Why science fairs matter and how parents can make the most of them

Let me guess—your child just came home all excited about being in the science fair (or worse, they have to do a science project and they have no interest), and you felt that familiar flutter of panic in your chest. You’re not alone. Whether this is your first science fair rodeo or your third, the questions are always the same:

How do we even come up with a good idea?

How much help is too much help?

What if my child loses interest halfway through?

Where will we find the time?

And the big one—what if they fail… publicly?

Here’s the thing: science fairs trigger dread for a reason. They’re open-ended. There’s no worksheet to fill in, no clear “right answer” waiting at the end. They stretch our kids beyond routine homework—and let’s be honest, they stretch us as parents too. Finding time in an already packed schedule to fit in another project? That alone can feel overwhelming.

But here’s what I want you to know right from the start: You don’t need to be a scientist. You don’t need perfect answers. Your role isn’t to be the expert—it’s to be the guide standing beside your child while they figure this out.

The goal isn’t a ribbon or a trophy. The goal is learning how to think, plan, problem-solve, and keep going when things get tricky. And you’re absolutely capable of helping with that.

Once you take the stress out of it, you might even find enjoyment in the process. Science fairs can be a genuine bonding opportunity—a chance to watch your child’s curiosity come alive and to problem-solve together.

What a Science Fair Is Really About (Hint: It’s Not About Showing Off)

Before we dive into the how-to, let’s reset expectations for a minute.

Science fairs aren’t really about who has the fanciest poster board or the most complicated hypothesis. They’re about curiosity. Asking questions. Testing ideas. Explaining your thinking.

When judges walk around looking at projects, they care far more about understanding than perfection. They want to see effort, reflection, and problem-solving. They want to hear your child explain what they did and why—not recite a script you wrote together the night before.

Research shows that when students prepare to present their work, something powerful happens—they start to truly understand the science and engineering practices they’ve been using. That synthesis, that moment of “oh, now I get it,” happens during the process, not when they win a prize.

Learning how to handle uncertainty, adjust when things don’t go as planned, and communicate your thinking—that’s the real win. The thinking process matters infinitely more than presentation polish.

Your Role as a Parent: Coach, Not Manager

This is where a lot of us get tripped up. We want to help. We want our kids to succeed. But there’s a fine line between helping and… well, doing it for them.

Here’s the difference:

Helicoptering looks like: choosing the project for them, rewriting their hypothesis in “better” words, fixing mistakes quietly behind the scenes, staying up late to finish their poster board.

Coaching looks like: asking good questions.

Questions like:

• “What do you think will happen?”
• “What could you test next?”
• “What part feels confusing right now?”
• “Why do you think it turned out that way?”

Research backs this up in a big way. When parents provide autonomy-supportive involvement—asking questions, encouraging kids to make their own decisions—children show lower school worry, higher perceived competence, and better grades. When parents swoop in and control the process, the opposite happens.

Your calm presence matters more than your science knowledge. Really. Your job isn’t to know all the answers. It’s to sit beside your child, ask thoughtful questions, and show them you believe they can figure this out.

Step One: Choosing a Topic Your Child Actually Cares About

This is the true starting point, and it’s more important than you might think.

The biggest mistake? Choosing something that sounds impressive but bores your child to tears. A science fair project about “the effects of electromagnetic radiation on plant cellular structure” might sound fancy, but if your ten-year-old couldn’t care less, it’s going to be a long, painful month.

Interest beats impressive. Every single time.

The best science fair questions start with everyday life. Things they notice. Problems they want to solve. Questions that pop up naturally.

Start here:

• “I wonder why…”
• “What happens if…”
• “Which works better…”

And look for ideas in the world around you:

• Sports (Does the type of ball affect how far it bounces? Do certain shoes help you run faster?)
• Pets (What treats does my dog prefer? Does music affect my hamster’s activity?)
• Food (Which bread gets moldy fastest? Does temperature change how fast ice cream melts?)
• Plants (Do plants grow better with different types of water? Does talking to plants actually help?)
• Screens and sleep (Does screen time before bed affect how tired I feel in the morning?)

Simple questions are often the strongest. Judges prefer clarity over complexity. A well-thought-out experiment about which paper towel brand is most absorbent will beat a confusing, overly ambitious project every time.

A teacher friend of mine actually tested diaper brands for her daughter’s science fair project—that’s the kind of science any parent of an infant would be interested in, and the kids found it fun too.

Turning an Idea Into a Testable Question

Once your child has a general interest, you need to help them shape it into something they can actually test. This is where a little gentle guidance goes a long way.

A good science fair question:

• Can be tested with an experiment
• Involves changing one thing (and keeping everything else the same)
• Has results you can observe and measure

You might hear terms like “independent variable” and “dependent variable” thrown around. Don’t let that intimidate you. It’s simpler than it sounds:

• Independent variable = the one thing you change on purpose
• Dependent variable = what you measure to see what happened as a result

Example: If your child is testing how sunlight affects plant growth:

• The amount of sunlight is the independent variable (that’s what you change).
• The height of the plant is the dependent variable (that’s what you measure).

Here’s how to turn vague ideas into testable questions:

Too vague: “Do plants need light?”
Testable: “Will plants grow taller with 4 hours of sunlight or 8 hours of sunlight?”

Too vague: “Which dog food is better?”
Testable: “Which brand of dog food does my dog eat more of in 10 minutes?”

Too vague: “Does music help you focus?”
Testable: “Can I solve math problems faster when listening to music or in silence?”

See the difference? The testable version is specific, measurable, and clear.

How to Help With Research (Without Doing It For Them)

Now we’re getting to the part that worries parents most: research. But let’s be honest—at this age, research isn’t about diving into academic journals or writing a literature review. It’s much simpler.

Research means:

• Understanding the basics of what they’re testing
• Learning key terms
• Seeing what others already know about the topic

Where to look:

• Kid-friendly science books from the library
• Trusted websites (look for .edu or .gov sites, or reputable science organizations)
• Age-appropriate documentaries or videos

How you can help:

• Read together, especially if your child is a reluctant reader
• Help them summarize information in their own words (not copy-paste from a website)
• Ask, “What did you learn that surprised you?”

Here’s your litmus test: If your child can explain it to you simply, they understand it. If they’re reading information word-for-word from a printout, they don’t own that knowledge yet. Keep asking questions until they can put it in their own words.

And remember—you’re not writing their research notes. You’re helping them learn how to find and understand information. Big difference.

Keeping Motivation Alive From Start to Finish

We’ve all seen it before. Your child is super excited about something initially, then motivation dwindles. Something else pops up that seems more enticing. Video games. Friends. Literally anything that isn’t the science fair project.

It just happens. The project feels overwhelming. The experiment isn’t as exciting as they thought. Their friend chose something cooler.

This is normal. This is expected. And this is where you earn your coaching badge.

Why does this happen? Big projects feel like climbing a mountain. Your child looks up, sees how much is left, and feels defeated before they’ve even started the hard part.

Strategies that actually work:

Break the project into small steps. Don’t say “work on your science fair project.” Say “today we’re writing three possible questions” or “let’s gather the materials we need for your experiment.”

Set mini-deadlines. Work backwards from the due date and create checkpoints: research done by this date, experiment finished by that date, poster started by this date. Small wins build momentum.

Celebrate progress, not just completion. Finished the research? That’s worth celebrating. Completed the first trial? High five. They don’t need to wait until the project is perfect to feel proud.

Keep work sessions short and focused. Thirty focused minutes beats two hours of half-hearted effort every time. Set a timer, work hard, then take a break.

Fit it into your week. About that time crunch we mentioned earlier? Look for pockets of time that already exist in your schedule. Maybe it’s 30 minutes before you leave the house in the morning, or while a sibling is at soccer practice or piano lessons. Make it predictable—same time, same days—so it becomes part of your routine rather than an extra thing to squeeze in.

If working in a team: Help with communication. Encourage fairness in dividing tasks. Normalize conflict—of course they’ll disagree on some things. That’s part of learning to collaborate. Help them talk through it rather than solving it for them.

What to Do When Things Go Wrong (Because They Will)

If your project works and flows smoothly from beginning to end, then well done. Or lucky you. But this is certainly not the norm. Generally speaking, Murphy’s Law applies here—anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

The experiment that doesn’t work. The unexpected results that make no sense. The data that completely contradicts what you thought would happen.

And here’s the really important part: that is real science.

When things go sideways, it’s tempting to panic. To redo everything. To pretend it didn’t happen and fudge the results. Don’t do any of that.

Instead, help your child reframe what happened. Unexpected results often lead to the best discussions, the deepest learning, and honestly, the most interesting projects.

Here’s a quote worth writing down, pinning to the fridge, or putting in your child’s science journal: “There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.” (R. Buckminster Fuller)

Read that again. There’s no such thing as a failed experiment.

When something unexpected happens, here’s what to say:

• “What did you learn from this?”
• “What would you try differently next time?”
• “What surprised you?”
• “Why do you think it turned out this way?”

Help them become a detective. Look at each variable. Talk through what might have caused the unexpected result. Did something change that you didn’t plan for? Was there a step in the procedure that was tricky?

Some of the most famous discoveries in science came from experiments going “wrong”—penicillin, Post-It Notes, even a whole new form of carbon called buckminsterfullerene (yeah, I didn’t know about that one either, and no, I also can’t pronounce it, so maybe don’t use that as your example). Scientists who noticed unexpected results and got curious instead of frustrated changed the world.

Your child won’t discover penicillin. But they will learn that unexpected doesn’t mean bad. It just means interesting.

Preparing for the Big Day (Without Pressure)

The presentation. The part that makes kids (and parents) nervous.

Here’s how to help your child prepare without adding pressure:

Practice explaining out loud. Not memorizing a script—explaining. Have them tell you about their project like they’re talking to a friend. What did they test? What happened? What did they learn?

Encourage confidence, not perfection. Judges don’t expect flawless presentations. They expect genuine understanding. If your child stumbles over a word or forgets a detail, that’s okay. What matters is that they can talk about their thinking.

Help them tell the story: Every project has a narrative arc. Start with the question (why did you want to know this?), explain what you tested (how did you do it?), share what happened (what did you find?), and finish with what you learned (what does it mean?).

Avoid: Memorized scripts that sound robotic. Adult-sounding language your child would never actually use. Over-rehearsing to the point where they sound like they’re reciting rather than explaining.

The judges aren’t trying to trick your child. They’re genuinely interested in what they learned. Remind your child of that when nerves kick in.

If They Don’t Win: Handling Disappointment With Perspective

Let’s talk about the hard part—what happens if your child doesn’t place, doesn’t get a ribbon, or watches someone else win while they stand empty-handed.

We all like to see our hard work and effort rewarded. Your child probably feels like they put a lot into their project and believes it was really good and worthy of winning. Every participant likely feels that way. But of course, there can only be one winner, and not getting recognition—or feeling like you didn’t get the recognition you deserved—can be painful.

It hurts. For them, and honestly, for you too.

First, validate the feeling. Don’t rush in with “it doesn’t matter” or “there’s always next year.” Disappointment is real, and they’re allowed to feel it. Sit with it for a bit.

Then, when they’re ready, help them reflect on what they did accomplish:

Skills they learned:

• How to ask a question and test it
• How to keep trying when something didn’t work
• How to organize information and present it clearly
• How to manage a project from start to finish

Confidence they built:

• They did something hard
• They figured things out when they got stuck
• They stood in front of judges and explained their thinking
• They finished what they started

Effort they invested:

• All those afternoons working on this
• The times they pushed through frustration
• The curiosity they followed

These things matter. Not just for science fairs. For life.

Research on science fairs shows that when the emphasis is on learning rather than competing—on improving your own understanding rather than beating others—students develop what’s called mastery goal orientation. They compete with themselves. They focus on getting better, not just looking better than everyone else.

That mindset? That’s the gift that keeps giving. Long after the poster board is folded up and stored in the garage, that approach to challenges remains.

Your child might not have won today. But they learned how to start something difficult, keep going, and explain their thinking. Those skills will serve them far beyond any ribbon ever could.

Here’s What They’ve Really Achieved

Science fairs teach kids things that textbooks can’t:

How to start something difficult when you’re not sure how it will turn out.

How to keep going when you’d rather quit.

How to explain your thinking to someone else.

How to handle uncertainty and unexpected outcomes.

How to take feedback and use it to improve.

These aren’t school skills—they’re life skills.

Your support through this process matters more than any prize. When your child looks back on this experience, they won’t remember if they got first place or honorable mention. They’ll remember that you sat beside them, believed they could figure it out, and stayed calm when things got messy.

That’s what coaches do.

You don’t need to love science. You just need to stand beside your child while they learn how to think.

Want to spark your child’s curiosity beyond the science fair? Check out the Hey Smart Girl science book series—designed to build confidence, encourage questions, and make science accessible for girls aged 8-12. Because science starts here, and confidence lasts a lifetime.