Five things to think about when starting a
science club at school
1) How many children should I invite?
This will vary depending on the space you have to run the club in, the
experience you have, the number of children interested and many other factors.
From our experience, we think 10-14 is optimum numbers, smaller than a
traditional class size but big enough to have some decent conversations and
gather enough data to be able to compare and discuss results.
2) Should I charge a fee to come to the
club?
As the educator leading the club, you will know whether this is
something your school community can withstand. It is certainly helpful to have
some cash to spend on consumables that your clubbers will use and it may be
that your school might be able to provide a small amount of budget towards the
running costs if charging would exclude some families. You might consider a
BOGOF (buy one get one (or more) free) for families with more than one child so
as not to exclude them. From our experience as little as £1 GBP (or equivalent) for a set of 6
sessions will be enough to get you started. Optimum would be £1 GBP per child
per session would allow you to purchase some more specialist equipment and
allow for things to be taken home too.
3) When shall I hold my club?
Your children may all rely on buses or cars to transport them home so
attendance at after school clubs might not be ideal – why not try a lunchtime
club instead? The sessions might be shorter so instead of a half term (6
weeks), you might want to run the club over a longer period of time. If this is
not a barrier, running an after-school club can be preferable when there is
free access to outside spaces or larger ones like a school hall. Try to pick a
night when other clubs are running too so more families are already staying
after school and more likely to sign up on a club night. Alternatively, this
might be a barrier for some – you will know which option is best for your
school.
4) How long should the sessions last?
We always think an hour is about right – by the time the children have
arrived from their classes, you have done a register and you have got going,
you are often down to 50 minutes anyway so any shorter and you might not be
able to get as much done, any longer and it might lose the short snappy focus
of a club when everyone is already tired at the end of a long school day.
5) What kit do I need to start a club?
We are big advocates of Billy-basics kitchen cupboard science for club
activities. There’s so much chemistry in salt, sugar, vinegar and bicarbonate
of soda. Not much you can’t do with a yogurt pot and child’s medicine syringe
for measuring equipment and the great outdoors – lots to see and explore there
too!
Want to be in on the secret? Then sign up now for priority invitations to our educator welcome events in September and discount codes for early bird members
Bryony and Paul
Founders and creators of My Science Club Ltd
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