Explore glow-in-the-dark science with PUTTY, SLIME, CRYSTALS AND MORE!
The days are getting shorter and the nights are drawing in but fear not, this fun STEM kit from Bandai is sure to brighten any dark evening! Inquisitive minds will love discovering the world of glow-in-the-dark by making glowing slime and growing their own crystals! We’ve got THREE Glow-in-the-Dark Mega Science Kits to give away!
The National Geographic Glow-in-the-Dark Mega Science Kit is an astounding collection of experiments and activities that all glow when the lights are out! Inside the kit, you’ll find a crystal growing set that produces a glow-in-the-dark crystal specimen you can proudly display.
There are two DIY slime packs in this kit as well, allowing you to mix and play with your own glow-in-the-dark purple and green slime! And glow-in-the-dark putty will astound kids as they use the included UV light keychain to draw pictures and words that glow when the lights are off!
There is so much included in this Mega Kit: one glowing crystal seed, two DIY slime powders in glowing green and glowing purple, two slime containers, one glowing putty in a storage tin, one wernerite rock, one UV light, and a full-colour learning guide that takes you through each experiment step by step.
Our very knowledgeable robot, Y, has another challenge for you this week. Y’s Wonder Club club is for budding scientists to share their adventures in science with our robot, Y, and other Whizz Pop Bang readers. All Whizz Pop Bang subscribers are automatically joined to Y’s Wonder Club and for a limited time this summer we’re opening up the club for everyone!
We have two weeks left so get ready for your scientist in training to put their capes on and become an Eco Hero! If you missed our previous weeks, go back and have a look at the Wildlife Watcher and Super Scientist badges to collect them all! We’ve got some great summer holiday activities that not only keep the kids entertained but do good for the planet too!
Complete these three challenges to earn your Whizz Pop Bang Eco Hero badge…
1) Upcycle something
Choose an item that’s reaching the end of its life or is destined for the bin and transform it into something useful. For example, you could make a pencil case from an old bag, tie-die a stained t-shirt or freshen up an old wooden stool with bright paints.
2) Make an environmentally friendly change
Make a lifestyle change that enables you or your family to cause less harm to the environment. Perhaps you could ask your parents if you could walk, cycle or scoot into school or to the park, instead of driving. Maybe you could reduce the amount of single-use plastics you use at home, eat less meat, or help your family to reduce your food waste.
3) Help to raise awareness
Spread the word about an environmental issue that you feel strongly about. You could design and put up a poster about an environmental issue, e.g. reminding your school friends to bring in reusable water bottles or encouraging awareness in your neighbourhood of toads or hedgehogs on the roads. You could write to your MP or your local shops or cafes to ask them to make environmentally friendly changes. Or maybe you could join an environmental campaign or protest.
Here’s how to apply for your badge:
1. Download the Eco Hero application form. Print it out and complete the first page of the application form to tell us about how you’ve helped the environment. Attach any photos or drawings that you’d like to send to us. If you don’t have a printer, you can type your answers into an email or write your answers on a plain piece of paper and send us a photograph of it.
2. Ask your parent or guardian to pay the £1-per-badge postage and packing fee, which can be done online at whizzpopbang.com/shop/719619/badge-postage-and-packing/. Add the order confirmation number to the second page of the application form.
3. Ask your parent or guardian to fill in the second page of the form.
4. Photograph or scan your completed form and any other documents and email them to Y@whizzpopbang.com with the subject line as ‘Eco Hero Badge’. Alternatively, post your completed application to Eco Hero Badge, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please note that it can take up to 12 weeks for delivery of the badges.
Another week of the summer holidays is here, –are you looking for screen-free activities to keep those little brains entertained? For a limited time only, applying for Y’s Wonder Club badges is open to everyone (not just Whizz Pop Bang subscribers)!
This week we’re earning our Super Scientist badges. We’ll take you through the actual steps that scientists follow to study and investigate while ensuring they are conducting a fair test!
Earn a collectible high-quality enamel Super Scientist badge by getting curious! Think up a question, investigate it and record the results and conclusions.
Challenge 1: Think up a question What would you like to investigate? It could be almost anything… Do birds sing more often when it’s sunny? Which type of surface is best for bouncing balls on? Does your pet hamster have a favourite colour?! Make a prediction of what you think your results will be (scientists call this a hypothesis).
Challenge 2: Investigate it Plan and carry out an experiment to investigate your question. When you’re experimenting, remember to only change one thing at a time and try to keep all other variables the same. For example, if you’re trying to find out which surface is best for bouncing, you would need to always drop the ball from the same height, always use the same ball and measure the height of its first bounce. It would be more accurate to repeat the tests a few times on each surface and calculate the average bounce height if you can.
Challenge 3: Tell us what you discovered! Tell us about your results and conclusions. Did they surprise you? Did they lead to more questions that you’d like to investigate further?
How did you get on? Did you follow along with our Super Scientist week? Send your application in to us to receive your badge just like these super-duper scientists!
Download the Super Scientist application form. Print it out and complete the first page of the application form to tell us about your science investigation. Attach any photos or drawings that you’d like to send to us. If you don’t have a printer, you can type your answers into an email or write your answers on a plain piece of paper and send us a photograph of it.
Ask your parent or guardian to fill in the second page of the form. The postage and packing for the first 500 successful applicants is being sponsored by The Great Science Share for Schools so there’s no need to pay postage and packing for this badge. We will update this page and the form once the 500 badge limit has been used up.
Email your completed form (or a photograph or scan of it), together with any other documents to Y@whizzpopbang.com with the subject line as ‘Super Scientist badge’. Alternatively, post your completed application to Super Scientist Badge, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please note that it can take up to 12 weeks for delivery of the badges.
It’s that time of year again! School’s out for summer and you may be scratching your head for things to do over the summer holidays. We could have just the solution you’re looking for – a chance to earn collectible enamel science badges throughout the holidays!
Did you know that when you subscribe to Whizz Pop Bang magazine, you automatically become a member of Y’s Wonder Club? Find out all about it here! Your mini-scientist will love being put to the test with a science challenge!
GREAT NEWS! Y’s Wonder Club is being opened up to EVERYONE for a limited time over the summer holidays! Each week, we’ll post some ideas for how your Whizz Pop Bang fan can earn each badge in the collection and enjoy these summer holiday activities. First up is the Wildlife Watcher badge. Mini scientists will love following along learning about their local wildlife and at the end of the challenge, they can send their application in to get their badge!
Do you know a scientist-in-training who might like to become an official Whizz Pop Bang Wildlife Watcher? To earn a badge, they need to…
Make something to help wildlife close to home
Spot some wildlife and record it
Do something to help wildlife
All of these activities can be done from home – what a great way to keep busy and help nature!
Challenge 1: Make something to help wildlife in your area (e.g. make a mini-pond, bug hotel, butterfly feeder or hedgehog house, etc.).
Here’s your first challenge to earn the Wildlife Watcher badge! Wildlife is a vital part of life here on Earth, but many areas of natural habitat are in decline, threatening the existence of many creatures. If we all did our part to help the wildlife living in our gardens, it would have a huge positive impact. This challenge is all about getting crafty and creating something that will help the creatures living all around you. It’s a great way to encourage kids to help wildlife.
Challenge 2: Spot some wildlife and record it (e.g. describe, draw, count or photograph it).
As a scientist, watching and recording is a huge part of the job! Monitoring species and their habitats is how scientists learn all about our world and behaviour. This challenge will get your scientist-in-training learning to think about how animals look and behave. They will be sure to learn a thing or two about the creatures living in their backyards – and you might too!
Monitoring and recording the world around us is a great way for inquisitive minds to get used to asking questions. So why not record all of your findings in our scrapbook? Find out more here.
Challenge 3: Do something to help wildlife (e.g. create a wildflower area in a garden or window box, clear litter from a park or beach, take part in a citizen science project that helps wildlife, etc.). These are great hands on science activities that also benefit the planet.
The final challenge before your mini scientists can send away their application to get that hard-earned badge. Getting involved and helping wildlife makes a huge impact on our planet. So your scientist-in-training will have to think of a way to positively impact the wildlife around them.
Send your application to us to receive your badge just like these wildlife watchers!
Download the Wildlife Watcher application form. Print it out and complete the first page of the application form to tell us about how you’ve helped wildlife in your area. Attach any photos or drawings that you’d like to send to us. If you don’t have a printer, you can type your answers into an email or write your answers on a plain piece of paper and send us a photograph of it.
Ask your parent or guardian to pay the £1-per-badge postage and packing fee, which can be done online at whizzpopbang.com/shop/719619/badge-postage-and-packing/. Add the order confirmation number to the second page of the application form.
Ask your parent or guardian to fill in the second page of the form.
Photograph or scan your completed form and any other documents and email them to Y@whizzpopbang.com with the subject line as ‘Wildlife Watcher badge’. Alternatively, post your completed application to Wildlife Watcher Badge, Whizz Pop Bang, Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Please note that it can take up to 12 weeks for delivery of the badges.
Looking for some simple science activities to keep children busy during the holidays? Here are three fantastic ways to make paper soar through the air.
Discover new twists on paper planes – just download, print, cut, fold and launch! Try out one design, or challenge your children to make all three and compare how they travel.
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here and flick through a space-themed issue here!
🐰 We’ve got an EGG-citing Easter competition for you! 🐰
We want to treat a whole class of children to some epic Easter science, so we’re giving away 30 copies of our Easter Eggs-periments booklet! Children deserve a cracking treat to celebrate the end of this very unusual term, so here’s a chance for teachers to win a set for their class, or parents to win a set for their child’s class.
Whizz Pop Bang’s Easter Eggs-periment booklet contains 12 pages of awesome science fun to keep children busy this holiday, including…
To enter, simply answer this question in the comments.
Which of the below is NOT part of an egg?
A. Albumen B. Bitumen C. Chalaza
🐣 🐣 🐣 🐣 🐣
Claim your free Easter science experiments booklet!
This booklet is also available with every purchase from our website until 28th March! To claim your free booklet, simply use the code EASTER21 when you purchase any Whizz Pop Bang product or subscription*.
* Offer valid until midnight on 28th March 2021 on Whizz Pop Bang shop products and new subscriptions only, whilst stocks last. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer.
This competition closes at midnight on 23rd March 2021. The winner will be contacted on 24th March and must provide their details within 24 hours, otherwise another winner will be drawn (we’re really keen to get these booklets to children in time for Easter!) Whizz Pop Bang competition terms and conditions are here.
British Science Week (5th-14th March 2021) was always first in my calendar as a Primary Science Co-ordinator and I usually started with very grand ideas! Whilst a whole week of science is brilliant, this year it might be more realistic to consider just planning one day – it will be just as exciting, but manageable both in school and for any pupils isolating at home. Here are some FREE ideas and resources for creating a super exciting Fly High Friday!
Did you know that Whizz Pop Bang magazine also creates curriculum-linked science resources for primary schools? Scroll to the bottom to find a brilliant offer that’s running throughout March 2021!
Here’s everything you need to make planning your science day as simple as possible:
A whole-school challenge with suggestions for each year group
Science lesson plan with curriculum links
Downloadable, printable resources
FREE PowerPoint presentations to help teachers run the day
Theme – Flight, linking with the curriculum topic of Forces with a comparative/fair testing enquiry and for EYFS the characteristics of learning.
Challengethe whole school to work together on a flight investigation! The mission: who can make paper fly the farthest? Keep reading to find activities and resources for each year group…
We all love to make a paper aeroplane but is that the only way to make paper fly? Here are some different ways:
For all these ideas you will only need paper, straws, sticky tape, glue and sticky tack – and some space, preferably outdoors! Each year group could have a go at making these different paper flying machines.
EYFS – Allow the children the time to explore how they can make paper fly. The teacher could demonstrate the air-powered rocket, then the children could make either the stunt planes or the straw planes. The children will choose the one they think will fly the farthest, try it and then the class teacher should record the result.
KS1 – Again allow the children the time to explore how they can make paper fly. Then the children should make each of the flying devices and choose the one they think flies the best, then test it. The teacher can collate all the results as a class.
Years 5 and 6 – children can test each design and then make their own flying machines. They should throw their final design five times and calculate the mean result. This will be their final result.
At the end of the day all classes should share their results. This might be by email or you could hold a virtual assembly! Don’t forget to ask for photographs so you can make a display or share them on your school’s social media platforms. We would love to see what you’ve been doing so please tag us @whizzpopbangmag
Whizz Pop Bang magazine and teaching resources are brilliant ways to enhance your school’s science teaching:
We provide downloadable science lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, hands-on investigations and science reading comprehensions written by primary school teachers.
Whizz Pop Bang teaching resources link to the National Curriculum, ensuring correct coverage.
All of our resources are year group specific, ensuring progression between the years.
We make cross-curricular links to other subjects, such as English, Maths, History, Geography, Design and Technology and PSHE.
Prices from as little as £190 per year for whole-school access to our ever-growing library of downloadable teaching resources, with unlimited teacher logins, as well as a copy of Whizz Pop Bang magazine through the post each month. Plus, we have an amazing offer of a 20% discount until 31st March 2021. Just apply the code SCIWEEK21 at the checkout to receive the discount. (Only available on whole-school subscriptions to the magazines and resources.)
We’ve just launched a new individual membership option so teachers and home educators can access all of our amazing resources forjust £20 for the whole year.
“Using Whizz Pop Bang school resources has enabled investigations to be an integral part of my science planning. I now have investigations and experiments throughout my planning rather than just at the end. The lessons are easy to resource and the pack has everything I need to teach the lesson so it saves me time as well!” Louise Hampson, Year 3 teacher
Half term is almost here and families far and wide are wondering how to fill a lockdown holiday with fun and excitement.
Why not take Whizz Pop Bang’s Seven Days of Science challenge? Every day, we’ll give you all the information and resources you need to complete a simple, satisfying and curiosity-awakening challenge from your home. Enter a science pancakes competition and try some kitchen science experiments, science papercraft, science quizzes for kids, nature activities. It’s also a great way to get children well and truly excited about NASA’s Perseverance planned landing on Mars on Thursday 18th February!
Discover some home chemistry experiments that involve things you’ve probably already got in your kitchen! Here are some you might like to try:
Make gloopy slime! Slime-obsessed children will love this gooey activity! They will make their own slime, then decide if it is a solid or a liquid. You will need: cornflour, water, mixing bowl, food colouring.
Make a volcano Print out a volcano template and create your very own miniature volcano using the harmless chemicals you find in your kitchen cupboards! You will need: the volcano printout below, a small container (e.g. a spice jar), bicarbonate of soda or baking powder, sticky tape, vinegar, red and yellow food colouring, uncoloured soap or washing up liquid, a tray.
Bubbling magma experiment Explore the difference between runny magma and viscous magma. You will need: two glasses, water, a viscous substance (like honey or golden syrup), two paper straws, safety goggles or sunglasses
We love this pancake recipe: BBC Good Food’s perfect pancakes but your science pancakes can be American style, vegan, savoury… whatever takes your fancy.
Next, decorate your pancakes with something inspired by space, nature, engineering or anything else linked to science! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Today’s the day to get outside and do something to help nature! You could refill bird feeders and bird baths, plant some wildflower seeds or go on a litter pick. To make an upcycled bird feeder, you will need: An empty, clean and dry plastic bottle (e.g. milk bottle), a sharp knife, some sticks, strong glue or glue gun, 30 cm twine
If you want to do something inside instead, give these seed dispersal activities a go – it’s a great way to understand how plants and animals work together. To make a super-speed peashooter, you will need: Biro or gel pen, dried pea To make a model dandelion seed, you will need: A sheet of A4 paper, ruler, scissors, pencil, sticky tape
Thursday 18th February: Take the ‘Seven minutes of terror’ challenge!
Today’s an exciting day – NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to land on Mars! You can watch the landing at 8.55pm here (but you might have to wait until tomorrow morning – that’s pretty late!)
Meanwhile, take the 7 Minutes of Terror Challenge to discover the hair-raising journey a spacecraft takes as it travels through Mars’s atmosphere. Download the activity here:
Have you done lots of science activities and experiments this week? Or have you got a burning science question for our all-knowing robot, Y? Send messages, questions and pictures to y@whizzpopbang.co.uk and let us know all about your week of science!
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!
Are you wondering how on earth to manage home education now that schools are closed again? We want to help you to bring science to life on your kitchen table and have made loads of resources available for you right here. They include:
🧪 Activities from Whizz Pop Bang’s Awesomely Amazing Science ClubThese simple, fun, home science ideas using household objects were designed for school science clubs and youth groups, but work brilliantly for home school too! 🧪 Curriculum-linked science activities and reading comprehensions These hands-on science experiments and science reading comprehensions are linked to the National Curriculum for children in years 2 to 6. They’re ideal for use at home and each one includes a straightforward explanation of the science involved. 🧪 Virtual science quiz for kids More quizzes coming soon! 🧪 Collectible science badges to earn Your child can earn their Wildlife Watcher, Eco Hero and Super Scientist awards! 🧪 Super science-themed colouring pages and posters!
Keep reading to find out how our experts make home educating work…
The first attempt at home-educating was a culture shock for our editor Tammy back in March 2020. Tammy had a picture in her head of how home-schooling would be – a structured daily routine with children sitting neatly at the kitchen table, completing the work she’d set them, whilst she herself was working away on her laptop beside them. Needless to say, it didn’t work out that way! It didn’t help that Tammy had builders in repairing her roof that week, resulting in a ceiling collapsing! The whole family was in tears before the first morning was out.
And here we are again – schools have suddenly closed and many parents’ brains are exploding at the prospect of keeping their children engaged in education while juggling their own jobs and responsibilities. While many of us have already had one stint of homeschooling, things are different this time around – schools’ expectations have changed, and many of us haven’t quite shaken off the lazy Christmas holiday routine yet – so, we thought we’d ask for some advice from our lovely home-educating Whizz Pop Bang readers and gather some top tips. We hope you find them useful…
1. Learn through everyday activities Don’t underestimate the amount of learning there is in just being. As you chat, children will learn from the language you use. Look at the clock and notice which hands move faster. Get busy in the kitchen – cooking is an exciting new subject when children reach secondary school but can be done from a very young age at home and includes lots of learning potential of the maths of weights, measures, volumes and ratios, and also the science of chemistry and reactions. Do the laundry and feed animals together, and discuss what you’re doing. It’s all useful learning.
2. You don’t need to sit at the kitchen table for hours Practically none of the school day is 1-on-1 attention. Lots of it is crowd management, such as dealing with undesirable behaviour, changing for PE, queuing to leave the classroom, going to assemblies, etc. If you manage four half hour 1-on-1 bursts, that’s probably more than they do in primary school, so don’t stress. You really don’t need to sit them down at a desk for hours on end.
3. Let them build their own schedule In school all children follow the whole class timetable. Take this rare opportunity to let them set one or two things they would like to achieve for themselves in their day (tidy a shelf, read something, make something). And then see how they scheduled their day to achieve it. Failing is a useful learning experience. Was it too ambitious or did it need better time management?
4. Try not asking them to do anything Just leave interesting, educational things about and wait for your child to be inspired to want to learn more about something that interests them. Instead of setting work that you choose for them, experiment with exploring something that they find interesting that day, whether that’s a ladybird they’ve found on the windowsill or something they saw on TV that morning, and ask them to investigate that some more. They can find information from the internet, books or magazines and create a project by drawing, clay modelling, writing, acting or however they want to present their findings.
5. Go easy on yourselves It’s going to take time to find a system that works for you and your kids. The whole family will need lots of time to adapt, so try to ease yourselves into a style that works for you all. You might find it easier to wait a few days until they get bored of having nothing to do and are feeling more receptive to learning. Whatever you do, go easy on yourselves. Avoid setting yourselves up for failure. Go with the flow and remember not to worry if you feel you haven’t achieved anything that day – there’s learning in just playing in the garden!
After their disastrous first morning, our editor Tammy’s 8-year-old son said, “It’s a bit like the first pancake that never works very well.” And we think that’s a lovely philosophy that can get you through almost any less-than-ideal start. Keep flipping pancakes and you’ll soon be rewarded with success!
If you’re looking for a more structured approach, Whizz Pop Bang’s in-house teacher recommends getting some CGP books. Simply select your child’s year group and perhaps start with a maths, a reading and a SPAG book.
Finally, the home educating community would like to point out that self-isolating is not how they normally do things! The adults in the household aren’t working full-time jobs on top of attempting to teach. They play in the park, in the woods, at the beach, have other home ed kids over, and go to all kinds of clubs and activities. Being cooped up in the house is hard for them too.
And at the end of the day, if all else fails, take heart in the proposed schedule that’s currently doing the rounds on social media…
