Investigating
Magnetism in the
Early Years
By: Emma Jayne Morgan
Magnets are a part of daily life which we don’t really think about. They are used to keep your
fridge closed, to close handbags, hold phones in place, to record data on swipe cards and sort
cans in recycling centres.
Magnets are made of a metal which attracts other metal particles to all face in one direction, for
example a string of paperclips will hang from the end of a magnet. Magnets have a north and
south pole, when you put together north/north or south/south they will repel one another but
when you put together north/south they will be attracted to one another. There are lots of
activities which can be carried out to explore these concepts:
• What do magnets attract? This can be a fun, active way to explore the concept of
magnetism and how it works. Allow children to move around with a magnet to find out
which materials in the setting are magnetic and which are not. Then these items could
also be sorted into the two different categories.