Science fair are organized in different ways depending on the science teacher and school traditions. Most schools expect a whole lot more than one day science fair projects. To avoid the last minute rush, parents should find out at the beginning of the year when the science fair will be held. When they go in for parent conferences the should ask about the requirements and what kind of set up or display is needed. Parents who having this information ahead of time hopefully will avoid that surprise, less than 24 hour science project madhouse that will turn your peaceful home life upside down.
If the teacher tells you that the students choose their own project, then searching online for some cool science fair projects for kids will be something you and your child can take time to do together. There are free sites that offer science fair project ideas, but usually you have to sift through them all to find ones that are well written, and that follow the standard scientific process required by science teachers. It might be worth looking for something you can just buy that has a variety topics to choose from and most importantly is teacher created. This way you have something to use now and in the future.
One preparation tip for finding a good resource is to exploring the ones that advertise one day science fair projects, 24 hour science projects or home science projects for kids. What you will find are really well organized projects, with easy to follow directions that are set up with standard educational format: Purpose, Hypothesis, Supplies, Procedure, Data, Results, Conclusion, Research. Because of the organization one day science fair projects could, in a crunch, be done in a day but also have directions for making the experiment last a couple of days. The important tip here is that the organization creates a well thought out project. Then you can take all the time you need to really produce a cool project your child can present at science fair.
Once a science fair project is chosen, get your child and calendar together. Then you need to get everything listed on the calendar starting when the science fair is. Calculate the number of days you need get the project finished, and figure out which days you will do that and put those days on the calendar. Do not forget to include preparation and practice time. Cool one day science fair projects can turn into totally awesome experience and not a panicked less than 24 hour science project madhouse.