Magnet lessons for kids are so exciting! Learn about magnet fields and polarity, everyday examples of magnets as well as hands-on and easy magnet activities to tie it all together. Pair these magnet activities with some of our other science activities for more learning fun!
Explore Magnetism For Science
The best way for kids to learn anything, and especially science, is through hands-on projects! All of these awesome magnet activities below are focused on learning through doing.
In this list, you’ll find magnet activities for preschool, kindergarten through to elementary that are easily done at home or in the classroom. Most of these projects include items you will have on hand to make putting them together even easier.
But first, let’s have a brief introduction to what a magnet is…
Simple Magnetism Definition For Kids
Magnets are a type of rock or a piece of metal that can attract or pull specific types of metal toward themselves.
The force of a magnet, called magnetism, is a common force of nature, just like electricity or gravity.
Magnets don’t need to touch other objects for them to work. Try it out and see for yourself!
You may have seen magnetism at work with magnets on your fridge! Those magnets are attracted to the metal on your fridge and stay put because of it.
How Do Magnets Work
A magnet is an object with a magnetic field or an invisible force of magnetism. This magnetic field is concentrated around the ends of the magnet and you will be able to see the effects of the magnet the most at the ends of the magnet.
Magnets attract or repel specific objects, and you can experiment with those objects with the projects below!
Every magnet has a South Pole and a North Pole. The two opposite poles actually attract each other. The South Pole is attracted to the North Pole and vice versa.
However, poles of the same type will repel, or push against each other. You can feel this force by trying to push two magnets’ poles of the same type against each other.
Magnets are attracted to some kinds of metal. The main metals magnets are attracted to are iron, cobalt, and nickel.
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Everyday Examples of Magnets
Magnets are versatile tools and can be used in various daily activities. Here are some activities that involve the use of magnets:
- Refrigerator Organization: Use magnets to hang shopping lists, reminders, and artwork on the refrigerator door.
- Sorting and Cleaning: Use magnets to sort and collect metal objects, such as paperclips, screws, or pins, for easy cleaning and organization.
- Magnetic Words: Create magnetic quotes by arranging words on a magnetic board or refrigerator.
- DIY Magnetic Puzzles: Create your puzzles by attaching small, magnetic pieces to a magnetic surface.
- Homework Helpers: Magnets can be used to hold and organize notes, flashcards, and other study materials while working on homework or studying.
- Curtain Tiebacks: Use decorative magnetic tiebacks to hold back curtains and add a touch of style to your home decor.
- Jewelry Clasps: Some jewelry features magnetic clasps, making it easier to fasten necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.
- Craft Projects: Incorporate magnets into various craft projects, such as creating refrigerator magnet art, making magnetic bookmarks, or designing magnetic photo frames.
- Magnetic Tools: Use magnetic tools like pick-up tools with magnets at the end to retrieve dropped screws, nails, or other metal items in hard-to-reach places.
- White Board Eraser: Use magnetic strips to keep your white board eraser on the white board.
What other uses can you think of for magnets?
Get The Printable Magnet Activities Pack
Grab the complete MAGNET PACK here and prep an amazing magnet lesson plan or theme week. (Includes book list too!)
Fun Magnet Activities For Kids
Extend the learning with one of these hands-on magnet activities below! Lots of great ideas for investigating what kinds of things do magnets attract.
What’s Magnetic and What’s Not
Grab some ordinary everyday items and a large magnet to get started, and explore what’s magnetic and what is not magnetic.
Magnetic Slime
Add a special ingredient to our homemade slime recipe to make the coolest magnetic slime. A fun way to teach kids about magnetism!
Build Magnetic Sculptures
Provide small, cylindrical magnets or other magnetic building blocks and let kids build creative magnetic sculptures by stacking and arranging them in different ways.
Exploring Poles
Teach kids about magnetic poles by showing how opposite poles attract while like poles repel. Use a pair of bar magnets for this demonstration.
Make A Compass
Build your own magnetic compass from a few simple materials.
Magnetic Painting
Paint with magnets! Combine art and science with this fun magnetic painting activity!
Also check out our marbled Christmas ornaments painted with magnets!
Magnetic Car Racing
Attach small magnets to the bottom of toy cars. Place a magnetic strip (like a refrigerator magnet) on a slope and have races to see which car can reach the end first.
Magnetic Repulsion
Explore magnetic repulsion by placing two bar magnets with like poles facing each other. Kids can observe how the magnets push each other away.
Magnetic Maze
This fun magnet maze puzzle shows kids how fun magnet science can be!
Magnetic Sensory Bin
Create a sensory bin with various magnetic and non-magnetic objects. Have kids sort them into two categories based on whether they are attracted to a magnet or not.
Magnet Bottle
These magnetic sensory bottles are not only perfect for helping kids calm down, but are also an awesome way to demonstrate magnetism for kids!
Magnetic Ornaments
This fun pipe cleaner craft can be done any time of year to show how magnets work for kids! But is especially fun for Christmas!
Magnetic Fishing
Attach paperclips to plastic fish or other small objects, and use a magnet as a fishing rod. Kids can “fish” for the objects in a container of water.
Magnetic Races
Set up a magnetic race with two or more magnets placed under a table. Have kids use another magnet on top of the table to guide the hidden magnets and race them to the finish line.
Magnet Ice Play
Did you know magnets even work in ice? Explore and experiment with this fun magnet activity!
Magnet Science Table
If you have preschoolers, they will love these magnet science ideas! Lots of fun magnet activities for preschool in this post!
More Fun Science Topics To Explore
Get your FREE printable science activities guide!
Printable Science Projects For Kids
If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!
- 90+ classic science activities with journal pages, supply lists, set up and process, and science information. NEW! Activity-specific observation pages!
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- Be a Collector activities pack introduces kids to the world of making collections through the eyes of a scientist. What will they collect first?
- Know the Words Science vocabulary pack includes flashcards, crosswords, and word searches that illuminate keywords in the experiments!
- My science journal writing prompts explore what it means to be a scientist!!
- Bonus STEAM Project Pack: Art meets science with doable projects!
- Bonus Quick Grab Packs for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics
