There are many features to the outside world that lead to science projects. Children can learn the names of all the trees in a local park, look for signs of erosion in the riparian area, hunt for signs of the next season, plant a garden or learn about the weather. Turn part of your yard into a kitchen garden for a colorful way to enrich math, science and organizational skills. Children can see a job from start to finish in the garden, while learning about plants and the elements they need to flourish. The little carrot seed they planted in June will turn into a wonderful vegetable in two to three months.
Kids interested in weather just need a wind vane, barometer, rain gauge and a maximum/minimum thermometer to create an outside weather station. Child meteorologists will also need a weather diary to keep track of daily conditions as they observe the patterns and relationships that affect weather. Encourage the children to make predictions about the weather and then note whether the predictions proved accurate.
Taking care of an animal teaches children responsibility and compassion. With some guidance, children can raise puppies, sheep, birds, fish or even chickens. The child has to learn about the animal's basic needs, such as food, water and a warm and clean shelter, and also how to keep the environment safe and comfortable for the animal. Learning what it takes to help the animal thrive is a basic lesson in animal science. Children, with help from adults in setting up the home, can be very successful at taking care of the animals from the day they join the family, until they are fully grown.
It's not hard to turn your kitchen into a chemistry lab -- chemical changes occur in kitchens every day. Every cake that is baked, egg that is fried or ice cube served is the result of a chemical reaction.
For an edible lesson on changing items from one state of matter to another, make candy. Set up a candy-making day before a holiday and let the experiments begin. Candy-making involves taking sugar, along with other ingredients, and heating it to the proper temperature. Fudge, praline, caramels and salt-water taffy are some candies to try. Another option is to grow rock crystal candy on a string.
Movement is a principle of mechanical engineering you can easily explore at home. For example, children can make a rubber-band catapult and see how far they can fling a ping pong ball, or make levers and gears to make things move. Once they understand gears, they can expand this project into a solar car by using gears attached to a solar panel for a custom made toy car.