#BritishScienceWeek is here and encouraging YOU to get stuck in with all things science, technology, engineerings and maths.

If at this point you’re stifling a yawn and thinking “BORING!” then you are very much mistaken! Science is an awe-inspiring, mind-boggling, gut-swooping subject that can have us squealing with delight or standing in shocked silence in equal measures. With space, animals, rockets, colours, food and robots all at our scientific disposal, this week is a wonderful opportunity to gather your pupils and explore what you can create together.

Here are some of our absolute favourite science experiments, which you can demo with relative ease in your school. Each requires a simple array of tools/ingredients, but has wonderful results sure to get your children excited about the wonders of science.

1. The Bottle Rocket!

A firm favourite for #BritishScienceWeek and for good reason. The bottle rocket is so simple to make but as you can see, has an explosive result! This is a video we made last summer, where we also encouraged the children to decorate their rockets before take off to make it extra special. Because it’s so fast, it’s a great opportunity to show pupils how important it is to stay safe and sensible while conducting scientific experiments.

How to build a Bottle Rocket (BBC).

2. Shadow Puppets

The Royal Society and Brian Cox have come up with a lovely series of videos for this year’s #BritishScienceWeek with topics including melting, heart rate, sound and water. In this video, pupils create and then experiment with shadow puppets, discovering exactly what factors can alter their size and shape. We love experiments that incorporate craft, and creating their own puppets is a great way to get pupils invested in the task at hand, before the experimenting even begins!

3. Mixing Red Bull and Milk

It’s likely your pupils are already acquainted with both milk and Red Bull. But can they guess what happens when you mix the two together? Casein is a protein found in milk and it has a negative charge. Red Bull, on the other hand, is acidic. Mix the two together and the acidity of the Red Bull neutralises the casein, causing it to clump together and become solid. Cool, huh (just don’t be tempted to taste it)!

4. Skittle Rainbows

Possibly one of the simplest science experiments there is, all you need to create a Skittle Rainbow is some Skittles, a plate and a bit of water – that’s it! Even though it’s super easy, it still carries a great lesson about liquids and solids, diffusion (the sugar and colouring diffuses into the water), density (it diffuses because the sugar water is denser than the water) and gravity (gravity pulls the colour into the centre of the plate)!

5. Magic Plastic Bag

The threat of this going wrong and everyone getting a soaking, makes this experiment extra exciting! The Magic Plastic Bag almost feels like an optical illusion, but actually it’s a great opportunity to surprise your class (for science is full of surprises), challenge their expectations, and teach them a thing or two about chemistry at the same time. All thanks to the science of polymers!

And that’s it! But there are dozens more fantastic experiments you can try with your classes this week – the British Science Week website has some brilliant resources. Which will you try this #BritishScienceWeek? Let us know!

Love from Ruth and the One Day Creative team x