Discover buoyancy with lots of equipment for hands-on exploration and activity cards designed for young children kids to conduct experiments without needing to read.

Ages 3+ Reserve This Kit

Get Started

We recommend that you seat your child comfortably in an area where water spills can happily occur - perhaps put a large towel on a table so any spills do not run on to them, or use a large roast tin to catch spills so long as they can comfortable reach into it. Fill the provided jar with water, leaving a few centimeters gap at the top.

You can either provide your child with all of the STEM Kit items and the activity cards to experiment at their own speed, or you can introduce items from the STEM Kit that match the activity card you want to explore with your child. Let them learn at their own speed in their own way, with occasional gentle guidance to steer them towards their learning goal.

Talk to your child as they experiment:

• ask them what they think will happen before they do something
• ask them what just happened when they've done it
• ask them why they think it happened, what is going on?
• see if they can make it happen again, did they learn anything new or was it the same?
• ask them if they can use their new knowledge to make something different happen!

That is the scientific method in action: prediction, experimentation, observation, hypothesis, repeat/modify, analyze!

Use simple but accurate words that you think are appropriate to their age, and don't be afraid to introduce words that are new to them, like "float", "sink", "under", "submerged", "above", "below", "liquid", "fluid", "buoyant", "gravity", "dense", "displace", "weight", "pressure".

Give them encouragement and praise, and have a good time!

Finishing Up

Please ensure all items are dry and back in the STEM Kit box before returning to the library. Please leave us feedback using the QR code supplied in the kit - we would love to know what your child learnt!

More STEM Kits

Explore our full STEM Kits Collection available now at CNRL branches.