When I handed the first draft of Science Fix to my publisher, it was too long. Considerably too long. In fact, 30,000 words too long!

That is a fairly ordinary problem for a first book, and the solution was the obvious one. Something had to go. What went was the practical material: over 150 activity ideas, investigations and demonstrations that had been collected over years of training days, ITE sessions and classroom teaching. A few quick ideas stayed in Science Fix, but the rest were cut.

It was the right editorial decision. Science Fix is a book about how primary science is taught, about subject knowledge, misconceptions and the thinking behind good practice. A tonne of activities would have pulled it out of shape, and the tighter book is a better one. It went on to win the ASE Textbook of the Year in 2025, so I have no complaints about the process.

But the activities were still good activities. They sat in a folder for two years doing nothing at all, which felt like a waste.

So I have published them myself.

150 Practical Activity Ideas for Primary Science

Getting the material from folder to book took more work than I expected. The cut activities were written as supporting material for something else, so they needed reworking to stand on their own.

There’s a mix of step by step guides, and quick ideas. I fleshed out the cross-curricular links, because a good science activity rarely stays inside science, and suggested resources for anyone who wants to go further. Then I organised the whole thing by area of primary science so it can be used the way teachers actually use this kind of book, which is to open it at the topic you are teaching on a Thursday afternoon when you’re looking for inspiration.

There’s actually more than 150 ideas – I think I counted about 170, but 150 looks like a nice round number on the cover!

Example Activity

Lava Lamp In a Bottle

Each group will need:

• Clear plastic or glass bottle with a screw cap lid
• Water
• Cooking oil – vegetable or sunflower
• Food colouring
• Antacid tablets – Alka-Seltzer or similar
• Torch (optional)

1. Fill the bottle about a quarter full of water.
2. Add a few drops of the food colouring. (You could add some glitter too if you wish to make it sparkly)
3. Carefully fill the bottle almost to the top with the cooking oil. Leave it to settle and allow the two liquids to separate.
4. To make the lava lamp bubble – break up two antacid tablets and drop them in.
5. If you wish, hold a torch below the bottle to make it shine
6. Store the bottle with the lid on. When you want to use it again just drop more tablets in.

What is in the rest of the book

The book covers the full range of primary science: living things and their habitats, plants, animals including humans, everyday materials and their properties, states of matter, rocks and soils, forces and magnets, light, sound, electricity, and earth and space. Some entries are full investigations. Others are five minute demonstrations or starters for when a lesson needs a hook.

Everything in it uses equipment you already have in school, or can pick up from a supermarket.

Who it is for

I had three people in mind while I was putting it together.

• The ECT teaching a topic for the first time, who understands the science perfectly well but has no bank of activities to draw on yet.
• The subject leader building a whole-school science week and looking for something different for each year group.
• The trainee with a science lesson to teach on Thursday, a mentor to impress and not much time.

If you recognise yourself in any of those, this book was written for you.

Where to get it

150 Practical Activity Ideas for Primary Science is out now. Paperback is £14.99 and the Kindle edition is £7.99.

Buy it on Amazon here.

One request. This is a self-published book with no marketing budget behind it, and reviews are more or less the only way other teachers find out it exists. If you buy it and find it useful, a couple of honest lines on Amazon would help a great deal.

Please spread the word!