Primary challenges (ages 3-11)


Typically completed by 3-11 year olds, CREST Star and SuperStar challenges relate to everyday experiences. Children complete eight activities to gain a CREST Award, with each activity taking between 45 minutes and one hour to complete.

The activities are designed to be easy-to-run and low-cost. You don’t need to be a teacher, have a science background or have access to specialist equipment to run them. The packs contain helpful hints and tips for you to use, explaining the scientific themes and offering guidance on conversation topics for your children.

There are more CREST approved resources that have been developed by our partners and providers specific to your region.


To browse the packs, click the buttons below or scroll down.

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All Star challenges

  • Text
  • Cosmic
  • Materials
  • Association
  • Registered
  • Stella
  • Plants
  • Encourage
  • Astro
  • Timers
  • Rainbow

Muddy Mess Organiser’s

Muddy Mess Organiser’s Card About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking about washing materials. Gem and Cosmic are on MUDDY their way MESS to the school party. Oh no, disaster! Gem has fallen over and landed in a muddy puddle. Her T-shirt is very dirty. What can she do Through this activity you will support your group to: • Think about how best to clean mud off a t-shirt • Test different methods and observe how well they work to remove the mud • Record their results and share them with the group Kit list • Fabric – you could let different groups use different fabrics • Bowls • Washing powder, soap or detergent – you might want to test different brands • Access to warm water • Camera and/or poster making materials (optional) What to do 1. Follow the instructions on the activity card. Make sure that you give the children time to talk about their ideas. 2. Read the story. Get the children to talk to a buddy about the ideas in the questions and the opinions of Gem, Cosmic and Aunt Stella 3. Give the children some muddy fabrics, soap or mild washing powder. Give them time to talk about how they will get the muddy fabric clean. 4. You could gather their different ideas for how to get the fabric clean. How will they test these ideas? Encourage them to think about fair testing e.g. use the same amount of water, the same size fabric or whether to stir the fabrics about. Encourage them to use their own ideas. 5. When they have finished they could put the different samples of fabric on the winners’ podium to show which are the cleanest. Children could make a poster, use photographs or put fabric samples and notes on display. Can they think of any other ways to get the fabric clean? 6. There are follow up activities for children who have finished or who want to do more finding out at home and earn a bonus sticker.

Things to think about Children should try cleaning the fabric and make simple observations about what happens. There are also lots of opportunities to help the children think about fair testing in this investigation. What can they keep the same e.g. size and type of fabric, amount of mud, amount and temperature of the water (unless testing different temperatures), whether to rub the material, number of times the dry fabric is rubbed. Take it further Soap and washing powder help to lift the dirt out of clothes. They do this by surrounding the dirt particles and helping them to mix in with the water. The temperature of the water can make a difference. Some washing powders are being designed to work at low temperatures (less than 40 o C). This helps to reduce the amount of energy needed to wash each load of clothes. It is interesting to try to find out if all the claims made about washing powders are true. Keywords MESS • Detergent • soap • sampling • fabric • cleaning Watch out! The water should be at a temperature which is safe to handle. If children are washing the fabrics by hand, only use soap or mild, non-allergenic detergents. Some washing powders MUDDY can MESS cause skin irritation. Children should wear protective gloves. Ensure the bowls are not too full of water to avoid spills on the floor. Mop up spills to avoid slips. British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236

Star level

Collections of one hour challenges recommended for children aged 3-7 years that relate to children’s everyday experiences. Find out more about this level and how to gain a CREST Award on the CREST Star page.


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SuperStar level


Collections of one hour challenges recommended for children aged 7-11 years that relate to broader situations that children are likely to have come across. Find out more about this level and how to gain a CREST Award on the CREST SuperStar page.


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