Science activity
Electric Circuits and Energy
Explore what uses electricity in your home. Sort items into 'uses electricity' and 'doesn't use electricity.' Learn about staying safe.
Materials and setup
- batteries
- wires
- small LED lights
- balloons
- paperclips
- brass brads
- cardboard
How this changes by age
Pre-K (ages 3–4)
Explore what uses electricity in your home. Sort items into 'uses electricity' and 'doesn't use electricity.' Learn about staying safe.
Steps
- Walk around the house and find 10 things that use electricity (lamp, fridge, TV, tablet).
- Find 10 things that don't use electricity (book, ball, chair, spoon).
- Sort pictures of items into two groups: 'uses electricity' and 'doesn't.'
- Talk about electrical safety: never touch outlets, don't put things in outlets, water and electricity don't mix.
- Draw your favorite thing that uses electricity and tell what it does.
- Tell a grown-up one thing that surprised you.
Learning objectives
- Identify common objects that use electricity
- Classify items as electrical or non-electrical
- Understand basic electrical safety rules
Kindergarten (ages 5–6)
Discover how batteries work and explore static electricity. Make a simple circuit with a battery, wire, and light bulb.
Steps
- Explore static electricity: rub a balloon on your hair and hold it near small paper bits. Watch them jump!
- Learn about batteries: they store energy. Show a AA battery and identify the + and - ends.
- Build a simple circuit: connect a battery to a small LED light with two wires. Make it light up!
- What happens if you disconnect one wire? The light goes off - the circuit is broken.
- Draw your circuit and label: battery, wires, light.
- Tell a grown-up one thing that surprised you.
Learning objectives
- Demonstrate static electricity through hands-on exploration
- Build a simple electrical circuit with a battery and light
- Understand that a circuit must be complete for electricity to flow
Early elementary (ages 6–8)
Build series and parallel circuits. Test conductors and insulators. Explore how switches work and build a simple switch.
Steps
- Build a series circuit with 2 light bulbs. What happens when you unscrew one bulb?
- Build a parallel circuit with 2 light bulbs. Unscrew one. What's different from the series circuit?
- Test conductors and insulators: insert different materials (coin, rubber band, paperclip, plastic straw) into a circuit. Which ones let electricity flow?
- Build a simple switch using a paperclip, 2 brass brads, and cardboard. Add it to your circuit.
- Draw diagrams of your series and parallel circuits using standard symbols.
- Research: what's the difference between a conductor and an insulator at the atomic level?
- In one sentence, tell a parent or sibling what surprised you today.
Learning objectives
- Build and compare series and parallel circuits
- Classify materials as conductors or insulators
- Construct a simple switch and explain how it controls a circuit
Upper elementary (ages 8–10)
Study electrical concepts in depth: voltage, current, resistance, and energy transformation. Design circuits for specific purposes and explore renewable energy.
Steps
- Research voltage (push), current (flow), and resistance (opposition). Explain using a water pipe analogy.
- Build a circuit with a variable resistor (pencil graphite on paper). Observe how resistance changes brightness.
- Investigate energy transformation: in a circuit with a buzzer, battery to electricity to sound. Map 5 energy transformations in your home.
- Design and build a circuit for a purpose: a flashlight, a quiz board, or an alarm system.
- Research one renewable energy source: solar, wind, hydroelectric. How does it generate electricity?
- Create an energy audit of your home: list every device, its energy use, and suggest 5 ways to conserve energy.
- In one sentence, tell a parent or sibling what surprised you today.
Learning objectives
- Explain voltage, current, and resistance in simple terms
- Design circuits for specific functional purposes
- Analyze energy transformations and conservation
Safety and evidence note
Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.
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