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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Star Home Learning

  • Text
  • Challenges
  • Encourage
  • Hankie
  • Materials
  • Stella
  • Registered
  • Pegs
  • Cans
  • Association
  • Bubbles
  • Cosmic
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/).

Tea Bag Trouble Activity

Tea Bag Trouble Activity Card Uncle Astro loves drinking tea. He drinks tea with his breakfast and with a biscuit mid-morning. He has tea after his lunch and with a piece of cake at 4 o’clock. He has tea with his evening meal and a cup just before he goes to bed. “No wonder the tea bag tin is empty,” sighs Aunt Stella. “We’ll go to the shops to get some more,” offer Cosmic and Gem. But when they come back there are no tea bags in their shopping basket. “The shop has run out of tea bags. We had to buy a packet of loose tea instead.” TEABAG TROUBLE TEABAG TROUBLE “Oh no!” says Uncle Astro. “That won’t do. I’ll end up with a cup full of tea leaves. How am I going to make a nice cup of tea this afternoon?” “We can try to make some tea bags for you Uncle Astro,” they answer eagerly. TEABAG TROUBLE “That’s very kind of you, but remember - I don’t like tea leaves in my tea. I just like a nice cup of lovely brown tea.” “Come on,” says Aunt Stella. “Let’s start testing tea bags!”

Your challenge Uncle Astro doesn’t like tea leaves floating around in his drink, so Cosmic and Gem wonder if they can make him some tea bags. Have you ever helped to make a cup of tea? Do you know how tea bags work? Aunt Stella thinks they should make Uncle Astro some tea bags out of kitchen roll Cosmic wonders if newspaper would work Gem thinks thin fabric would be better What do you think? Find the best material to make a tea bag for Uncle Astro. Discuss Plan how you can test different tea bags. How will you know which is the best tea bag? Getting started Cut out a square of kitchen roll. Put a teaspoonful of tea leaves in the middle. Gather up the corners with a clothes peg to make a bag. Half fill a clear beaker with water from the hot tap. Holding the peg, dunk the teabag up and down in the water for one minute. Try other papers and fabrics to see which type makes the best tea bag (lets the flavour and colour out, and keeps the tea leaves in). Take care with the hot water and don’t drink the tea! Extra things to do Are all tea bags the same shape? Are some shapes better than others? Why do some have string attached? Find out when tea bags were invented. Test your ideas Can you think of other ways to test tea bags? Share your ideas Draw a picture of each cup of tea. What colour is the water? Are there any tea leaves in it? 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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