Magnets on Metal Exploration

For the past few months I’ve asked families to collect their tin cans and bring them to school.  Last week I finally felt we had enough to set up an activity with magnets.  This activity was inspired by a post over at Teach Preschool.
               
Bowls were set up with ‘extras’, which included…            
   
Magnet-backed foam letters, great for identifying and matching our ABCs.
Plus they added some colour to the table.

     
Magnet wands helped us learn how magnets can move items around.

And how they are tools to help us stack cans to make a tower.

   
Various small magnets were used to stick cans and metal pieces together.  Sometimes they look like a face.

     
Frozen juice can lids were great for picking up and building sculptures.


Metal nuts were fun to pick up with the magnet wand because they became magnetized as they were lifted and all stuck together.  They were heavy to lift.


And the super-magnets were very strong.  They stick through our hand and the table.

          
I'm wondering what else I can add to extend this activity?  Any ideas?