Let me start you off with my favourite periodic table joke. Yes, I have one of those!

Two! Actually.

They go like this:

What fish is double sodium?

Now you might have to use an American accent but first of all, what number would double be? If you times something to double it?

And then you might have got it? If you think of a fish beginning with that…or you may need to have a look at a periodic table!

Two Na

Not NA squared as some clever clogs tried!

Yes! It’s tuna. Pat yourself on the back of you got it!

I asked my friends if they had any other sodium jokes and they said “na”

(Telling jokes helps children play with words and in this case, remember the chemical symbol for sodium! But can lead you to picking up a joke book or one on tuna fish?)

I’m a huge fan of Scrabble and this new game which has won lots of awards, classes itself as Science meets Scrabble.

The idea is you write as many words down against the timer and then you match your words to the symbols on the periodic table. You earn points based on the chemical symbols.

What I love about this is it’s encouraging spelling. But also, it’s a fun way to learn not only the chemical names and letters but their numbers too.

My soon to be G8 is getting this for her birthday. Mainly because I want to play!

Have you got this game?

All board games are great for helping children learn taking turns, how to be a good loser and problem solving. They are also great for bonding with family and conversation.

More to books…

My nanny child is on free choice with books for reading from school. It’s hugely important that we don’t just read fiction. While any reading exposure is great, if you tune into the child’s likes, reading won’t feel as much of a chore for reluctant readers.

With this book, there were many big words that G7 didn’t understand and many that were difficult to pronounce even for me!

We looked at the chemical symbols and matched the initial letter to the initial letter of our names. I am krypton. (Which means hidden in Ancient Greek- and can lead you to read about Superman)

By doing this, for them and members of their family, it gave another purpose to our reading and made it more personal. In other books, you could use this to help use the contents or index to go and find information about that chemical.

We also found out about Iridium which was named after a relative of hers; Iris. And she was the Greek Goddess of rainbows.

(Which can lead you to read books on rainbows or Greek Godesses)

Show me a picture of your little ones enjoying science!

Send a pic of you involved in a family board game!

Hellen Prideaux and her nanny children playing Exploding Kittens

Here is another periodic table joke just to have a giggle!