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Sinkeroo!

This is a game I first heard about from my friend, the brilliant science educator Sai Pathmanathan, who saw some children playing a version of it at one of the science clubs she runs. I have adapted the game and come up with some rules, which you can download by clicking the link below. It’s incredibly simple to make, and fun to play with children or adults. You could make the game extra special as a gift by selecting items which perhaps hold some special meaning for the person you… Read more Sinkeroo!

Simple Spinning Top

The first home-made “toy” I remember being shown as a child was a spinning top made from a matchstick jammed into a lychee seed. I didn’t include it in my book because I didn’t want to include anything made from inaccessible materials, but I recently came up with the design in the video below which is so simple you can make it in a matter of seconds. I don’t know if I’m the first person to do this – other people have certainly made spinning tops from bottle lids, but… Read more Simple Spinning Top

Water Whirler

EXTRAS: Here’s great short video from the Met Office on how tornadoes form: MORE GOOD STUFF: Click here for more activities. I’ll be publishing more videos of activities from my book over the coming weeks. Check back here, follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my YouTube channel to make sure you don’t miss them.

Home-Made Helicopter

Extras: Obviously, real helicopters don’t work quite like a paper one because they have engines… but if the engine fails, a real helicopter doesn’t just fall out of the sky, because, like the paper helicopter, its blades can “autorotate” and help land the helicopter safely. Here’s great video showing why, contrary to what famous scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson has said, a helicopter which loses its engine does NOT “turn into a brick”: After you’ve tried your own experiments, watch this great video where “2BrokeScientists” investigate how a paper helicopter works… Read more Home-Made Helicopter