School holidays don’t need to be all about video games and cartoons. There is still learning to be done even if it isn’t in the confines of the classroom! If you have a budding scientist in the house, this periodic table that actually tells you how to use the elements is fun and visually awesome!
Keith Enevoldsen from elements.wlonk.com has come up with this awesome periodic table that gives you at least one example for most elements.
There’s thulium for laser eye surgery, cerium for lighter flints, and krypton for flashlights. You’ve got strontium for fireworks, and xenon for high-intensity lamps inside lighthouses.
You can quiz the kids on where potassium can be found, or what element is found in paint. They’ll simply love the brain teaser’s and most importantly they will love spending time with you. Who knows, you may even learn a thing or two. I know I certainly did!
You can also download the PDF if you want to put it behind the bathroom door for kids to read. Pop it on the fridge, or even print one out for the bedroom. It’s a fun way to teach the kids about science and an even easier way for them to remember the elements! Mine have all picked out their favourite!
There is also this Periodic Table Song if you’re in the mood for an ear worm! It’s a nice change from them watching other kids play with toys on You Tube. Not to mention the Minecraft cheats. I know more about building a portal to heaven that I care to, just quietly.
At the end of the day, Science is fun! It can also help children take the initiative to answer their own questions about why the sky is blue, or where the stars come from.
Science involves a lot of communication with other people. It develops patience and perseverance in kids.
It can help kids form a healthy dose of scepticism and it teaches kids about the world around them.
“Science can teach children to form their own opinions, rather than taking those of others for granted.” Camille Thomson – Australian Institute of Policy & Science
Science can spark in kids’ minds that they, too, can help solve the world’s big problems!
That’s definitely something that I want to encourage in my own children!
