Here’s an awesome activity from our latest Summer Series – Sun Safety resource pack! This is a great experiment for the children to see the effects of the sun’s harmful rays.
We want to teach the children about the effects of the sun, so we can demonstrate why it is so important to wear sunblock on our own bodies. Through this experiment, you will be looking at different items and comparing what happens to them when left in the sun and shade for a period of time.
Collect the items listed below and propose the question to the children:
What will happen to these items when left in the sun for a week? (Or a certain period of time)
Things you will need:
- 2 x Newspaper pages
- 2 x Bananas
- 2 x Sausages
- 2 x Variety of cut out shapes and paper to place them on top of coloured paper
- 2 x Play dough pieces
What to do:
This can be done in small or large groups, sit down with the children and make a guess about what they think might happen to the items left in the sunshine compared to the shade.
Place on of each item in a shady area, possibly in a cupboard or the likes. Place the second of each item in an area of direct sunlight. Leave both sets of items in the spaces for an allocated period of time.
Throughout the experiment, take plenty of photos, see if the children would like to draw pictures of what they see, and use describing words with them. Record what they say, and whether they notice the changes of any of the items. At the end of the experiment, you have the makings of a very interesting learning story for the childrens profile books, or the children may enjoy creating a poster of what happened during this experiment that you can display on the wall!
