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Paranormal Claims Laboratory

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Kids design fair tests for spooky claims — like a haunted object or a dowsing rod — using blind trials and controls to see what evidence actually holds up.

More Halloween STEAM projects →

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • empty soda canRequired0 (nothing to buy)use what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$71.51 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups). Exceeds $25 per class.

Classroom cardboard or boxes can lower the cost.

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • Bar magnetsRequired3 x 2 magnets2 magnets$9.00Amazon
  • small compassesRequired1 x 20 compasses20 compasses$6.64Amazon
  • paper clipsRequired1 x 1 box (count not shown in title)1 box (count not shown in title)$2.43Amazon
  • balloonsRequired1 x 100 balloons100 balloons$6.99Amazon
  • foil and cardboard sheetsRequired1 x 1 roll / 75 sq ft + 1 x 25 sheets1 roll / 75 sq ft + 25 sheets$5.97 + $16.49AmazonAmazon
  • blindfold or screenRequired1 x 10 masks10 masks$5.99Amazon

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$71.51 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 35 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 15 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Paranormal Claims Laboratory, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Pick a spooky claim to investigate and predict what result would actually count as evidence for or against it.
  2. Design a fair test with a control condition, randomization, and a way to keep the tester blind to the answer.
  3. Run multiple trials, find the first results look convincing until a control trial exposes a flaw, and redesign the test to remove it.
  4. Present the lab's verdict with the data, explaining exactly why the test does or doesn't support the claim.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Paranormal Claims Laboratory when it can present the lab's verdict with the data, explaining exactly why the test does or doesn't support the claim and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

everyday objects to test, blindfold, notecards, coin for randomization, timer, clipboard; Bar magnets; small compasses; paper clips; balloons; empty soda can; foil and cardboard sheets; blindfold or screen

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Watch a 'haunted' demo: a paper clip ghost or compass needle moves on its own (a magnet hidden under the table) and a can rolls toward a balloon. Predict what would count as evidence for a ghost versus a hidden force.
  2. Learn the idea of a field: a region around a magnet or charged object where forces act on other objects without contact.
  3. Design a fair test with a control: the tester is blindfolded or behind a screen, a partner randomly decides each trial whether a magnet (or rubbed balloon) is hidden, and the tester records whether the object moved.
  4. Run at least 10 trials and record results. Then map the field: move a compass around the hidden magnet and record needle direction at 10 points, and measure how far away the object starts to move.
  5. Test what blocks or does not block the effect (paper, cardboard, aluminum foil, a steel sheet) and record results.
  6. Evaluate your experimental design: list one flaw (such as the tester hearing the magnet placed), fix it, and rerun the trials.
  7. Present the lab's verdict with data showing the force acts without contact, a field map, and an explanation of how your design ruled out other causes.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS2-5

    Conduct an investigation and evaluate the experimental design to provide evidence that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other even though the objects are not in contact.