Science Activities for Nannies and Babysitters: A Ready Plan for an Afternoon

If you look after children for part of the day, you’ve probably been asked, “What are we doing today?” a lot. A simple science plan can fill an afternoon, give the children something to be proud of and take the pressure off you.

Before you start: check with the parents

Quick questions save trouble later:

Which materials are fine to use? Food colouring can stain, and some foods may be off limits because of allergies.
Which rooms and surfaces are OK? Kitchen table, garden or floor?
Is there anything the children shouldn’t do? Some families have rules about water play or going outside.
Do they want a photo or note at the end of the day?

If you aren’t sure about anything, choose a different activity. Never improvise with household chemicals.

Safety first

No heating liquids with young children. If anything needs hot water, an adult who is in charge does it away from the children.
No mixing cleaning products, ever.
Nothing from an experiment goes in mouths, even if the ingredients are from the kitchen.
Keep small items away from children under three and watch younger children around small objects.
Stay within arm’s reach of water play.
Wash hands at the end.

Our kitchen science safety rules are a good one-page reference.

A ready afternoon plan (about 90 minutes)

Setup (10 minutes). Put a tray or old towel on the table. Gather the materials and put them in one place.

Activity one (25 minutes): sink or float. Give each child a bowl of water and a handful of small objects, such as a spoon, a cork, a coin, a plastic toy and a piece of fruit. Ask, “Will it sink or float?” Guess first, then test, then sort into two piles. Ask, “What do the floaters have in common?”

Snack and break (15 minutes). Snacks away from the experiment table.

Activity two (25 minutes): paper plane test. Fold two designs. Measure how far each one flies with steps or a tape measure. Change one thing, such as the wing size, and test again. Our lesson What Makes a Paper Plane Fly Farthest? has instructions.

Wrap-up (15 minutes). Ask each child to draw or tell you one thing they found out. Then tidy up together.

More low-prep ideas

Shadow tracing by a window at different times of day.
Magnet hunt: which things in the room does a fridge magnet stick to? (Keep magnets away from very young children who might swallow them.)
Ice races: which place melts an ice cube fastest?
Rainbow in a glass with sunlight. See Where Do Rainbows Come From?
Rainy day ideas in rainy day science experiments for kids.

Handling different ages

If you have children of different ages, give everyone the same activity but different jobs. The youngest can handle and describe. A middle child can measure. An older child can record and suggest improvements. See our post on science with a young child and an older child together.

Tidy-up routine

Make clean-up part of the game so it doesn’t fall on you alone:

Pour water down the sink and wipe the tray.
Put objects back where they came from.
Wash cups and bowls.
Hang the towel to dry.
Leave the table clean, ready for dinner.

What to leave for the parents

A short note is enough, and it helps the family keep the conversation going. Write three lines:

What we did (“We tested which things float.”)
One thing your child said or noticed (a real quote, kept accurate).
A question to ask at dinner (“What did floating objects have in common?”)

Add a drawing or a photo if the family is happy with that.

Where to find more

Our parents page explains how the lessons work, and the Build and Launch unit has more activities that fit in an afternoon.