Exploring magnetism was a hit in our home school last year. There are many simple, high-interest activities that you can do at home with your children to help them learn about magnetism.
The book Everyday Physical Science Experiments With Magnetism by Amy French Merrill is a very easy to read book that explains how to do many classic and simple activities designed to introduce your child to magnetism. After doing these activities, look for more books at your library to go more in depth with the topic. Additional book suggestions are at the end of this post.
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To complete the activities we needed to purchase two items:
Using the directions from the book, my boys separated iron filings from garlic salt, witnessed magnetic field, and so much more! The instructions were so easy to follow and the activities held the attention of both of my boys, aged 4 and 9 at the time. Here’s a look at some of the things we did:
Magnetic Field
Separating Iron Filings
After we did the activities in this book, we decided to make our own Lego car that we powered by magnets.
Lego Car
First, the boys figured out how long the magnet was.
They hid the magnet inside the vehicle.
They continued building the car.
Finished!
Using the invisible force of magnetism, the boys drove the car.
Further your child’s study on magnetism with these books and products: