If you live near the Atlantic coast in North America, then you know that summer is both a lovely time to spend by the shore and holds the possibility for some dangerous storms. In the North Atlantic, hurricane season is June 1 through November 30, with activity peaking between August and October. Nearly all tropical storms in the Atlantic area occur during this window, which very nearly lines up with the summer season (June 20-September 22). So why is that?

Let’s learn all about hurricane season and then capture a storm in a bottle by making a hurricane in a jar!

As we move into warmer and sunnier spring days, outdoor activities in our yards and driveways become an option while we are all social distancing. One classic outside activity is drawing with sidewalk chalk. Playing with chalk is a great way to get creative, and we can add an extra educational element by creating out own chalk paint! With younger learners, you can use the process of making the paint to explore color mixing, division, and ratios.

Have you seen the wave pendulum at the Discovery Center? It features golf balls hung from different length strings, and when you pull all the balls back at the same time, they swing back and forth at different rates. As they swing, they seems to form a wave shape. The way it works is almost like magic, but there’s no witchcraft involved—just physics! Since we can’t go to the Discovery Center’s wave pendulum right now, let’s make our own to play with at home!

This activity takes a bit of finesse and care to get right—good for older learners!

Make your own celestial “dirty snowball” with common household materials!

a simple all-ages activity

We live in a three-dimensional space. That means that solid objects around us have length, width, and depth. In geometry, we can talk about specific types of solid objects, one type being Platonic solids.

This is a geometry activity that is good for all ages—some younger learners might need an adult’s help constructing the solids and there is a link to a deeper explanation of Euler’s Formula for more advanced learners!

Learn about orbits in our solar system by creating a simple, all-ages model.

Need a fun, somewhat clean craft to do with the whole family? Make your own galaxy scratch paper! This craft can be done with items you can find around the house, so no need to brave the stores for any of these supplies! I grabbed my sisters to try out this fun craft.

Part of the beauty of Calder’s mobiles is the serenity in the balance of each of the metal shapes. The visual harmony of his sculptures is the result of both Calder’s artistic vision and a basic geometric property of any object—center of gravity. Let’s use the property of center of gravity to create our own mobile like Alexander Calder!