8 Fun Spring Science Experiments and Activities

Spring symbolizes rebirth and renewal as leaves bud, flowers bloom, and migratory animals return home. For the science classroom, this time of the year provides plenty of learning opportunities.

Spring Science Activities for Elementary Students

Below, we’ve provided a range of spring science activities for elementary students that help kids learn more about animals, nature, and the environment.

Activity 1: Compare Bees and Butterflies, Grades K–5

• Key Standard: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
• Key Standard: Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

Bees and butterflies are common sightings in spring, so why not have students compare the two?

1. Ask students: What are plants that attract bees vs. plants that attract butterflies? What are the environmental benefits of bees and butterflies? Have them compare the similarities and differences of the insects.
2. Ask students: How many species of bees do you think there are compared to butterflies? Then, have them choose either “bees” or “butterflies” and write a paragraph or essay that classifies the types of bees or butterflies. For another way to connect writing to science, have students write about a “day in the life” of a bee or a butterfly.
3. Have students label the body parts of bees (head, thorax, abdomen, antennae, compound eye, mandibles, legs, stinger, wings) and butterflies (head, thorax, abdomen, tail, antennae, compound eye, legs). What differences do they notice? For students ready for a challenge, have them draw models of a bee and butterfly instead, making sure to include relevant body parts and labels.

Activity 2: Make Spring-Cleaning Exciting!, Grades K–5

• Key Standard: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
• Key Standard: Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Spring cleaning is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Spring cleaning can take place in school or away from school with family members or in a local neighborhood or park. These science activities for spring let students have fun learning while cleaning.

• While cleaning, students might encounter compostable and recyclable waste and food. Additionally, they’ll pick up plenty of trash that will eventually end up in a landfill. Have students keep track of items they are cleaning up, deciding whether each item can be composted, recycled, or will end up in landfills. Follow with a lesson on how to identify what can be composted or recycled.
• White is one of the most difficult colors to clean, whether on shoes, clothes, or anything else. Have students imagine they have just gotten their new white clothes or canvas sneakers dirty. How would they clean the fabric? Would they use toothpaste and an old toothbrush? How about a rag, baking soda, and vinegar? After coming up with their solutions, help students test out their ideas using white fabric cut up into swatches.
• For kindergarteners, use spring cleaning as a time to reinforce their knowledge about the states of matter. Have them create a table with three columns featuring the headings “solid,” “liquid,” and gas. Then, students can list items that fall under each category (with adult supervision, of course). For example, “soap” falls under “solid,” “bleach” falls under “liquid,” and “steam from the iron” falls under “gas.”

Activity 3: Create a Plant Flip Book, Grades 3–5

• Key Standard: Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

Spring is a wonderful time to teach students about plants as the warmer weather leads to many students seeing a lot more outside. This spring-themed activity provides a quick way for students to witness a plant growing by having them find and watch a time-lapse video. Afterward, they’ll create a plant flip book! Download the resource below.

For a lesson on growing plants that spans several days, try our “Garden in an Egg Carton” hands-on activity.

Activity 4: Study Spring Weather Phenomena, Grades 3–5

• Key Standard: Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.

Spring has some of the most extreme weather events of any season, including severe thunderstorms, early-spring snowstorms, tornadoes, high winds, and flooding. Have students research a spring weather phenomenon. Then, have them present their findings on a poster. They can include:

• The name of the phenomenon and a definition
• A photo or drawing of the phenomenon
• Where the phenomenon usually occurs
• Facts about the phenomenon that students find interesting

Activity 5: Go on a Scavenger Hunt, Grades K–5

• Key Standard: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
• Key Standard: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

Longer days in spring means more daylight for a scavenger hunt! Have students explore the outdoors to spot common spring sightings. We’ve provided some ideas below, but be sure to make a list that’s specific to where you and your students live.

Activity 6: Model Moving Pollen, Grades K–2

• Key Standard: Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
• Key Standard: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

Springtime brings forth spring allergies for many people, with pollen being one of the biggest triggers. But what is pollen? And how does it help the environment? In this activity, students will learn more about pollen, or tiny grains released into the wind by trees and plants, and how the body parts of animals like bees and ladybugs are shaped to move pollen. They will discover that pollen sticks to the hairs of animals feeding on plants, and animals deposit pollen as they move from plant to plant (or through pollination).

What You’ll Need

• 3 colors of chalk powder
• 3 cotton balls
• 3 small cups
• Cotton swabs
• Water

Students will model the action of animals moving pollen from plant to plant. First, have students place each powder into a different cup, along with a cotton ball per cup. Then, students should dip a cotton swab in water, rolling it over each cotton ball. In the activity, the cotton swab represents the hairs on animals, the cotton balls represent plants, and the chalk powder represents pollen. Afterward, have students write about what they learned and now understand about how animals help move pollen.

Download Student Activity

Download Teacher Guide

Activity 7: Build a Paper Kite, Grades 3–5

• Key Standard: Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.

Spring is a windy season, making it the perfect time for kite flying. Why buy a kite when you can make your own? Give kids the chance to experiment by building a paper kite. We love the simple instructions shared by Mr. Otter Art Studios, where students only need a sheet of paper, a stapler, tape, a hole punch, and kite string (or light but strong string). Students can decorate the kite how they please (we added googly eyes to ours!) before launching it. Please note that the ideal wind speed for kite flying is 8–15 miles per hour. After building a kite using the instructions in the video, we were able to fly it in 10 miles per hour wind.

Activity 8: Discuss Partners in Nature, Grades K–5

• Key Standard: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
• Key Standard: Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.

Earth Day, celebrated every year on April 22, provides the chance to learn about how some humans, animals, and plants impact one another and the environment. In nature, different animals and plants help each other survive. Have students pair up to discuss two animals or an animal and a plant that support one another in nature. Here are some examples:

1. Ants protect insects called aphids. Aphids produce a food that ants drink called honeydew.
2. Clownfish can safely hide from predators among stinging sea anemones.
3. Egyptian plovers clean the teeth of Nile crocodiles.
4. Honeyguide birds lead honey badgers to bee hives.
5. Koala droppings fertilize forest floors and serve as food for insects and small rodents.
6. Mongooses eat ticks off warthogs.
7. Plant seeds hitchhike rides on animals to plant in new places.
8. Tick birds eat insects from the skin of cattle, elephants, zebras, rhinos, and hippos.
9. Whale waste helps to feed phytoplankton, and phytoplankton produce about 50% of the oxygen we breathe.
10. Zebras (who don’t have a great sense of smell) rely on ostriches (who have a great sense of smell), and ostriches (who have poor eyesight) rely on zebras (who have excellent eyesight) to stay alert to predators.

Want more Earth Day activities? Read our blog for Grades Pre-K–5 and Grades 6–12 students.

Share Your Spring Science Projects and Experiments

What are some of your favorite easy spring science experiments? Do you use hands-on activities to help students learn more about nature, animals, and the environment? Share your spring science projects with us via email at shaped@hmhco.com or reach out on Instagram or Facebook.

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Learn more about HMH’s science curriculum, designed to encourage student-directed learning and open students’ minds to a world of scientific thinking.