November honor · Builder award

Magnet Fun

Invisible pulling power you can feel in your fingers. This month the kids find out what a magnet grabs and what it ignores, make a paper clip dance through a tabletop, build a compass that really points north, and go on a magnet hunt through the fellowship hall.

N S What sticks? What doesn't? Why?

Why kids love it

  • It feels like a superpower. Push two magnets together the wrong way and your hands get shoved apart by nothing you can see.
  • Guess, then test. Every kid predicts which things in the tray will stick, then finds out. The surprises (a penny? a soda can?) are the lesson.
  • Things to take home. A compass they made, a fridge magnet they decorated, and the paper-clip-through-the-table trick to show a sibling.
  • A hunt. Magnets on strings, a room full of hidden metal and non-metal objects, a checklist. Chaos, in the good way.

What we will do

  1. Sort the tray. Twenty objects, one magnet, a sheet with two columns: sticks / does not stick. Predict first, test second, then talk about what the sticking things have in common.
  2. North and south. Feel the push and the pull of two bar magnets. Learn why the ends are called poles and which end is which.
  3. Magnet tricks. Move a paper clip across a tabletop from underneath; make a chain of clips hang from one magnet; float a magnet on a cork in water.
  4. Build a compass. Stroke a needle with a magnet, float it, watch it swing north. Check it against a real compass.
  5. Magnet hunt. Teams find the hidden objects on the list and sort them before the timer runs out.

We keep the strong magnets with the leaders and away from phones and watches.

Builders earn this as an award; younger levels join in the fun and count it toward their own stars and chips where it fits. Official requirements are in the leader's guide; the links below are the North American Division award pages.

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