Give each student a glass, an index card, a quarter and a penny. Have them place the playing card over the opening of the glass, and place the quarter in the center of the card. Tell the students you will give a prize to whoever can flick the card and make the quarter go the farthest. The quarter should fall into the glass. Repeat these steps with the penny. The results should be the same. Explain to the class that Newton's law of universal gravitation states that all objects in the universe attract each other by gravity.
There are many ways to teach kids about the first law of motion, but one that will get the kids outside and moving is a game of freeze tag. Have one student serve as a freezer, and if this student touches a running student, the running student must freeze. Have another student act as the designated thawer, who runs and tags frozen students so they can run around again. Explain to the students that the runners are objects in motion. The freezer is an outside force and only when that force acts upon the frozen students can they stop. The frozen students are then objects at rest that can only move once affected by the outside force of the thawer.
You can also teach the students about Newton's first law by stacking a tower of checkers. Have the students predict what would happen if you flicked just the bottom checker in the stack with a ruler. Then have the students each flick the bottom checker. The bottom checker should move but the stack should remain intact.
To teach the second law, you will need string, chalkboard erasers, a paper clip and a spring scale. Have the students tie the string around an eraser and hook the paper clip to the string. Stack the other erasers on top of the first eraser and drag the stack across the table by attaching the spring scale to the paper clip. Note the amount of force it takes to move the erasers. Remove the top eraser and repeat, noting the drop in the amount of force needed. Remove another eraser and repeat. Now have the class move the single eraser using the amount of force they used to move three erasers to show that the over-use of force created dramatic results.
Experimenting with Newton's third law can be the most fun of all the experiments. You will want to go outside in case the experiment does not go as planned. Have the students each fill a small plastic pail about a quarter of the way with water. Then have them whirl the pails in a circular motion very quickly. The water should remain in the bucket. This proves that the force of the movement of the bucket results in an equal but opposite reaction of air pressure that keeps the water in the bucket.