Can you believe that it’s possible to build a working refractor telescope at home using mainly sustainable, high-quality cardboard parts? The Build Your Own Telescope kit from Build Your Own makes it simple!
Inspire and engage young imaginations with this Build Your Own refractor telescope kit. Including pre-cut parts, real glass optic lenses, a mirror, detail instructions and more, this kit has everything needed to make a fully-functioning, durable telescope. Use it in daylight or at night to explore our world in detail!
Press out the pre-cut pieces, then slot them together (no glue needed!) to make a telescope with 16x magnification. This kit has been designed in the UK to excite and inspire young scientists. It’s the perfect minimal plastic, sustainable project to fill long evenings and wet weekends!
We’ve got a Build Your Own Telescope kit to give away to a lucky Whizz Pop Bang fan! To be in with a chance of winning, simply answer this question in the comments:
Earth’s closest star is called A) Proxy Centaur B) Proxima Centauri C) Programme Century
Are you looking for fun and simple British Science Week activities to celebrate this year’s theme, “Change and Adapt”? We’ve got you covered with a FREE science resource pack filled with hands-on experiments that your class will love!
Why ‘Change and Adapt’ is a Brilliant Theme
This year’s British Science Week theme encourages children to explore how things change in the world around them—whether through chemical reactions, forces, materials, or biological adaptation. It’s a fantastic opportunity to tie science into your curriculum in a way that’s engaging and memorable.
Free School Resources Pack – Throw A Science Party In Your Classroom!
To help you plan a curiousity-awakening, exciting (and most importantly, stress-free) British Science Week, we’ve got an amazing science freebie for you: a FREE ‘Science Party’ pack packed with six exciting experiments designed for KS1 and KS2. These hands-on activities will spark curiosity, encourage problem-solving, and bring science to life!
Each experiment explores the “Change and Adapt” theme through fun, interactive investigations that are easy to set up:
🟢 Making Chromatography Decorations – Explore how colours separate and create beautiful patterns! A perfect mix of art and science.
🔵 Bed of Pins Balloon Experiment – Discover how forces work by testing whether a balloon can survive being pressed against a bed of pins!
🟠 Fizz Pop Bang Edible Powder – Experience chemical reactions that you can taste!
🟣 Static Slime – Investigate static electricity while making an ooey-gooey slime that moves with an electric charge!
🟡 Magic Colour-Changing Icing – Learn about acid-base indicators in a fun and edible experiment that will leave your class amazed!
⚪ Incredible Invisible Ink – Uncover secret messages using simple kitchen ingredients—just like a real scientist (or spy)!
Each activity is easy to set up with minimal resources, making it perfect for busy teachers who want maximum impact with minimal prep!
Like all of Whizz Pop Bang’s science teaching resources, the science behind each activity is explained in simple, age-appropriate language, making planning and teaching these fun lessons an absolute breeze.
PLUS Here’s an Amazing Offer on School Subscriptions and Downloadable Resources!
Save 20% on our school subscriptions and downloadable resources for the first year as well as our school bundles. Simply add code SCIWEEK25 at check out.
British Science Week is the perfect opportunity to ignite a love for STEM in your classroom. Whether your pupils are experimenting with chemical changes, forces, or electricity, our Science Party Pack will keep them engaged and excited.
British Science Week 2025 is an exciting annual celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the UK. Taking place from 7th to 16th March 2025, this nationwide event features a variety of science activities, workshops, and events for children and adults alike. Whether you’re a budding scientist or simply curious about the world around you, there are plenty of ways to engage with science during this week-long festival.
How to Take Part in British Science Week 2025
Getting involved in British Science Week doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are some easy and fun ways to explore science:
Try kitchen science experiments at home
Visit a science museum or exhibition
Attend a science talk or fair
Join a citizen science project
Enter the British Science Week poster competition
The goal of British Science Week is to spark curiosity and excitement about STEM subjects, making science accessible and enjoyable for all ages.
You don’t need a high-tech lab to explore science—many exciting hands-on experiments can be done using everyday household items. Simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring can lead to fascinating discoveries.
Science museums and exhibitions are packed with interactive displays and hands-on experiments, making them a great way to engage kids with science. During British Science Week, many museums and venues host special STEM events, workshops, and science shows. Find your local science centre here!
Looking for science events near you? Check out the What’s On in Science Week listings to find both in-person and virtual science activities happening from 7th-16th March.
The British Science Week poster competition is a fun challenge for children aged 3-18 years old. This year’s theme is “Change and Adapt”, and young scientists can submit creative posters for a chance to win all sorts of science prizes.
Submission deadline: 3rd April 2025
Encourage your child to showcase their creativity and love for science by entering the competition. Find out more here.
From DIY science experiments to museum visits and STEM competitions, there are so many ways to celebrate British Science Week 2025. Whether you explore science at home, attend an event, or take part in a citizen science project, it’s a fantastic opportunity to learn, discover, and have fun with science.
Fill your child with science wonder with a subscription to Whizz Pop Bang, the award-winning magazine for 6 to 12-year-olds. Watch their face light up with glee when their very own magazine zooms through the letterbox! Packed full of hands-on science awesomeness, it’s the gift that keeps of delighting, month after month.
We’ve got three brilliantly bonkers books to give away to a lucky Whizz Pop Bang fan!
Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed To Earth by Judd Winnick is a graphic novel about an alien boy who crash-lands into a clubhouse belonging to two totally normal kids, D.J. and Gina and turns their lives upside down.
To be in with a chance of winning these goodies, simply answer this question in the comments:
The bones inside the ear are sometimes known as: A) The hammer, the anvil and the stirrup B) The spade, the fork and the trowel C) The saddle, the bridle and the bit
When cornflour is mixed with water, it becomes a goo that flows like a liquid until it is hit or pressed – then it acts like a solid. Watch the video below to find out what happens if cornflour is placed on a speaker that is vibrating and making sound waves.
The cornflour goo is getting continually hit by the vibrating speaker, making these weird and wonderful dancing cornflour figures!
This cornflour and water mixture is sometimes called oobleck, and you should definitely try playing with it at home! Here’s a recipe for how to make this slime-like substance…
You will need: Mixing bowl Spoon Cornflour or custard powder Water Food colouring (optional)
What you do: 1. Place four heaped tablespoons of cornflour or custard powder into a bowl. 2. Add a splash of water and stir the mixture. Keep adding water a little at a time, until the mixture is about the same consistency as honey. 3. If you add too much water, add some more cornflour or custard powder. 4. Add a little food colouring if you like and mix it in.
Watch the video to find out more about the strange properties of this special substance.
Have you ever wondered what happens when a rocket breaks the sound barrier? This clip shows the Atlas V rocket launching and then reaching supersonic speeds. The shock wave made by the rocket breaking the sound barrier can actually be seen rippling across the sky! Watch this mini movie to see it for yourself:
Don’t want to watch the entire launch? The big moment happens at 1:52 – click below to start watching a few seconds before it.
Spark their imagination with the Dino Discovery Bundle—a fantastic set of three dinosaur-packed magazines! This exciting collection of prehistoric puzzles, hands-on activities and fascinating facts will inspire any young dino fan.
Did you know that Whizz Pop Bang’s bargain bundles of back issues are a great way of giving the awesome science magazine for kids a try? Three issues – £14.99 (that’s just £4.99 per issue!) Six issues – £27.99 (that’s £4.66 just per issue!) Twelve issues – £49.99 (that’s just £4.16 per issue!) PLUS ALL PRICES INCLUDE FREE UK P&P!
🌟 What’s Inside the Dino Discovery Bundle?
Your young explorer will have the chance to make, discover, and investigate incredible prehistoric wonders!
🛠️ Make…
Encourage hands-on learning with fun dinosaur-themed activities that help kids explore the science behind these ancient creatures! 🦕 Fold a walking paper dino 🦕 Craft a pegosaurus 🦕 Bake sauropod footprint cookies 🦕 Erupt a fizzing volcano 🦕 Cut and stick a 3D T. rex that appears to follow you around! 🦕 Make a strata pot 🦕 Model replica teeth, bones and shells 🦕 Create a nodding stegosaurus 🦕 Fly a soaring pterosaur
🔍 Discover…
Your child will uncover mind-blowing dino facts, including: 🦕 The link between dinosaurs and birds 🦕 Did dinosaurs fart themselves to extinction? (Yes, really!) 🦕 Pterosaurs that were as big as aeroplanes 🦕 Dinos taller than houses 🦕 Terrifying sea predators that ruled prehistoric oceans 🦕 What life in the Cretaceous period might have been like
🧐 Investigate…
Your little scientist will dive into fascinating experiments, learning: 🦕 How pterosaur crests may have helped them fly 🦕 The science behind gliders and how they soar without engines 🦕 How asteroid and meteorite craters form 🦕 What happened to plants after the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs
More Exciting Science Bundles Available!
Looking for more educational fun? Explore our bargain magazine bundles packed with STEM experiments, space adventures, and prehistoric discoveries!
Oops – in all the Christmas rush, we didn’t manage to send this list to our subscribers. We’re so sorry and will do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Here’s a list of things you’ll need to complete the science activities in this edition. We haven’t included basic items such as scissors, paper etc.
MAKE A CAVE (page 7) A clean plastic bottle (a 1 litre drinks bottle is ideal) A piece of aluminium foil A rubber band A cocktail stick or small nail Modelling clay Some sand (around 750 g) Caster sugar
GROW YOUR OWN STALACTITES AND STALAGMITES (page 9) Two glass jam jars A saucer Wool or string Bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, washing soda or Epsom salts
MAKE EGGSHELL GEODES (page 11) Eggs and an egg box A paintbrush Salt (table salt, Epsom salts or alum) or sugar Food colouring Newspaper
SEED BOMBS (page 16 & 21) An egg cup Wildflower seed mix Compost Flour A plate
SETTLING SOIL (page 23) Two glass jars with lids Soil Two sticky labels
Answering all of your questions about how we’re operating in December 2024 and January 2025.
Q What happens if I order a Whizz Pop Bang magazine subscription before midnight on 19th December 2023? A Customers placing an order for a new 6 or 12-monthly subscription package before midnight on 17.12.23 and using the code XMAS24 should receive the personalised gift card, free science riddle book and the first magazine of the subscription delivered with free postage to at UK addresses in time for Christmas, in accordance with Royal Mail’s last posting dates. Items ordered before midnight on 19.12.24 will be posted as soon as possible by second class mail. Items ordered between 18.12.24 and midnight 19.12.24 will be posted the next day by first class mail. Please order as early as possible to avoid disappointment.
Q What happens if I place an order between 20th December 2024 and 3rd January 2025? A Items ordered between 20.12.23 and 03.01.24 will be posted by 06.01.25. These items are unlikely to arrive in time for Christmas.
Q What if my Christmas subscription package doesn’t arrive before Christmas? A We are doing everything we can to ensure that science gifts arrive in time for Christmas, but in case of delays to delivery services, you can find printable gift certificates here so you’ll definitely have something to hand over on Christmas Day.
Q What’s the last posting date for Christmas 2024? A Royal Mail’s last posting dates for Christmas are 18th December 2024 for second class mail and 20th December 2024 for first class mail. Find full information on Royal Mail’s website.
Whether your child is an aspiring scientist, a creative thinker, or an outdoor adventurer, this gift guide is filled with engaging, educational, and fun ideas that inspire curiosity, creativity, and exploration. These gifts are perfect for hands-on play, learning, investigating and creativity.
If you’re interested in eco-friendly gifts, you’re covered – you’ll find plenty of presents here that are printed using only paper from FSC/PEFC certified suppliers. That’s Christmas, sorted!
For Scientists-in-Training (Aged 6-12)
Nurture their love of discovery with these hands-on science gifts that are both fun and educational. They’re perfect for children who love to explore new ideas, solve puzzles, and embark on imaginative journeys.
Letterbox Lab – The Explore Box Suitable for explorers aged 6-12, each box is filled with exciting experiments that make science fun and accessible. All consumables needed for each experiment are included!
Letterbox Lab – The Investigate Box More advanced experiments for kids aged 8-12 who are ready to dive deeper into science, delivered to your door every month.
Whizz Pop Bang Snip-Out Science Book Craft paper volcanoes, flying machines and more with this book of hands-on projects that blend science, creativity, and fun.
Whizz Pop Bang Science Scrapbook A creative space for young scientists to plan investigations and record results of experiments.
Space magazines Explore the Sun, Moon, Mars and the stars in this epic collection of space-themed science magazines.
Lab coat This science essential keeps clothes in tip-top condition during even the messiest experiments!
More Gifts We Love!
Dinosaur magazines From prehistoric flying beasts to the story of extinction, Whizz Pop Bang’s back issue collection is full of fact-packed reads for any wannabe palaeontologist.
Whizz Pop Bang Joke Book Get ready for some super science-y giggles, with over 200 hilarious jokes to get the whole family laughing out loud!
Hoopla: Secrets and Spies Tiptoe into the world of secrets, spies and codes! Design a fantastic face mask to hide your identity, make your own cipher wheel, cook treats with hidden messages inside and solve some safe-cracking puzzles. Head outside to look for nature clues as you make a beautiful wristband, plus there are riddles, jokes and a colouring page to enjoy.
Whizz Pop Bang Riddle Book Test their wit and problem-solving skills with this fun and engaging collection of over 150 tricky teasers.
Whizz Pop Bang Puzzle Book Jam-packed with more than 150 brilliant brain-bending puzzles, all with a science twist! With so many puzzles to get stuck into, it’s sure to keep your child busy for hours and hours!
Hoopla: Treasure Hunt Shine a light on glittering treasure! Grow your own edible crystals, craft a shining star and go on a treasure hunt! You can find out about shimmering goldfish and bake some delicious treats to give as a gift. Plus there are puzzles, jokes and a treasure-themed quiz.
