Teachers across the UK want practical, curriculum-aligned resources that help KS2 pupils get to grips with forces and motion through hands-on learning and straightforward explanations. Forces and motion KS2 resources include ready-made PowerPoints, activity worksheets, and lesson plans covering gravity, friction, air resistance, and simple machines, all while ticking off National Curriculum objectives.
LearningMole, a UK educational platform, offers free curriculum-aligned science videos that show children aged 4-11 these concepts with visual demonstrations.
Michelle Connolly, who founded LearningMole and taught primary classes for over 15 years, says, “forces can feel abstract to young learners, but when you connect the science to real objects they push, pull, and move every day, understanding clicks into place.” The trick to teaching forces well is mixing clear instruction with practical investigations.
Whether you’re introducing Year 3 pupils to pushes and pulls, or helping Year 5 children explore levers and pulleys, the right resources save planning time and spark engagement.
From BBC Bitesize forces lessons to Twinkl’s illustrated PowerPoints, you’ll find materials created by teachers who know what actually works in class. These resources break tricky ideas into simple steps, use colourful diagrams, and offer activities so children can test out science for themselves.
Key Takeaways
Forces are pushes and pulls that change how objects move. Motion just means objects moving from one place to another.
Once you see how these ideas fit together, you can explain why a football soars through the air or why a bike slows down when you stop pedalling.
A force is simply a push or a pull acting on something. You use forces all the time—opening a door, kicking a ball, or picking up your bag.
Forces make things start or stop moving, speed up, slow down, or even change direction. They can also squash, stretch, or bend things.
Some forces need contact, like pushing a trolley. Others, like gravity or magnetism, work from a distance.
In KS2 science, you learn about different types of forces: friction, air resistance, water resistance, and magnetic forces. Each one works in its own way to change how things move around you.
Motion happens when something changes its position over time. If it moves from one spot to another, it’s in motion.
You can talk about motion using words like speed (how fast it moves) and direction (which way it goes). Put them together and you get velocity.
Objects can go in straight lines, curves, or even circles. But they only move if a force acts on them.
Without forces, things that are still stay still. Things that are moving just keep going at the same speed and direction. That’s why astronauts float in space, since there’s hardly any friction or air resistance to slow them down.
Forces in action change how things move, and you can predict what happens next. A bigger force gives a bigger change in motion than a small force.
If you push a toy car gently, it rolls a bit. Push it harder, and it zooms off. The size of the force matters.
The direction matters too. Push a swing forward, it goes forward. Pull it back, and it swings the other way.
Several forces can act on something at once. If they work together in the same direction, they add up. If they pull against each other, they cancel out.
Balanced forces make things stay put or keep moving steadily. Unbalanced forces make things speed up, slow down, or change direction.
Forces are pushes or pulls that make things move, stop, speed up, slow down or change direction. KS2 pupils learn about gravity pulling things down, friction slowing things, and resistance from air and water.
Gravity pulls everything towards the Earth’s centre. If you drop a pencil or jump up, gravity drags you back down.
This happens because unsupported things fall towards the ground when nothing holds them up.
The National Curriculum says Year 5 pupils need to know why things fall when unsupported. Teaching resources on gravity help children explore this with hands-on activities.
A gravity worksheet might ask children to guess which things will fall faster. They often discover that, without air resistance, everything falls at the same speed no matter the weight.
Sir Isaac Newton explained how gravity works, and his discoveries still shape what children learn now.
Friction happens when two surfaces rub together. It slows things down or helps them grip and move.
If you walk on carpet, high friction stops you slipping. On ice, low friction makes it easy to slide.
Children can feel friction by rubbing their hands together fast. That warmth is friction at work.
In class, teachers show friction using things like sandpaper, wood, and plastic. Friction isn’t always a nuisance.
Car brakes use friction to stop safely. Shoes have grippy soles for better footing. Without friction, you couldn’t hold a pen, ride a bike, or even walk normally.
Air resistance pushes against things moving through air. Ride your bike quickly and you’ll feel the air pushing back.
Parachutes work by creating loads of air resistance, so a person falls slowly.
Water resistance is similar, but in water. Swimmers feel water pushing against them as they move. Fish have streamlined shapes to glide through water more easily.
These forces change how things move in different materials. A feather falls slowly because air resistance pushes on its big surface. A stone falls quickly since there’s less air to push against.
Gravity investigations let students see how unsupported objects fall towards Earth and why balance matters. These hands-on activities make tricky ideas much clearer with simple experiments that use hardly any equipment.
You can introduce gravity with practical activities that show how this force affects movement. A favourite gravity investigation KS2 worksheet has four balance challenges using just a chair and a coin.
In the first experiment, one student sits while another places a finger on their forehead. The seated student tries to stand up without leaning forward. It just doesn’t work—you have to shift your centre of gravity above your legs to stay balanced.
Another challenge asks students to stand with their back against a wall and pick up a coin from the floor without falling over. They soon realise they can’t, because their centre of gravity moves too far forward.
These activities show how gravity always pulls things down. Your body needs the centre of gravity in the right place, or you’ll topple.
The experiments suit KS2 science lessons well because they’re safe, fun, and don’t need special kit.
Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity acts between all objects, not just Earth and falling things. You can help students get this by dropping different weights at the same time.
Newton proved gravity pulls everything at the same rate, no matter its mass. In a vacuum, a heavy book and a light feather would fall together.
In class, air resistance messes with lighter objects, which sparks great discussions about forces acting on falling objects.
Students often find it surprising that Newton’s observations about apples led to understanding why planets orbit the Sun. The same gravity that pulls things to Earth keeps planets circling stars in the solar system.
You can measure gravity’s pull using force meters. This shows weight changes depending on gravity’s strength. For example, something weighing 100 newtons on Earth would weigh less on the Moon.
Students get friction best when they can test materials and see how surfaces affect movement. These hands-on experiments help children understand forces in action through real observation and collecting data.
Set up simple ramp experiments with a wooden board propped up at one end. Place different objects—like toy cars, wooden blocks, or plastic tubs—on the ramp and see how far they go on different surfaces.
Students can time how long things take to stop and jot down the results. This shows how friction slows moving objects down at different rates depending on the materials.
Try adding weights to see if heavier objects make more friction. Children can make graphs comparing distance travelled and surface type, which ties in with their maths skills too.
LearningMole has free videos showing friction experiments that match Year 5 National Curriculum aims. You might want to look at the activities and worksheets for KS2 to help with your lesson planning.
Set up testing stations with sandpaper, carpet, bubble wrap, foil and smooth plastic. Let students pull objects across each surface, using a force meter to measure how much force they need to overcome friction.
Put up a classroom chart so children can record which surfaces create the most and least friction. They’ll probably notice that rougher textures need more force to move objects.
This practical activity helps students see how the type of surface affects how things move. Ask your pupils to guess which surfaces will give the most resistance before they start testing.
You could take things further by checking if wet or dry surfaces change friction levels. Try linking this to everyday examples like wet roads or playgrounds.
Let students see resistance forces in action with hands-on activities. Air and water both create friction against moving objects, and these experiments show how shape and surface matter for speed.
Air resistance is a kind of friction that pushes against things moving through the air. Help students explore this by dropping paper cones or cupcake cases from the same height and watching which one falls fastest.
Parachute experiments are always a hit with Year 5. Let students design parachutes from plastic bags, tissue paper or fabric, then drop them from a set height and time how long they take to land.
Change up the variables:
Surface area really matters for air resistance. A bigger parachute catches more air, so it slows down more.
Ask students to guess what will happen, then record what they see in a table. Analysing patterns is part of the fun.
Water resistance acts like air resistance, but it’s much stronger because water is thicker than air. Boat investigation activities let students test how different shapes move through water.
Let students make simple boats from plasticine or foil. They can try out wide and flat, long and thin, or rounded shapes.
Once the boats are ready, place them in a water tray. Students gently push each boat and measure how far it travels.
Streamlined shapes cut down water resistance, letting water flow smoothly around them. That’s why fish, dolphins and submarines look the way they do.
You might want to check LearningMole for videos showing these ideas to primary students.
Make sure students keep the push force the same each time and only change the boat shape. This helps them see that shape, not force, affects the distance travelled.
Simple machines help us move things by changing the size or direction of forces. These tools let us use less effort to lift, push or pull heavy stuff.
Levers use a fulcrum (that fixed point) so you can lift heavy things with less force. When you push down on one end of a seesaw, the other end goes up. The lever transfers your force from one side to the other.
Pulleys change the direction of a force, making lifting easier. With a fixed pulley, you pull down instead of lifting up, which feels easier for most people.
You can try pulley investigations with your class to show how pulleys work.
Gears are wheels with teeth that fit together and turn each other. When one gear spins, it makes the next one turn too. Gears can speed things up, slow them down or change direction.
Your pupils spot simple machines all the time, even if they don’t realise it. A playground slide is just an inclined plane that makes it easy to get down from a height.
Scissors work as two levers joined at a fulcrum, letting you cut through paper or fabric.
Bikes show forces in action, using gears and wheels together. A bottle opener acts as a lever to remove caps with hardly any effort.
Wheelbarrows mix a lever with a wheel and axle, making it easier to move heavy loads.
LearningMole has free videos showing simple machines in real life, so Year 5 and Year 6 can link learning to everyday stuff. Flagpoles use pulleys to raise flags, and ramps help move heavy furniture into lorries.
Forces are everywhere, all day long. When you open a door or ride your bike, you use pushes and pulls to move, stop or change direction.
You use pushes and pulls constantly. You push a shopping trolley to get it moving. You pull open a drawer to change its position.
Some everyday examples:
Some forces work without touching things. Gravity pulls you towards Earth, keeping your feet planted. Magnets can push away or pull together magnetic materials without touching. We call these non-contact forces. Pushes and pulls that need touch are contact forces.
When forces on an object are equal in size but opposite in direction, they balance out. A book sitting on a table has balanced forces: gravity pulls it down, the table pushes it up just as strongly.
Unbalanced forces make things start moving, speed up, slow down or change direction. When you kick a football, your foot gives an unbalanced force that gets it rolling.
Air resistance slows the ball as it moves, acting in the opposite direction.
Here’s a quick comparison:
| Balanced Forces | Unbalanced Forces |
|---|---|
| Object stays still or moves at constant speed | Object changes speed or direction |
| Forces are equal in size | One force is stronger |
| No change in motion | Motion changes |
You can spot these ideas everywhere. When you sit in a chair, balanced forces keep you still. When you stand up, your legs create an unbalanced force that lifts you against gravity.
Teachers can pick from loads of ready-made materials for forces and motion lessons. You’ll find printable worksheets covering gravity and friction, plus hands-on activities that get pupils moving.
Worksheets help pupils get to grips with vocabulary and the main ideas about forces. Twinkl has activities and worksheets for Year 3 to Year 6.
A gravity worksheet usually has diagrams showing gravity pulling objects down. Pupils might need to show which way gravity acts or predict what happens when something falls.
Many worksheets also cover air resistance, water resistance and friction using real-life examples like parachutes or bikes.
You’ll find educational resources with video content and printables. LearningMole has curriculum-matched videos and worksheets that explain forces concepts in simple terms.
BBC Bitesize has learning resources for KS2 science forces topics. They break down trickier ideas into smaller steps, matching what pupils cover in each year.
Hands-on activities make forces real. Try simple experiments like testing how different surfaces affect friction or building ramps to explore gravity.
Ready-to-teach Forces KS2 lessons come with slides and printables that cover National Curriculum objectives. Often, these lessons have games where pupils sort forces into contact and non-contact, or investigate how magnets work.
Interactive games go down well on whiteboards. Pupils can match force names to definitions, label force diagrams, or guess what will happen in experiments.
Teaching resources from Wordwall include vocabulary activities and quizzes you can adapt for your class.
Group challenges, like building the strongest bridge or fastest toy car, get pupils working together. They have to think about how forces affect structures and movement.
Twinkl has ready-made teaching materials designed by real teachers. They save you time and keep KS2 science lessons fun and on track with the National Curriculum.
Twinkl’s forces and motion materials include PowerPoints, worksheets, display resources and visual aids. They cover key concepts like gravity, friction, air resistance and water resistance.
The resources suit different learning abilities with activities at different levels. You’ll find stuff about Sir Isaac Newton and his discovery of gravity.
PowerPoints for KS2 children help structure lessons and keep pupils interested with visuals.
Activities and worksheets guide students through investigations, like checking if heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones. These include record sheets for writing up experiments and focusing on fair testing.
The Year 5 Gravity Investigation Differentiated Activity Sheets make it easy to teach about falling objects. You just need a few basics like tape measures, weighing scales and some everyday items for testing.
Display resources help you put up visual reminders of force definitions, which really supports vocabulary. Teachers like these for reinforcing words like gravity, friction and resistance throughout the topic.
LearningMole offers free curriculum-aligned videos that explain forces and motion for KS2. You’ll find hands-on activity ideas too, which fit nicely with worksheets.
If you’re teaching from home, parent packs come in handy. They’ve got hand-drawn pictures and clear steps, so you can deliver science lessons confidently, even if you’re not a teacher.
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Teachers often wonder where to find good materials for teaching forces and motion. These answers cover classroom activities, interactive resources, lesson planning tools and teaching strategies for different ages.
Try hands-on experiments like building simple machines to show how pulleys, levers and gears work. The National Academy has free lessons on forces and simple machines that fit the Year 5 curriculum.
Set up friction experiments where students drag objects across sandpaper, carpet and smooth wood to see how friction changes movement. You could also race toy cars down ramps at different angles to explore gravity and air resistance.
LearningMole shares video tutorials that show forces through visual experiments. Group challenges like designing paper helicopters or parachutes help pupils learn about air resistance and develop their enquiry skills.
BBC Bitesize offers interactive forces resources made for KS2, with quizzes and activities. Pupils can test their understanding of contact and non-contact forces in digital formats.
Twinkl has activities and worksheets about pushes and pulls, including mind maps and lesson resources. Their materials go from simple identification to more challenging problem-solving for Year 6.
You’ll also find printable worksheets on forces and motion to make your own tests for your class. Many include answer keys for faster marking.
Year 3 pupils need clear, simple explanations about forces as pushes and pulls. Teaching resources on forces and magnets for Year 3 include lesson one materials aimed at this age, focusing on the basics.
Start with examples from daily life, like opening doors or kicking balls. A teacher resource guide explains that forces cause motion when you interact with objects, which makes sense to younger children.
LearningMole has videos with clear visuals and language that suit Year 3. Plan activities where pupils sort images into ‘push’ and ‘pull’ before trying out magnet experiments to show non-contact forces.
Gravity pulls everything towards Earth. You can show this by dropping different objects at the same time.
Pupils are often surprised to learn that a heavy book and a light feather (in a vacuum) fall at the same rate, though in real life the feather drops more slowly. Use examples like jumping and coming back down, or throwing a ball and watching it return to the ground.
Ask pupils what would happen if gravity stopped working. This gets them thinking about how this invisible force shapes their lives.
Let children do drop tests with different objects to see gravity’s pull. Set up a simple investigation where they predict which items will fall fastest, then test and talk about why air resistance slows some things down.
A KS2 science practice test PDF covers gravity, friction, air resistance and simple machines for Year 4 and 5. It comes with answers, so it’s handy for teaching and assessment.
Many educational sites offer free PDF downloads, though some ask you to make a free account. EverySchool shares interactive teaching resources with question sets you can print for class.
You can also use teaching materials from BBC that explain forces and motion with activities. These PDFs include teacher guidance and pupil worksheets, helping you plan full lessons.
Start your lesson by showing the PowerPoint as a visual introduction, then switch to hands-on experiments. Use the slides to highlight key vocabulary, diagrams of forces, and real-world examples. Pupils can refer to these during practical activities.
Keep each presentation segment brief, around five to seven minutes. Show a few slides about friction. Then let students try out a friction experiment. After that, bring everyone back together and share another short presentation segment to discuss what they found.
Forces and movement lesson information packs offer pages with bright illustrations you can drop into your slides. Try adding interactive bits, like prediction slides where pupils guess what will happen before you reveal the answer. You could also use video clips to show forces in action when you can’t safely recreate them in class.
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