July 24, 2012 11.13 am This story is over 155 months old

University hosts summer science project for kids

Fun and research: A science-themed fun week for children in Lincoln serves two special purposes.

Young children in Lincoln are being given the chance to become a scientist for the day at the University of Lincoln.

Lincoln’s School of Psychology will be hosting its popular Summer Scientists event in August for children between the ages of 3 and 10.

The children will have the opportunity to experience and contribute to real scientific research and have fun at the same time.

The exercises, which have been designed by child developmental specialists, will help researchers at the university understand how children develop the skills and cognitive powers that adults rely on everyday.

Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the University of Lincoln and leader of the Summer Scientists team, Dr Fenja Ziegler, said: “The best way of learning is having fun.”

“Most of the games children play from being babies are in some way contributing to their mental, physical and emotional development.”

“Summer Scientists takes this a notch further – by recognising that children can teach us a great deal about how we all learn and develop new skills as we grow up.”

“First and foremost, all the games and activities at Summer Scientists are designed to be fun but they also serve another important purpose.”

By observing how the children play these games, we will be able to gather data which will be invaluable to our ongoing research into child development.”

Young participants and their parents will have the option to choose which games they want to join in with and can withdraw from the activities anytime they wish.

The anonymous data collected from each child will assist with ongoing research at the Lincoln School of Psychology and could be published in a range of academic journals.

There are still a few places left for this years Summer Scientists event and the researchers are encouraging families with young children to get involved.

Activities for the event will take place between August 20 and August 24 at the Faculty of Business and Law building, on Brayford Wharf East, Lincoln.

If you wish to sign up for Summer Scientists 2012, email Summer Scientists. For more information on the event, visit the research team’s blog.