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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1 year ago

Star On a Shoestring

  • Text
  • Cosmic
  • Plants
  • Timers
  • Association
  • Rainbow
  • Cans
  • Materials
  • Registered
  • Colours
  • Crest
  • Shoestring
  • Resource
  • Librarycrestawardsorg
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/).

Things to talk about

Things to talk about Teach the children to handle all animals with care. It is best to observe animals in their natural environment. However, they can be taken inside for short periods, as long as they are treated with respect and returned to where they were found. Take it further Many children believe the word ‘animal’ refers only to large furry animals and not humans, fish, birds, insects, etc. This hunt focuses on minibeasts but could also include other animals such as birds. The term ‘minibeast’ means a small animal. The scientific name for minibeasts is invertebrates. This means an animal without a backbone. Some invertebrates have no skeleton, like worms. Others, like insects and spiders, have a skeleton on the outside (exoskeleton). You can generally find plenty of minibeasts living in moist, damp, dark environments which help to keep them safe and stop them ‘drying out’. Keywords • Habitat • Minibeast • Invertebrate Watch out! Make sure that children wash their hands carefully after handling creatures. Follow the organisation’s guidelines for outdoor work. Make sure that stones are not too heavy and are lifted carefully. Do not bring wild birds or mammals into school as they may carry diseases. British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236 6

Animal Adventure Activity Card Cosmic and Gem are sitting on the climbing frame. They are bored. “OK,” Cosmic replies. He starts to prowl around Gem while pretending to be a tiger. “Uncle Astro said that there are little animals, called minibeasts, all around us,” says Gem. “But I can’t see any.” “Let’s go on an animal safari!” shouts Gem, jumping down. “No, not a pretend safari,” says Gem, “I mean a real animal adventure.” Cosmic looks puzzled. He follows Gem round the playground. She looks high, she looks low but doesn’t seem to be able to find what she is looking for. “Wow! You mean tiny lions and tigers and things?” asks Cosmic. “Come on, let’s see if Uncle Astro can help us.” Where do you think Uncle Astro will tell them to look? Your challenge Go on an animal adventure and see how many animals you can find. 7 GEM COSMIC

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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