons

    Short observation lessons by topic: what exactly we see in each experiment and why it happens.

  • Tasks

    Week-long observation tasks: a plant by the window, water in the freezer and testing your own hypothesis.

  • Resources

    What to keep at home for experiments, what never to use and how to set up a safe workspace.

Sources

  • School science textbooks (in general terms)
  • Guides for young researchers (in general terms)

The experiments are described in general terms, based on school science textbooks, guides for young researchers and safety rules. Results at home may differ from what you expect, so repeat each experiment together with an adult and write down honestly what you actually saw.