By Orna Herr, Communications Officer (Education) at the British Science Association
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With the sun out in full force it’s hard to miss – the summer holidays are coming up!
It’s a well-earned break for school staff and pupils, but not being in the classroom doesn’t have to mean children’s engagement with science stops. In fact, the holidays can be a great opportunity for parents/carers to spend time with their children in ways that encourage their natural curiosity about the world. This can spark a habit that can be part of the family routine all year round.
Studies show that taking part in out-of-school science activities can set children up to flourish in education. Parental attitudes towards science make a big difference to how children view it - it’s vital that positive feelings around science are nurtured from a young age.
There can of course be barriers to do science experiments at home; time, cost and access to materials to name a few. But there are ways to overcome them. Primary CREST projects are low-resource, designed to take around 45 minutes and have all the instructions clearly laid out.
Getting this information across to parents/carer about how important and doable science engagement at home is can be a challenge for teachers.
We spoke to Natalie Leonard, a Year 1 Class Teacher at Whoberely Hall Primary School in Coventry about how she engages the families of her pupils, including using CREST resources, and the difference she sees science education becomes part of everyday life, and not just a classroom lesson.
“If a parent/carer encourages curiosity from a young age, they are setting the child up to be an effective scientist”
“Parental attitude and their encouragement of science is key”, Natalie told us.
If a child is equipped with a positive mindset and an understanding of the value of science, then their chances of entering a STEM* career are increased significantly.
Academic research backs this up. There’s no doubt that parents/carers incorporating science learning into childhood and supporting inquisitiveness has long-lasting impacts.
Natalie continued:
If a parent/carer encourages curiosity from a young age, they are setting the child up to be an effective scientist. If they encourage them to find the answers for themselves, then they are already scientists.
Engaging with science isn’t just about possible future careers, it also allows children a better connection with their environment; it might promote conservationist behaviour or a deeper understanding of a creative hobby.
“The feedback from the parents/carers about their child’s enjoyment…was incredible”
A good way to start encouraging parents to do science activities at home is to engage them with what the children are doing in the classroom.
Funded by a Engage Grant awarded the British Science Association, 176 pupils at Whoberely Hall completed eight primary CREST challenges during British Science Week 2025 to earn their Star and SuperStar Awards (usually earned by pupils aged around 5-7 and 7-11 respectively).
This was communicated to the children’s families, Natalie explained:
Parents/carers were involved in this through shared photos and blogs on our school newsletter and ClassDojo pages. The feedback from the parents/carers about their child’s enjoyment of the Week was incredible!
Giving parents insight to the types of activities children are doing at school, and how much they enjoy it, can help to make this type engagement at home seem approachable and worthwhile.
“The response was fantastic and many families participated”
To earn a Star or SuperStar Award, children need to complete six to eight primary challenges. To ensure every child had the chance to receive their Award even if they weren’t able to attend school during British Science Week, teachers at Whoberely Hall sent the instructions for CREST challenges home.
“Individual year groups sent different challenges home,” Natalie said.
The response was fantastic and many families participated… The 176 children were thrilled with their science passports and certificates! There was a real sense of achievement and enjoyment in school.
CREST challenges are an ideal place to start for showing parents/carers how they can participate in the children’s science education at home. We asked Natalie why found them particularly suitable to be done at home.
CREST activities are quick, achievable activities that often only require readily available resources. The children take great enjoyment out of them and they can be easily matched to age ranges/ skills/ topics/ interests.
They can also be fun, bonding experiences:
Potentially, the child could complete them by themselves but we find that many families love joining in and sharing the experience together.
“Children and parents’ enthusiasm around science has had a tangible increase”
Of course, CREST challenges aren’t the only way families can engage with science together at home. Prompting conversation and activities which relate science to the world are also in the Whoberely Hall repertoire.
“Each month, we send home a family science challenge”, said Natalie.
These challenges are simple to complete but encourage a shared experience and dialogue. Challenges this year have included researching a famous Black scientist for Black History Month, and a stargazing photograph challenge.
This programme has been a great success.
Children and parents’ enthusiasm around science has had a tangible increase since these challenges have started.
Teachers at Whoberely Hall also reach out to parents/carers to share their own experiences.
Parents/carers were invited to either send in a photograph of themselves in a STEM career or visit a class. The uptake was amazing, and we had at least three visitors to each class, enhancing the children’s science capital and understanding of real-world science.
“They are not afraid to challenge learning or steer it to discover more”
We asked Natalie if she notices a difference in the children who take part in science learning at home with family. Her answer was unambiguous.
The children who engage with Science outside of school have inquisitiveness embedded in their personality…they will offer facts regularly, ask questions about their environment and make acute observations that reflect a deeper level of thinking. They are not afraid to challenge learning or steer it to discover more, which ultimately benefits the whole class.
The benefits of showing children that science is part of their lives, and that it’s about understanding the world and asking questions truly can’t be overestimated.
“The output should far outweigh the input”
The philosophy of Natalie’s advice for other teachers on how to encourage home learning is to set fun, real-world family challenges which provide results the children can share in school.
As well as the Black History Month research and star-gazing challenged mentioned above, Natalie and her colleagues have also suggested activities like testing the stretchability of a Curly Wurly, taking photos of interesting things they see in nature and attending science-related family events in the community.
Prizes are awarded to children for participation, which can make a huge difference to children’s feelings of accomplishment and enthusiasm. Low-resource activities that allow children indulge in curiosity can go a long way.
Natalie concluded:
The output should far outweigh the input.
Other blogs you might be interested in:
It's a family affair - the importance of engaging parents and guardians in science education