Primary challenges (ages 3-11)


Typically completed by 3-11 year olds, CREST Star and SuperStar challenges relate to everyday experiences. Children complete six to 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 SuperStar challenges

  • Text
  • Handson
  • Stem
  • Challenges
  • Discussion
  • Explore
  • Create
  • Experiment
  • Investigate
  • Toothpaste
  • Materials
  • Glue
  • Tomato
  • Yoghurt
  • Superstar
The activities in this pack have been selected from our library of CREST SuperStar challenges. Children need to complete eight challenges to achieve a CREST SuperStar Award. If you want, you can mix and match challenges from different packs, as long as children complete eight SuperStar challenges. This resource is published under an Attribution - non-commercial - no derivatives 4.0 International creative commons licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Protecting Polymers

Protecting Polymers Activity Card You Dr Polly Murs RE: Protecting Polymers Dear Investigators, I am one of the scientists at Horners. We all love finding new uses for polymers. I have a big problem. Last night I made macaroni cheese for my lunch. My favourite! I covered the plate with foil and put it in my backpack. The foil tore on my way to work and my lunch spilt everywhere. I don’t think foil is the best material for wrapping my lunch. You can’t even put foil in the microwave so I have to eat my lunch cold. Cling film is one of my favourite polymers. I think it might solve my problem, but there are so many different types. Can you help me find the best one? Dr Polly Murs Your challenge Can you help Dr Polly Murs to find the best cling film to protect her lunch? Discuss Do you bring lunch to school? What do you wrap it in? What are the differences between aluminium foil and cling film? Cling film doesn’t feel sticky, so how does it stick? Do you notice any differences between the different cling films? How are they different from foil?

Getting started You will need some different types of cling film and some foil. First, wrap each material being tested around a container. Next drop a weight onto the film from 10cm above. • Do any of the films break? • Do any come loose? • What happens if you drop the weight from higher up? • What happens if you put cling film in the freezer? • Which cling film is strongest? • Which cling film is stickiest? • How do the cling films compare with foil? Test your ideas You might like to record your results in a table like this one. Can you think of any other ways you could test the different cling films and foil? Foil Cling film 1 Cling film 2 Cling film 3 10g weight from 10cm height 10g weight from 20cm height 10g weight from 10cm height after cling film has been in the freezer Share your ideas You could put your results in a table and display them in a bar chart, or make a video of your investigation to send to Dr Polly Murs. Extra things to do Find out how plastic films are used by doctors and nurses. Make a list of other polymers Polly can use to protect her lunch. Find out more about which polymers can be recycled. 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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