Science at key stages 1 and 2    (Year 1)

• Ask children to handle a variety of objects and collections of objects eg spoons, keys, wooden objects, papers, fabrics and ask them to describe them eg hard, soft, shiny, dull, bendy. Introduce words children are not familiar with. Record eg by writing descriptions round a picture of the object.

• Ask children to suggest other senses they could use to find out what objects are like. Use feely bags or a blindfold game to encourage children to use senses of touch, hearing and smell to describe or identify materials. Ask children who are not blindfolded to ask questions eg Is it hard, smooth, rough? Does it make a noise?

• Present children with a collection of familiar materials eg wood, metals, plastic, clay, sand to observe. Talk about what the materials are like and name them. Ask children to go on a material hunt inside/outside the classroom and identify other objects made of the same material. Record results by drawing in groups with labels.

• Make a display of wooden objects choosing attractive or unusual objects, if possible. Invite children to add to the display. Discuss where the material to make the objects came from. Ask children to choose an object they particularly like and to use as many words as they can to describe it eg how it feels, looks. Build up collections eg of plastic objects, metal objects, glass objects. Label each set. Use simple reference books to find out more about each material.

• Give children a collection of papers, cardboards, and challenge them to find different ways of grouping them eg rough, smooth, shiny, dull. Ask children to record eg by sticking papers in sets and labelling and to explain their groups.

• Tell children you want to find a material to use eg to make a window for a doll's house, to make a toy slide. Ask children to suggest what the material would need to be like and sort out, from a variety of materials, which would be suitable and which would not. Ask them to explain the criteria they used eg bendy/not bendy, transparent/not transparent, rough/smooth. Record by drawing or sticking materials in sets and labelling or writing simple sentences.

• Give children some magnets to explore eg fishing game, fridge magnets, 'wand' magnets to catch their attention, and ask them to explore what objects are attracted to, or 'stick to', a magnet. Group objects by magnetic or non-magnetic behaviour. Present children with a range of objects, ask them to predict whether they will be attracted to a magnet, to test their predictions and make a record of what happened.

• Ask children to draw a picture of their house or school or of themselves on a cold, wet day and label materials that parts of the house or their clothes are made from OR show children a large picture and ask them to attach labels to show what materials parts of the house/school/clothes are made from. Discuss with children why the materials are suitable and ask questions about unsuitable materials eg 'Would this paper make a good rainhat?' 'Would you like a scarf made of this plastic bag?'

• Show children different fabrics and papers. Remind them of work they did earlier in grouping papers and ask for their ideas about which would be best for wrapping a parcel. Discuss what the material would need to be like eg strong, easy to write on, easy to fold. Discuss with children how they could find out which papers are eg strong. Give children different papers and ask children to test their ideas. Discuss what they did eg by asking 'How did you try to find out?'

• Give children a different selection of materials and say you want to make a toy umbrella. Ask them what the material for an umbrella would need to be like eg waterproof, won't let water through. Help children to decide how to test the materials eg by exploring what happens using small quantities of water. Ask them to compare how waterproof the materials are. Ask children to describe what they did and help them to tell others what they found out.