Magnets

Ages 3 to 5 Read and do together · about 15 minutes

Read together

A magnet pulls some things to it.

Does it stick? Let us test!

Do it

1. Use one large, weak toy magnet. Gather a paper clip, a coin, a spoon, a stone, a paper cup and a key.
2. Guess: will it stick? Then test each one and sort into two piles: “sticks” and “does not stick”.
3. Notice that many metal things do not stick. Magnets stick to things with iron, like steel paper clips.
4. Try two magnets: they pull together or push apart. Feel it.

Talk about it

• What do you think will stick?
• What do the sticky things have in common?

For the grown-up

Magnets attract objects made of iron, nickel or cobalt, such as steel. Many other metals, such as aluminium and copper, are not attracted. Two magnets can attract or repel.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• NGSS Lead States, Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States (National Academies Press, 2013), performance expectation 3-PS2-3 (ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions)
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, safety information on magnets and children

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.