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The Periodic Table for Kids

Home >> Home School Ideas >> The Periodic Table for Kids

Ever thought about collecting elements and making your own periodic table? It is easy to do to when you know what to look for.

When the children got interested in mining (see the effects of computer games), I thought I would Fuel the Fire by introducing them to the Periodic table.

I looked around for some ideas, and inspired by this great periodic table site we decided to have a go at making a Periodic Table Box.

OR jump to Periodic Table LINKS for games, posters and other resources

How to Make a Periodic Table Box

We used a box divided into nine segments.

Because we had just visited a flint mine the children wanted one of the squares to show off their piece of flint! Then we began to collect elements to add to the box.

Periodic Table for Kids - out periodic table box

Home School Science

We chose 8 elements that we thought we would be able to collect. We included compounds to make it a little easier on ourselves!

Here are some examples of elements and compounds you should be able to find easily for your collection.

Iron (Fe 26) - (we included steel). Steel wool (you know, for cleaning!), ball bearings, horse shoes, chainnmail (what! you don't have any of this lying around!) cast iron pans, iron filings (from your chemistry set). The blade of a metal pencil sharpener is steel. Food cans (steel)

Copper (Cu 29) - copper piping, modern uk and US pennies are copper coated, electrical wire.

Gold (Au 79) - We bought a couple of tiny gold nuggets from Ebay. We also added a gold ring, and bracelet. Gold Leaf sheets are available in craft shops.

Silver (Ag 47) We used silver plated jewlery, The children also added some silver colored coins! Silver leaf sheets are available in craft shops.

Aluminium (Al 13) - Tin foil is made out of aluminium. The covering on tablet packets, the back of mirrors. tent pegs, knitting needles, crochet hooks, aluminium pans, drinks cans.

Periodic Table for Kids - out periodic table box

Carbon ( C 6) - We added a small piece of coal but you could include pencil lead and diamonds!

Nickel (Ni 28) - Before 2001, Canadian quarters were made out of nickel.

Zinc (Zn 30) - US pennies made after 1982 (and UK ones made after 1992) have a zinc core with copper plating over it. Also used in plasters (band-aid!).

Potassium (K 19) - used in low-salt or no-salt.

Sodium (Na 11) - Salt (sodium chloride)

Chlorine (Cl 17) - If you have a swimming pool you probably have some of this.

Magnesium (Mg 12) - camp fire starters, the body of metal pencil sharpeners, milk of magnesium.

Oxygen (O 8) - put a top on an empty bottle!

Hellium (He 2) - hellium filled balloons.

Iodine (I 53) - Iodine sterillising tablets.

Titanium (Ti 22) - titanum mugs for camping.

More Periodic Table for Kids Ideas - Links

Videos There is a link to some great videos about the periodic table on my Free Educational Videos page.

Posters I have a periodic table poster on my Free Educational Posters page.

Card Games My children love to play a card game called top trumps. There is a Periodic Table Top Trumps version available here for the UK or here for the US.

The most beautiful periodic table posters can be seen here. This site also has really great details of all the elements in the periodic table.

Lego periodic table instructions.

Periodic Table of comic books - from Chemcomics.

Periodic Table cupcakes This would be a great way of presenting the periodic table for kids! Check it out!

If you have found more creative ways of studying the Periodic Table for Kids- I would love to hear about them!

To leave Periodic Table for Kids and find more great Homeschooling ideas, freebies and resources, check out the links at the bottom of Homeschooling-ideas.com Home Page

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