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✋ Describing Materials

Is it hard or soft? Shiny or dull? Rough or smooth? Learn fun words to describe the things all around you.

lessons

~15 min

to learn

🔬 Science

subject

Ages 6–12

level

Start the course →

What you’ll learn

Hard and SoftLearn to tell hard things from soft things and sort them.Everything is made of materials. Hard things, like a rock or a spoon, keep their shape when you press them. Soft things, like a teddy or a pillow, squish when you squeeze them. We can sort things into hard and soft.
Shiny, Dull, Rough, SmoothLearn the words shiny, dull, rough, and smooth to describe how things look and feel.Shiny things, like a spoon, sparkle and bounce light back. Dull things, like cardboard, do not shine. Rough things, like a brick, feel bumpy. Smooth things, like a table, feel flat and slidey. These words help us describe how things look and feel.
Let's Describe!Add the words bendy and see-through and practise describing everyday things.Some things are bendy, like a rubber band that stretches and springs back. Some things are see-through, like a glass window you can look through. With words like hard, soft, shiny, dull, rough, smooth, bendy, and see-through, we can describe all the things around us.

Questions this course answers

Which of these is soft?

A teddy bear squishes when you squeeze it, so it is soft.

What happens when you press something hard, like a rock?

Hard things keep their shape when you push them, so a rock does not squish.

A shiny spoon does what in the light?

Shiny things bounce the light back, so a spoon sparkles.

How does a bumpy brick feel?

A brick feels bumpy, and bumpy things are rough.

Which word means you can see right through it?

See-through things, like a glass window, let you see what is behind them.

A rubber band can bend and stretch. What word fits it?

Things that bend and stretch, like a rubber band, are bendy.

Grounded in trusted sources

BBC Bitesize
Britannica Kids
National Geographic Kids

Every Wunder lesson is built from real, reputable sources — never invented.

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