Earth and Sky at Home
Make a rainbow on the kitchen floor, grow crystals on a windowsill and build a cloud in a jar. Three classic home experiments that actually work, with the real science explained for grown-ups.
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3 lessons in this unit
Lesson 1 · 45 min, plus 10 min outside on a sunny dayWhere do rainbows come from?Children split sunlight into colours with a glass of water, test whether the water is what makes the rainbow, and make their own rainbow with a hose mist. They finish able to explain that white light is a mix of colours that water bends apart.
Lesson 2 · 40 min to set up, then 5 min a day for 5 to 7 daysHow do crystals grow?Children watch the grown-up make strong salt, Epsom salt and sugar solutions, set out dishes and a string, then check them every day for a week. They finish able to explain that crystals form when dissolved particles line up as the water leaves.
Lesson 3 · 40 minHow does a cloud form?Children watch the grown-up set up two jars of hot water with ice on top, add a wisp of smoke to one, and compare the clouds. They finish able to explain that clouds form when moist air cools and water collects on tiny specks.
Your children make a rainbow with a glass of water and a sunny window, grow salt and Epsom salt crystals over a week while keeping a daily log, and build a real cloud inside a jar. Each lesson starts with an experiment you may already have seen online, then turns it into a proper question with a prediction, a fair test and an answer. You handle anything hot; the children do the watching, testing and explaining.
You don’t need a science background. Every lesson tells you what usually happens, what to do when it doesn’t, and the real science in plain words, including the popular explanations that are wrong. By the end, children can explain that white light is a mix of colours that water can split apart, that crystals form when dissolved particles line up as water leaves, and that clouds are tiny drops of water made when moist air cools.