Year 3 Forces & Magnets Activities

Discover the Invisible World of Forces and Magnets with Six Hands-On Investigations

Transform your Year 3 Science lessons with this comprehensive resource featuring six engaging activities that explore forces and magnetism through practical experimentation, making these invisible phenomena visible and understandable.

Six Complete Investigations Included:

1. Investigating Forces Push Or Pull: Discover the two types of forces! Investigate pushing and pulling forces through practical activities, understanding how forces make things move, stop, speed up, slow down, or change direction
2. Travelling On Different Surfaces Investigation: Explore friction through fair testing! Investigate how different surfaces affect movement by rolling cars or balls across carpet, wood, concrete, and other materials—discovering that rougher surfaces create more friction and slow things down
3. Magnetic Poles: Uncover the mystery of magnetic attraction and repulsion! Investigate how like poles repel and opposite poles attract using bar magnets, discovering the invisible forces that make magnets behave in fascinating ways
4. Is It Magnetic Investigation: Test which materials are magnetic! Investigate everyday objects to discover which are attracted to magnets and which aren't, understanding that only certain metals (like iron, nickel, and cobalt) are magnetic
5. Make A Compass: Create a working compass using magnetism! Magnetize a needle and float it in water to make a simple compass that points north, understanding how Earth's magnetic field can be used for navigation
6. Magnetic Maze: Apply magnetic knowledge through creative problem-solving! Use magnets to guide objects through mazes, exploring magnetic force at a distance and how magnets can work through materials

Why Teachers Choose This Resource:

• Curriculum-Aligned: Fully supports Year 3 Science objectives for forces and magnets in the National Curriculum
• Hands-On Investigations: Practical experiments that make invisible forces visible and understandable
• Fair Testing Focus: Develops scientific enquiry skills through controlled experiments
• Ready to Use: Complete lesson plans with learning objectives, equipment lists, and step-by-step instructions
• Engaging Content: Magnets naturally fascinate children, making learning exciting and memorable
• Accessible Materials: Uses magnets and everyday objects readily available in schools
• Develops Scientific Skills: Builds predicting, observing, testing, and concluding abilities

Perfect For:

• Year 3 Science lessons on forces and magnets
• Key Stage 2 physics teaching
• Homeschool science curriculum
• Developing scientific investigation and fair testing skills
• Building understanding of forces and magnetism
• Making physics practical and exciting

Learning Outcomes:

Through these activities, children will compare how things move on different surfaces, notice that some forces need contact between two objects but magnetic forces can act at a distance, observe how magnets attract or repel each other and attract some materials and not others, compare and group together materials based on whether they are magnetic, describe magnets as having two poles, and predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other depending on which poles are facing.

What Makes This Resource Special:

Forces and magnets are invisible, which makes them challenging to understand—yet they're fundamental to how the world works. These investigations make the invisible visible through hands-on experimentation. By feeling friction slow things down, seeing magnets repel, and making a working compass, children develop genuine understanding of these crucial physics concepts.

Building Scientific Enquiry Skills:

The fair testing investigations are perfectly designed for Year 3—rigorous enough to develop real scientific thinking but accessible enough for young learners. By investigating how surfaces affect movement or which materials are magnetic, children learn to design experiments, control variables, and use evidence to draw conclusions—essential scientific skills.

Making Physics Tangible:

Physics can seem abstract, but these activities make it concrete and exciting. Making a compass that actually works, creating a magnetic maze, and investigating magnetic poles transform physics from theory into hands-on discovery. This practical approach builds both knowledge and enthusiasm for science.

Bring forces and magnets to life! These engaging investigations help Year 3 students discover the invisible world of forces and magnetism through hands-on experimentation that makes physics tangible, builds scientific enquiry skills, and creates genuine understanding of how forces shape our world.