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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SuperStar Home Learning

  • Text
  • Superstar
  • Rafts
  • Rocket
  • Shapes
  • Registered
  • Raft
  • Glue
  • Rockets
  • Association
  • Spinners
  • Yoghurt
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/).

Fantastic Fingerprints

Fantastic Fingerprints Organiser’s Card About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking about fingerprints. The investigators have been given a news article about fingerprints. Teachers at Startown Primary School are wondering if they can use fingerprints to identify the students. Are the students’ fingerprints that different? Through this activity you will support your group to: • Collect their fingerprints • Compare different fingerprints and identify patterns • Record and present their results Kit list • Dust (flour, chalk, talc, cocoa powder) • Soft pencils • Blank paper (white paper for pencil and cocoa prints; black paper for white powder prints) • Other things to investigate e.g. oil or cream (leaves a print on OHT film or plastic), non-permanent markers etc. • Sellotape • Scissors • Hand lenses or magnifying glasses What to do 1. Introduce the activity using the news article. Ask them if they have taken a fingerprint before. 2. Give out activity cards and equipment to the children. 3. Explain that they will be investigating fingerprints today. Give children time to talk about what they know about fingerprints. Let them look at their own fingerprints with hand lenses or microscopes. 4. Demonstrate how to take a fingerprint results. Draw children’s attention to the different patterns found in fingerprints (loops, arches and whorls) 6. Ask the children to present their findings to the rest of the group, they can be as creative in their presentation as they want. The prints could be projected for the entire group to see. The children could try to work out which print belongs to which person. They could draw large images of their fingerprints. 5. Support the children to design and carry out a test and to make their own records of their

Things to think about Let the children investigate how to get good prints. Only give advice if they are failing to make any progress. To obtain a good quality fingerprint, children should wash their hands between prints. They also need to tap off the excess powder. A thin layer is best. Marker pens and ink-pads can be used but they can be difficult to remove from the children’s fingers. Keywords • Fingerprints • Identification • Forensics Watch out! Check if any children have wheat or nut allergies before using flour and cocoa. Children should be reminded to keep fingers out of their mouths and eyes during this activity and to wash their hands thoroughly at the end of the session. Do not use permanent markers. 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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