Wind Spelling

Practice spelling with the power of air! Kids are split up into teams. Teams are given a word. They figure out the spelling. They write each letter of the word on a separate square piece of paper (light weight works best). Then, they get in a line and have to pass each letter of the word (in the correct order) down the line using a straw! The team that creates their word the fastest get a point!

Check out Sophie's World (featured above) for instructions on how to "pass the paper!"

Solar Energy Balloon Blow Up!

Explore the power of the sun's heat by blowing up a balloon on a bottle! Kids paint one soda bottle white and the other black. Once dry, they attach a small balloon to the necks of their bottles. Then, they put the bottles out in the sun for a solar reaction!

Kids see that the air in the black bottle will make the balloon expand! The white bottle doesn't heat up as fast. Check out the experiment here!

Egg DROP!

Humpty Dumpty Project: Can you keep an egg from cracking? Kids use any materials they want to protect their egg from a giant free fall! They drop their protected eggs from a super high spot. Then, they examine their egg and see if it's still intact!

Featured above:
straws with paper propellers - Sun Pack
coffee filter, paper bowl, pie pan parachute - News Miner
balloon parachute - Virginia Tech Outreach Program
tp tubes/ bubble wrap and balloon exterior - My Science 8 

Rocket Pinwheel

Explore Newton's Third Law of Motion by constructing a rocket pinwheel! Checkout this video from Monkey See Monkey Do here for complete instructions and the explanation behind this experiment!

materials: balloon, pencil, bendy straw, tape, and needle

Wind Powered Balloon Squid

Explore the power of air and wind energy by constructing a balloon squid to play with in the pool! Estimate the distance you think your squid can swim. Then, measure the actual distance he travelled. Build more than one and have a balloon squid race! Click here for how to instructions from Monkey See Monkey Do!

materials: balloon, snap top from water bottle, ribbon, sharpie

Click here to learn how to make an air powered balloon boat!

Kid Engineering

Design Squad Nation - Lots of hands on projects, and a great place for kids to collaborate with other students from around the country.
Featured above:
Treasure Grab - Kids investigate magnetism with this measuring construction project!
Indoor Slingshot - Angle Exploration and potential / kinetic energy! Kids measure the distance their object is propelled. What angle worked best? 
Air Cannon - Estimate and measure, while exploring air pressure. Kids blow up a bag, smash it, and a pom pom ball goes flying! 

WYE_Lance has a special showcase of kid engineering projects featured on Instructables: Project-Based Engineering.
Featured above:
Truss Bridges - Kids explore symmetry and angles as they create a unique popsicle stick structure.
Rubber Band Helicopter - How high will it go? How long will it stay up?

Sophie's World - Balloon Boat (top right image)
Kids investigate the power of air, as they estimate and measure the distance their boat floats!

Artful Science

Fun art projects aren't just for preschoolers! The activities featured below all relate to the common core. Plus, kids can take their science experiment home to hang on the fridge!

1. Explore force, energy, and motion with artful physics!

Featured Above:

Inclined Plane Painting (Ramps) - BIA SFClubhouse

Marbles in Motion (Gravity, Energy, Inclined Plane) - Harris County Public Library 

Snap Art (Force, Potential vs. Kinetic Energy) - Capital B

2. Learn about solids, liquids, and gases with artful matter! 

Featured Above (From left to right):

Liquids to Solids 
1. Color Changing Glue Art - School at St. George Place
2. Plastic Milk - Science Bob
3. Colored Glue Drawings - Art with Mrs. Smith

Solids to Liquids

1. Paint with watercolor and watch a solid transform into a liquid!

2. Ice Cube Painting - CertaPro

Air, It's There!

1. Straw Blowing Art - Robert Burridge and Kaplan (pictured)

2. Bubble Prints - Family Fun

Liquids and Solids

1. Magic Salt Painting - Spoonful

Liquid Bliss

Paper Towel Fusion (not pictured) - Sprout 'n' Wings

More Artful Science
Play with precipitation: Water Cycle Rain Art - Terra Savvy
Explore Magnetism with Magnetic Art - BIA SFClubhouse

Balloon Science

1. Balloon Gobbler - will a bigger balloon steal air away from a smaller one? - All for Kids (Jameson's Lab - definitely a site to bookmark!)
2. Balloon Rocket Race - who has the fastest balloon? - E is for Explore

3. Balloon Surfing - catch a wave on air! How many people can stand and balance on balloons without making them pop! - ABC.Net

4. Bottle Balloon - can you blow up a balloon in a bottle? It's harder than it looks! - Weird Science Kids

5. Thermal Energy and Balloons - hot air takes up more space - Andy Brain

other balloon experiments:

Balloon Balance

Balloon Car

Balloon Greenhouse

Balloon Skewer

Balloon Water Conductivity

Balloon Fizz Inflator

Pop Rocks, Soda, and a Balloon!

Yeast Air Balloon
Balloon Spinner Toy

Balloons and Static Electricity

Screaming Balloon
Water Balloon in a Bottle
Water Balloon Skydiving

Balloon Car

Have kids design a balloon car, bring it to class, and see who's can travel the fastest and farthest. They could uses legos, soda caps, tops of fast food cups, or even cds for wheels. Tell kids to get creative with the car's body. They can make long thin cars or big fat boxed cars. Design elements are completely up to the kids. Their goal is to make a car that is not only fast, but can travel super far. In the classroom, have kids use their measuring skills to figure out the distance their vehicles traveled. Who's car has the most stamina?

See written instructions for Steve Spangler's balloon car (featured above) as well as more racing toy experiments here. 

Aso check out Design Squad's 2 wheel (made with life savers candy) and 4 wheel balloon car!

image credit: Design Squad Nation (2 wheel balloon car)

Paper Plate Frisbee

Unidentified Flying Object!
Make your very own paper plate frisbee! Cover the top of 2 paper plates with packaging tape. Next, cut the center of the paper plates out. Then, tape the plates together around the edges (top on top - packaging tape will be inside). Decorate your plate with markers or stickers. Now, try it out! Use your measuring skills to figure out how far your frisbee can fly!

Air Submarine

Can you keep a piece of paper dry if submerged in water? The power of air can! Crumple a piece of paper into a ball, wedge it tight inside of a cup, turn the cup upside down, and submerge it straight down into a pool of water. Lift the cup straight up, the paper remains dry! This is a great experiment to teach kids about air pressure and also when introducing gas as one of the states of matter. Even though we can't see air, it's there! 

Magic Rising Water

Demonstrate air pressure with this magical tabletop experiment from Steve Spangler. Pour 9 oz. of water (food coloring optional) into a shallow dish. Place a candle in the center of the dish and light it. Put a glass over the candle and watch water rise right before your eyes! What's happening? The flame heated up the air trapped in the glass, causing the flame to go out. Once the flame goes out, everything cools down. The cool air (gas) acts as a "vacuum," causing the water to rise! Once you lift the glass up, the water falls back into place. Besides air, talk to students about thermal energy. Is the glass an insulator or a conductor of heat? 

Boomerangs and Paper Planes

Combine art, math, and science with two high flying projects!

SCIENCE - Kids test out four different boomerang designs to find out what shape has the most soaring potential, while learning about aerodynamics. Print out boomerang templates on cardstock. ART - Besides the templates, try designing your very own boomerang shape. How does it compare to the templates? Trace around your stencils on cardboard and cut. For a large class, have each student in charge of making one boomerang template above and one, one of a kind design (homework). 

Then, comes the big test. MATH - They use their math skills to measure the distance of each boomerang with a tape measurer. Before you test them out, make a prediction. Which boomerang will fly the highest? Which one will soar the farthest? Record the distances of each boomerang on the sheet below. Also, write down your observations. 

ART - Kids research a unique paper plane design and construct it at home. Encourage kids to get super creative with their airplane. No basic paper plane designs! They bring it back to school to see how it flies in comparison to their peers' designs. MATH - Fly the planes outside and measure the distance their planes land. SCIENCE - How does paper plane design, construction, and even adornment affect flying potential? Students record their planes' distance, as well as observations in their notebook.

Water Balloon Experiments

Have a blast experimenting with gravity and air resistance by having a water balloon throw down! Grab 2 filled water balloons and 1 plastic grocery or garbage bag. I used a small trash bag, folded it over, and taped a piece of yarn on each corner. Once your parachute is ready, attach one of your balloons. Simply tie a knot around the knot of your filled balloon. Next, find a high place to drop your balloons. Before all the action begins, have kids make a prediction. Will both balloons burst when dropped? Can a parachute keep a water balloon intact? Which balloon will come out on top? Now, time for the free fall! Drop the balloon that has no protection. After the splat, try your parachute protected balloon. Below are the results, I tried to snap an action shot, but my reflexes were delayed!

What's going on:

The parachute fills up with air when you drop it. The air slows down the balloon's landing, pushing away from the earth's gravitational pull, preserving your balloon!

Free Fall - The balloon with no parachute falls at a much faster rate of speed, causing it to hit the ground harder, so it POPS!

After your experiment, keep your parachute. Have Barbie or Iron Man go skydiving! Now, you have a new toy! (Note: You can also do this experiment with an egg!)

Have fun with a bouncy, wet yo-yo! Spring it back and forth, will it POP?! All you need is a super long rubber band and one water balloon. Fill your balloon. Then, cut your rubber band. Tie one end of the band around the knot of your balloon. On the other side of the band, make a loop and tie a knot. While playing with your yo-yo, talk about potential energy and kinetic.

Throw a water balloon yo-yo competition with your friends! Who's yo-yo will last the longest before it bursts?!

Click here for water balloon wet n wild math!

Flying Hot Air Balloon

Construct a tissue paper hot air ballon to demonstrate thermal energy and convection currents - hot air rises and cold air sinks. This is a fun art / science activity to go along with a weather unit. Kids can get super creative with their balloon design. After you make your balloon, test it out with cool air and hot air from a blow dryer. Hold the nozzle in the opening of your balloon to fill it up. You will notice that hot air makes the balloon rise because hot air is not as dense. 

Below is a simple video tutorial, great for kids by Gordon Dipple. You can also find a rad photo tutorial at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. Visit the activity page of this site for more science fun!  Click here and here to check out two super cool hot air balloon projects by kids!

The Steel Straw Trick

Balloon Balance

How do you weigh air? Fairion did with a balloon balance. Below is a picture from their experiment. Visit the link to see exactly how they weighed air!

Balloon Spinner Toy

Visit Arvind Gupta for a tutorial.

Whirly: Twirl Sound Hose

Make music with a fluted sink pipe or irrigation tubing from the hardware store. Try out different sized pipes. What makes the best sound?

"Try attaching a plastic bag to the end of your Sound Hose with tape or a rubber band. With your mouth a few millimeters from the Sound Hose, blow into the open end.  The bag will inflate with just a few big breaths. Once the bag is inflated, twirl your Sound Hose.  As the "music" plays from the hose, watch the bag deflate"! via Steve Spangler

CD Hovercraft

Estimate your hovercraft's distance. How far do you think it will travel? Measure the distance it traveled.

Have a hovercraft race! Whose went the fastest?