Static Surprises
Hello, friends! We are so happy to be back for a new school year of Curiosity Club. I am honored to be taking on this role for the next year, and I hope to make each session memorable, playful, and exciting for all of you.
This past month, Curiosity Club explored static electricity. You could say this session was electric!
But what if we do not know what static electricity is? That is okay! Curiosity is not about having the “right” answers. It is about noticing something surprising, wondering why it happened, asking questions, and trying out ideas to learn more. Jirout et al. (2022) describe curiosity as the desire to seek information when something is unknown. In Curiosity Club, children are given the chance to make predictions, test materials, notice patterns, change their strategies, and share new questions.
A surprising science phenomenon
Static electricity happens when electric charges build up on an object. Rubbing a balloon or plastic spoon on carpet can create that effect. Then, when the charged object comes near materials, it can make them move without direct contact. For our session, this was an invitation to wonder: Why did the pepper jump toward the spoon? How could a balloon make a can roll without touching it? Why did butterfly wings flutter? Which kind of foil would dance the most?
Each station began with a question and gave children room to investigate their own possible answers. Rather than explaining every result, we encouraged them to observe closely and take the lead! In Curiosity Club, we ask, “Why do you think that happened?” and “What should you try next?”
Our Static Surprises stations
Station 1: Salt-and-Pepper Sorting
At our first station, children rubbed plastic spoons on the carpet to charge them with static electricity. Then they held the spoons above a mixture of salt and pepper, without touching it, and watched carefully to see what moved. Children experimented with holding the spoon closer or farther away and recharging it for different amounts of time. A big question they observed was, do the salt and pepper react the same way?
Station 2: Rolling Cans
Could children move a can along a trail without touching it? At the Rolling Cans station, they took on that challenge with charged balloons. After rubbing balloons on the carpet, children held them near empty cans and slowly used the balloons to guide the cans along taped paths. The trails included straight, curved, and zigzag routes, challenging the children to test different positions, distances, and movements. If a can did not move, children could recharge the balloon, change where they held it, move more slowly, or try again with a new strategy. This station supported persistence, patience, and flexible thinking.
Station 3: Floating Butterflies
At the Floating Butterflies station, children created butterflies with tissue-paper wings. Once their butterflies were assembled, they charged balloons on the carpet and hovered them over the wings. As a result, the wings lifted as the balloon moved around them. Children explored where to hold the balloon for the biggest “wing wiggle” and why the lightweight tissue paper reacted so dramatically. Each child also had the opportunity to decorate and take their butterfly home to continue experimenting with their family.
Station 4: Dancing Foil
Our final station invited children to make foil pieces move, jump, slide, and dance. They chose among a pile of foil balls, strips, and flat pieces. Then they charged balloons and held them above the foil to see what would happen. This station made room for open-ended exploration. Which foil piece would move first? Would a tiny foil ball behave differently from a long strip? What would happen if the foil touched the balloon and the balloon moved away?
How did we support curiosity?
The Static Surprises session was designed around three important ways adults can nurture children’s curiosity:
Embracing the unknown: Children were invited to make predictions even when they were unsure.
Using different strategies: At every station, children could change one part of the experiment and watch for a different result.
Freely exploring: Children had opportunities to follow what interested them, test their own ideas, and make choices about what to try next.
These practices align closely with the Curiosity in Classrooms framework developed by Jirout et al. (2022). The framework emphasizes helping children feel comfortable with uncertainty, encouraging them to generate questions and consider alternative ideas, and giving them chances to explore materials and questions as they seek information.
The goal is not to make every moment into a formal lesson. It is to help children see that their questions are worth pursuing, and that the world is full of interesting things to notice.
For a simple at-home extension of Static Surprises, try rubbing a balloon or plastic spoon on carpet, hair, or a wool cloth for 10-20 seconds. Then hold it near tiny paper scraps or tissue paper and observe what happens!
A huge thank you to our friends at the Northside Library for hosting us! And thank you to all the children and families who joined us for Static Surprises. We cannot wait to see you soon!
Until next time :)
Camila Pueblitz, Fall 2026
Comments