For Kids and Families

Kids’ Science Corner

Weather, space, nature and radio for curious kids of every age. A short list of excellent, free learning sites from trusted agencies, plus hands-on things to try right here in Lethbridge.

In Simple Terms

The internet is full of science sites for kids. Some are wonderful. Many are thin, cluttered with ads, or out of date. This page is the short list: a handful of the best learning sites we could find, run by space agencies, weather services, museums, universities and non-profits, sorted by age.

Alongside them are hands-on activities from our own network of sites: a real backyard weather station you can compare with your own rain gauge, a Morse code trainer, daily puzzles, gardening for kids and family adventure ideas around southern Alberta.

A note for parents
Apart from our own sister sites, every outside link on this page goes to a well-known public agency, museum, university or non-profit organization. We checked each one before listing it, and we recheck the list from time to time. Most of these sites need no account at all. The few that ask you to register (citizen-science projects like FeederWatch and CoCoRaHS, or sharing projects on Scratch) are marked, so a parent can decide. All outside links open in a new window.

How the age bands work: the ages are a rough guide, not a rule. A keen six-year-old will happily do some of the “curious kids” activities with a grown-up, and plenty of teens (and grandparents) still enjoy the colouring pages. Start where your child’s interest is.

Jump to: Little explorers (4–7) · Curious kids (8–12) · Teens (13+) · Try it here · Real science in Lethbridge · Tips for parents

🎲 Play and learn every day

Three free tools made right here, with no ads, no sign-up and nothing to download:

  • Question of the Day: a new weather, space, nature or radio question every day, with the answer and the why.
  • Kids’ Word Fun: word searches and scrambles to play on screen or print.
  • Weather Detective: answer clues using live readings from our West Lethbridge weather station.

🪢 Hands-on skills for kids

Real skills you can practise at home, written just for kids (about 8 to 13), with a printable checklist on each page.

🏅 Programs and clubs

Babysitting and Stay Safe! courses, swimming and lifeguard training, after-school programs, Scouts, Guides, 4-H and Cadets, sports clubs from swimming and hockey to roller derby, taekwon-do and climbing, plus STEM, arts and music, and help with the costs.

Programs and Clubs for Kids and Teens →

Little explorers (about 4–7)

At this age, science is looking, touching, asking “why?” and doing things together. These picks work best with a grown-up alongside.

  • ☁️ Weather: just look up. The best weather lesson for little ones needs no website. Step outside each morning and ask: is it windy? Are there clouds? What shape? Then check our live West Lethbridge weather station ↗ together and see if the numbers match what you felt. Lethbridge wind makes this especially fun.
  • 🚀 NASA Space Place ↗ — run by NASA (made by the Space Place team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Aimed mainly at upper-elementary kids, but it has colouring pages, simple hands-on crafts and short videos that younger children love with a parent reading along. Ages: about 5 and up with help.
  • 🇨🇦 Canadian Space Agency printables ↗ — run by the Canadian Space Agency. Free printable space activities from Canada’s own space program, part of the agency’s larger Youth and Educators section. Ages: varies by sheet; many suit young children.
  • 🌲 Parks Canada Xplorers ↗ — run by Parks Canada. Kids complete a set of challenges while visiting a national park or historic site, then return to get a collectible reward. Waterton Lakes National Park and the Bar U Ranch are both on the Alberta list, and Waterton is an easy day trip from Lethbridge. Parks Canada says the program is being renewed, so ask at the visitor centre when you arrive. Ages: family program, great for young kids.
  • 🐦 Project FeederWatch ↗ — run by Birds Canada and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (both non-profits). Watch the birds in your yard for a little while on chosen days from November to April, and count what you see. Little ones can be the official “spotters” while a grown-up keeps the tally. You don’t even need a feeder. Registration required; in Canada you join through Birds Canada by donation. Ages: whole family.
  • 🌱 Grow something. A bean in a clear cup on the windowsill teaches roots, water and sunlight better than any screen. See our kids’ gardening page for easy starters.
Did you know?
FeederWatch counts come from backyards, schoolyards and parks all across North America. Every tally your family sends in helps scientists see how winter bird populations are changing.

Curious kids (about 8–12)

This is the age of big questions: how do tornadoes form, what’s on Mars, how does a radio work? These sites give real answers without talking down.

Weather and climate

  • NASA Climate Kids ↗ — run by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. Games, activities and plain-language articles about weather, air, water, energy, plants and animals, and how scientists study our planet from space. Ages: 8 and up.
  • SciJinks ↗ — run by NOAA (the United States weather and ocean agency) with NASA. Clear explanations of things like lightning, hail, wind and weather satellites, plus games and videos. It’s written for middle school and up, so it’s perfect for older kids in this band. Ages: about 10 and up.

Space

  • NASA Space Place ↗ — run by NASA. This is the sweet spot for Space Place: hands-on projects, games, short “in a snap” videos and an art challenge, all about the Sun, planets, Earth and how space missions work. Ages: about 8–12.
  • NASA Spot the Station app ↗ — run by NASA. This free phone app tells you when the International Space Station will pass over Lethbridge. Then go outside and watch it. It looks like a very bright, steady star sliding across the sky in a few minutes. Seeing it with your own eyes, knowing people are aboard, is unforgettable. Ages: everyone. A parent should install the app and turn on alerts.
  • Canadian Space Agency: Youth and Educators ↗ — run by the Canadian Space Agency. Activities and experiments, digital games, printables and a section just for kids and teens, all about Canada’s part in space exploration and our astronauts. Ages: 8 and up, with some sections for teens.

Nature and earth

  • Let’s Talk Science hands-on activities ↗ — run by Let’s Talk Science, a Canadian registered charity. Experiments you can do at home with ordinary household items, sorted by age and topic, written in Canada for Canadian kids. Ages: varies by activity; lots for this band.
  • Cornell Lab K-12: for families ↗ — run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a non-profit. Bird activities and ideas for parents, from the same people who co-run FeederWatch. Ages: grade school and up.

Radio and tech

  • Radio Amateurs of Canada: youth activities ↗ — run by Radio Amateurs of Canada, the national amateur radio association. Real projects: build a simple crystal radio, make a Morse code bracelet, try shortwave listening, design your own QSL card, go radio “fox hunting” to find a hidden transmitter, and even receive picture signals from the International Space Station. Ages: about 9 and up, with a grown-up for building projects.
  • Scratch ↗ — run by the Scratch Foundation, a non-profit (Scratch was first created at the MIT Media Lab). Free of charge. Kids snap together coding blocks to make their own games, animations and stories. Try making a weather animation or a rocket launch. Ages: about 8–16. An account is only needed to save and share projects online.
Lethbridge tip
Space station passes are easiest to see on clear evenings shortly after sunset or mornings before sunrise. Our big prairie sky and dry air help, but chinook arch cloud or wildfire smoke can hide it. Check the forecast before you head out.

Teens (13+)

Teens can do more than read about science. They can collect real data that scientists use, earn a government radio licence and talk to people around the world, or even help a school talk to the space station.

  • 🌧️ CoCoRaHS Canada ↗ — the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, a volunteer network that started in Canada in 2011 and now runs in nearly every province and territory. Volunteers of all ages measure rain and snow each morning with a standard gauge and report it online, and the data is used by weather forecasters, researchers and farmers. A great family project with a teen in charge. Registration required; needs an approved rain gauge.
  • ⛈️ SciJinks ↗ — run by NOAA with NASA. Written for middle and high school students: how weather satellites see storms, how forecasts are made, and the physics of clouds, wind and lightning.
  • 📡 Earn an amateur radio licence. In Canada there is no minimum age for the amateur radio exam. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s information circular RIC-3 says there are no age or nationality restrictions for candidates. Pass the Basic Qualification exam and you get your own call sign. ISED’s free amateur radio exam generator ↗ has the full official question bank and practice exams, and Radio Amateurs of Canada explains the licence levels ↗. A local club can help find an examiner.
  • 🛰️ ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station ↗ — an international volunteer program supported by NASA, other space agencies and amateur radio organizations. Schools and youth groups apply to hold a scheduled radio conversation with an astronaut on the space station, and students ask the questions. Volunteer ham radio mentors help set it up. The Canadian side is ARISS Canada ↗, supported by Radio Amateurs of Canada and AMSAT Canada. Alberta schools in Calgary and Lloydminster have done it.
  • ⚜️ JOTA-JOTI ↗ — Jamboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet, run by World Scouting. Every October, Scouts and Guides around the world connect by amateur radio and online, often from stations set up by local ham operators. It’s held on the third full weekend of October. Through a Scout or Guide group.
  • 💻 Scratch ↗ — still great for younger teens, and a good bridge to “real” programming languages later.
  • 📚 Let’s Talk Science: STEM Explained ↗ — run by the Canadian charity Let’s Talk Science. Short, solid explainers on science and technology topics, and a good way to see where school subjects lead in real careers.
Did you know?
The International Space Station sends out slow-scan TV pictures on amateur radio frequencies during special events. With a simple handheld scanner and a free decoding program, students on the ground have received actual images from space. Radio Amateurs of Canada’s youth page explains how.

Try it here

Hands-on activities from our own network of sites, built around real Lethbridge weather, radio and sky.

  • Family adventure cards — day-trip and backyard missions around southern Alberta: things to find, measure and wonder about.
  • Gardening with kids — easy plants, simple experiments and how our short, windy growing season works.
  • Live West Lethbridge weather station ↗ — a real personal weather station reporting temperature, wind, rain and more. Challenge: put a rain gauge in your own yard, check it after the next storm, and compare your number with the station. Why might they be different? (Hint: summer thunderstorms can drop heavy rain on one neighbourhood and miss the next.)
  • Lethbridge forecast — make your own prediction for tomorrow, write it down, then check the forecast and the real weather. Who did better?
  • Morse code trainer ↗ — hear and practise the dots and dashes that radio operators still use today. Try sending your name.
  • How GPS keeps time ↗ — GPS satellites carry incredibly precise clocks. Find out why your phone’s map depends on time measured to tiny fractions of a second.
  • Daily puzzles ↗ — a fresh brain workout every day for kids and grown-ups.

Real science in Lethbridge

You don’t have to go far to meet people who study nature, history and the sky for a living. These local public places run programs for kids and families. Programs change through the year, so check each one’s own schedule.

River valley safety
Coulees and river-bottom trails are wonderful for young explorers, but keep kids close near the river (cold, fast water), stay on trails, and watch for rattlesnakes in warm weather. Bring water and hats: coulee slopes get very hot and windy.

Tips for parents

Balance

Use the screen to spark the question, then go outside to answer it.

Online safety basics

  • Prefer sites that need no account. Most of the ones on this page work fine without signing up.
  • If a site does need an account (Scratch sharing, FeederWatch, CoCoRaHS), set it up together, using a parent’s email where possible.
  • Teach kids never to share their full name, school, address, phone number or exact location online, and never to post photos that show where they live.
  • Usernames should not include a real name or age.
  • If anything online feels strange or someone asks to chat privately, close it and tell a grown-up. No one gets in trouble for asking.
  • Bookmark this page so kids have a safe starting point instead of searching from scratch.

“Ask a question” ideas

The best science starts with a question kids actually care about. Try these, then find the answer together:

  • Why is Lethbridge so windy, and where does the wind come from? (Start with our wind page.)
  • What is a chinook, and how can the temperature jump so fast in winter?
  • Why does hail form in summer when it’s hot outside?
  • How fast is the space station going, and how many times a day does it go around Earth?
  • Why can we hear some radio stations from far away only at night?
  • Which birds stay in Lethbridge all winter, and how do they keep warm?
  • Why is the sky blue in the day but orange at sunset?

Write your questions down in a notebook. Kids who keep a simple weather or nature journal (date, temperature, sky, what they saw) are doing exactly what real scientists do.

Keep exploring

Programs, registration rules and website contents change. Always check the official website before you plan around a program. Outside links go to sites run by other organizations; we don’t control their content, and we review this list regularly.

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