Forces Teaching Resources
Teach students about types of force and how they make objects move with forces worksheets, science games, activities and more teacher resources.
Stocked with printables and digital activities that are NGSS curriculum-aligned, this resource collection has been created to save you time on lesson planning. Explore our teacher-created resources to find everything you need to teach about balanced and unbalanced forces, the effects of gravity and magnetism and more core physics concepts to meet your state standards.
Whether you're new to teaching this section of elementary science or your'e looking for fresh ways to engage your students, our teacher team has you covered. Read on for a definition of force for kids and a look at the different types of forces with kid-friendly ways to explain them all.
What Is Force in Science? A Kid-Friendly Definition
We've all experienced force — whether we knew it by name or not. But how do you explain what forces are to your students? Let's start with a kid-friendly forces definition that you can use in your science lessons.
Force is something that causes an object to move, stop moving or change direction or causes an object to change its shape or size.
Let's say the window of the classroom is open, and a gust of wind blows in, blowing a piece of paper off of your desk. That is an example of a force at work!
The gust of wind interacted with the piece of paper, and the force of the wind caused the paper to move.
2 Types of Forces Explained for Kids
There are two main types of forces found in nature — contact forces and non-contact forces.
Contact Forces
Contact forces are a type of force that involves direct contact between two things or objects.
This type of force is responsible for many of real-world examples that your students have likely experienced such as the force of a friend making a swing move by pushing it or the force that a child has to exert to push a bicycle across the grass.
The example described above, in which a piece of paper was moved by the force of the wind, is a prime example of contact forces.
Non-Contact Forces
If contact forces involve direct contact, it's no surprise that non-contact forces are the very opposite. These forces can make objects move or change even from a distance.
Some common examples of non-contact forces include magnetism and gravity.
What Are Balanced and Unbalanced Forces?
We've also found it can be helpful to keep an explanation of balanced and unbalanced forces at hand when you're teaching your forces unit!
Tied directly to Newton's Law of Motion, these two concepts help explain how a force will affect an object's motion.
- Balanced Forces — When an object is subject to balanced forces, it will remain at rest if it was initially at rest. If it was already in motion, it will continue moving at a constant velocity.
- Unbalanced Forces — If an object is acted upon by unbalanced forces, on the other hand, the object experiences a net force in a particular direction. Due to this imbalance, the object will accelerate in the direction of the net force.
- If the unbalanced force is in the same direction as the object's initial motion, the object to speed up. If the unbalanced force is in the opposite direction, the opposite will happen. It will cause the object to slow down.
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Push or Pull? Coloring Worksheet
Use this push and pull color-coding worksheet when exploring forces and motion in your 3rd grade science lessons.
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Forces and Motion Scavenger Hunt Worksheet
Use these forces and motion scavenger hunt worksheets when exploring push and pull forces in your 2nd and 3rd grade science lessons.
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Push or Pull? Cut and Paste Worksheet
Use these push and pull cut and paste worksheets when exploring forces and motion in your science lessons.
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Push and Pull Sorting Activity
Use these push and pull sorting cards as a hands-on activity during your science lessons on forces.
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Force and Motion Experiment – Throwing, Dropping, Bouncing, Rolling
Use this hands-on force and motion experiment when teaching your students about how forces influence the movement of objects.
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Push or Pull? Worksheet
Use this push or pull worksheet when exploring forces and motion in your 2nd and 3rd grade science lessons.
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Push or Pull? Interactive Activity
Get students to determine whether a force is a push or a pull with this engaging digital game for Grade 3 science lessons.
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Push and Pull Venn Diagram
Use this push and pull Venn diagram to help your students answer the question: Push, pull or both?
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Object Movement Investigation Worksheets
Get students to push or pull on an object with this forces investigation for your 2nd and 3rd grade science lessons.
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Pushes and Pulls Mini-Book
Explore pushes and pulls with your students with this printable mini-book perfect for 3rd grade science lessons.
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Push and Pull Examples – Matching Game
Have students explore examples of push and pull forces with this matching game to use during your forces and motion science unit.
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Push or Pull? Interactive Sorting Activity
Explore push and pull forces with your students by playing this interactive sorting game for lower elementary students.
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Forces in the Playground Worksheet
Download this forces in the playground worksheet to help your students explore the pushes and pulls that make playground equipment fun!
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Push and Pull Sorting Worksheet
Use this push and pull sorting worksheet when exploring forces and motion with your 3rd grade students.
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Push and Pull Toy Sorting Activity
Explore types of forces and practise classification skills with a printable Push and Pull Toy Sorting Activity.
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Action vs. Reaction Force Worksheet Pack
Explore action and reaction forces and improve student understanding of Newton’s 3rd Law with an Action vs. Reaction Force Worksheet Pack.
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Action & Reaction - Newton’s Third Law Game
Explore examples of Newton’s Third Law of Motion with an engaging Action & Reaction Game for 6th Grade.
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Newton's Laws of Motion Poster
Introduce the laws of motion and energy transfer with a printable Newton’s Laws of Motion Poster.
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Make a Dinosaur Long-Arm Activity
A fun activity to use in the classroom when learning about simple machines and how they work.
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Using Simple Machines - Worksheet
Download a set of simple machines worksheets to use in the classroom when learning about simple machines and how they can help use solve everyday problems.
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Drawing Simple Machines
A worksheet to use in the classroom when learning about simple machines and what they look like.
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Balanced and Unbalanced Forces Teaching Slides
Teach your students about balanced and unbalanced forces with this comprehensive and age-appropriate teaching presentation for 6th grade science lessons.
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The Force of Gravity Comprehension Worksheets
Download this gravity worksheet to teach your 3rd grade students about the force of gravity and its impact on our daily lives.
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The Force of Friction Comprehension Worksheets
Download this friction worksheet to teach your students about the force of friction and its impact on our daily lives.
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All About Gravity Mini-Book
Get students exploring gravity facts for kids with this printable mini-book perfect for 3rd grade science lessons.
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Fighting Gravity Interactive Clip Cards
Explore objects that must fight gravity to stay in their air with this set of 24 digital clip cards.
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Gravity Word Wall Vocabulary Cards
Immerse your students in gravity vocabulary with this set of 15 illustrated vocabulary cards perfect for a word wall display.
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Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion - Anchor Charts
Learn about Isaac Newton and his 3 Laws of Motion with a set of printable anchor charts.
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Newton’s Third Law Task Cards
Explore forces in the world with a set of printable Newton’s Third Law Task Cards for 6th graders.
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The Amazing Magnet Slide Deck
Use our ‘Amazing Magnet’ Slide Deck to teach your little learners about magnets and magnetism.
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Simple Machines Posters
5 illustrated posters to display in the classroom when learning about simple machines.
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Simple Machines - 3 Classes of Levers Posters
An illustrated poster to use in the classroom when learning about different types of levers.