What's involved and a link to each Children's University Club Challenge - just click on the Challenge title

2020: Year of the Nurse and the Midwife

Did you know that 2020 is the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife? Perfect timing we think. It's a chance to celebrate all the wonderful work that Nurses and Midwives do right across the world.  It's also a chance for us to say "Thank You" to them, to learn about their roles and perhaps even think about becoming a nurse, a midwife or any of the thousands of jobs that are vital to the NHS. 

There are 5 parts to this Challenge:

  1. First Aid Kits
  2. Edith Cavell
  3. Choking
  4. Bites and Stings
  5. Florence Nightingale

Action Dice

Make an action dice and then, following the rules, play the game. Which actions will you land on?

Amazing Human Body

Learn all about your amazing human body, learn about digestion, breathing and your brain and nerves.

Bottle Bowling

Create your very own bowling alley.

Camera Tricks

Learn how to take 'forced perspective' photos to trick your friends and family with.

Coding Part 1

'Coding' is an important skill. It's being able to work out step-by-step instructions ('an algorithm'), spotting and developing patterns ('programming') and working out where they might have gone wrong ('debugging'). 

The skills needed to 'code' are really useful in everyday life, from being able to follow instructions to working out why something isn't working. 

Coding Part 2

You will need to have completed Part 1 before attempting Part 2 of the Coding Challenge.  Part 1 set you up with the basics, so once you've mastered them, have a go at this challenge where you'll learn skills in 'logical reasoning' (explaining why something happens).  You'll also learn about 'decomposition' (breaking a task into smaller, more-manageable parts) and 'persevering' (being determined, resilient, and never giving up) - great skills for life!

Create a Jar of Joy

Collect a jar and use it as a place to write down and store notes of recent positive things.

Create your own Mud Kitchen

Did you know there's an International Mud Day!  It's in June, but it's always great fun to create your own Mud Kitchen at home.

Earth Poem

Pick up your pen and write, and decorate too if you like, a poem that celebrates the beauty of the natural world, and why we must protect it for future generations.

Fantastic Fingerprints

Fingerprints are the impressions left by the tiny ridges of skin on your fingers.  These ridges help us feel things and grip objects.  No two people have identical fingerprints, but fngerprint patterns tend to run in families.  Explore the world of fingerprint science. 

Frozen Flower Eggs

Gather some small wild flowers, grass, leaves on a walk then freeze them in an empty egg shell to create some amazing art.

Getty Museum Art and Photography

The 'Getty' is an art museum in California, USA.  Named after its founder, J.Paul Getty, it houses paintings, drawings, sculptures and photographs.  The Getty Museum has launched an activtity designed to get everyone being creative, based on a challenge set by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.  You don't need to be an amazing artist either - just an eye for detail and being able to copy.  We can all do that.

Gravity

Use recycled objects to test out gravity - roll a ball down a series of paths and create a waterfall.

Guide Dogs

Learn about these amazing animals and how they help, then test your senses.

Hapa Zome  

Hapa Zome is a Japanese art, meaning 'leaf dye'. Hapa Zome is a really easy way to turn nature into art.  If you can hit something with a hammer, you can create Hapa Zome art!

Harry Potter

  1. Arithmancy
  2. Magic Wands
  3. Spells
  4. Invisible Ink

Complete all of these wizarding challenges and experience the world of Harry Potter. 

Jam Jar Jam

Collect a few jars and bottles, fill them with water and create your very own tunes.

Make your own Grass Head and keep a growing diary

Using items that you have at home, create a grass head and keep a growing diary.  Record the stages of the grass growing process. 

Make your own Wind Vane and keep a wind diary

Make a wind vane, discover and monitor which way the wind blows, keeping a diary of the changes.

Museum at Home

Curate favourite toys, books or other items to create your very own museum.

Non-Newtonian Magic Slime

Make your own non-Newtonian magic slime.

Shadow Drawing

Use everyday objects or toys from your home and the sun's rays to create some beautiful shadow drawings

Skeleton Challenge

Your skeleton is an amazing thing, so learn all about the bones in your body.

Space

Space is an amazing place. From planets and stars to rockets and astronauts, there are so many interesting facts to learn about.  But let's not delay, let's get ready for take off!

  1. Balloon Rocket
  2. The Solar System
  3. Tim Peake - Life as an Astronaut

Superhero Yoga

Calm your mind and become a superhero with superhero yoga

Throw and Catch Game

Recycle a plastic milk bottle and turn it into the perfect 'catcher'. How far can you throw and catch?

Tooth Challenge

Learn all about your teeth - the jobs they do, how to keep them clean and healthy.

  1. Types of teeth and which do I have?
  2. Keeping our teeth healthy
  3. Tooth brushing and sugar swaps

Trip Wire

Create a trip wire maze then challenge yourself and others in your house to climb through without touching it.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is when waste, chemicals, or other particles cause a body of water (i.e. rivers, oceans and lakes) to become harmful to the fish and animals that need the water to survive.  Water pollution can disrupt and negatively impact nature's water cycle as well.

In this experiment, using materials from your home, you will design a way to clean water.