If you’re thinking about bonding with your little ones in your free time, aside from watching movies and playing video games, you might want to try doing different science experiments with them. If you have kids under the age of ten, here are awesome science experiments you can conduct with them. More than having fun, your kids will also learn a lot from these experiments.
1. Peel a Raw Egg
Materials needed:
- An egg
- Regular white vinegar
- A glass jar with lid
First, put the egg inside the glass jar. Then pour vinegar to cover the egg. After a few minutes, you will notice tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas around the egg which is part of the chemical reaction happening inside the jar. Put on the lid and let it sit for about a week. After a week, carefully remove the egg from the vinegar and wash off any remaining eggshell. Now you have a shell-less egg.
2. Make Tensile Bubbles
Materials needed:
- Straight straws
- Pipe cleaners
- Bubble solution
- Tall Tupperware container
This experiment will let you and your kids create cubic bubbles! You can check out the full instructions with images included for this experiment here.
3. Create Fireworks in Oil and Water
Materials needed:
- Warm water
- Oil
- Food coloring with droppers
- Glass container
- Small cup
- Fork
First, fill a glass container with warm water. Leave an inch or so at the top for the oil to be added later. Then add oil to a small cup. You can let young kids do the pouring of oil because there’s no exact quantity needed. After that, add a few drops of food coloring to the oil. Then use a fork to stir the oil and food coloring together. They won’t mix but the stirring will break up the food coloring into smaller droplets. Then pour the mixture in the oil so it will layer on top of the water. The food coloring droplets will be suspended within the oil. Lastly, enjoy watching your fireworks science display with your kids!
4. Make Ice Grow
Materials needed:
- Water
- Water bottle
- Cup
If your kids are fans of Frozen, they will surely love this experiment. You can check out the full instructions for this experiment here. This will teach your kids about crystallization.
5. Make an Erupting Volcano
Materials needed:
- A small jar
- Tan, green, and blue play dough
- Dinosaur figurines
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Red food coloring
- Clear plastic tub
- Funnel
- Jug
First, place the jar in the center of the tub then let the kids create a volcanic island shape around it using the playdough. Ask them to create a surrounding island using the green and blue play dough as well. After that, add three tablespoons of baking soda to the jar inside the volcano. Then, prepare a jug with 2 cups of white vinegar with a few drops of red food coloring. Lastly, pour the vinegar mixture into the volcano. When it mixes with the baking soda, it will start to bubble and erupt. You can let your children make the volcano erupt all over again.
6. Explore How Water Travels Through a Leaf
Materials Needed:
- Leaves
- Scissors
- Clear cups
- Water
- Red food coloring
- Magnifying glass – optional
This science experiment will let you and your kids observe closely how leaves absorbs water. You can follow the detailed instructions here to conduct this experiment.
7. Create Bicolored Flowers
Materials needed:
- White gerbera daisies
- 4 champagne flutes or recycled glass jars/other similar containers
- Liquid food coloring (4 different colors)
- water
First, add water and different food coloring to each champagne flute. Then, carefully slice the flower stems. After that, put each flower leg into a different colored glass. Then wait for a few days for the colors to appear. You can also trim an inch off the bottom of the stems every other day. After a few days, you and your kids will see that the petals of the flowers have changed into the colors of the food coloring you used.
8. Blow Up Balloons Using Candies
Materials needed:
- Soda
- Pop rocks
- Nerds
- Balloons
This experiment will let your kids expand a balloon using soda and candy. Want to find out how? You can find the detailed instructions for this experiment here.
9. Create Edible Glass
Materials needed:
- ½ cup caster sugar
- 40ml glucose syrup or corn syrup
- 60ml water
- Pinch cream of tartar
- Butter or spray oil
- Baking paper
- Cooking thermometer
This experiment requires baking but you can let your kids help with measuring out the ingredients. First, line a baking tray with baking paper and grease it with butter or cooking spray. Then, with the help of your kids, measure out the sugar, glucose syrup, water, and cream of tartar then place them in a large saucepan. Mix them together then slowly bring the mixture to the boil until it reaches 150 degrees Celsius. After that, take the molten sugar glass of the stove and pour it onto the lined baking tray. In this part, you may call the kids to try the edible glass you’ve made. You can also drop the glass onto the baking paper and show the kids that it can shatter into shards just like real glass.
10. Magic Cloud Experiment
Materials needed:
- Large bottles
- Clay
- Ball pump
- Push pin
- Pencil
- Rubbing alcohol
This experiment will let your kids create their own cloud in a bottle. With your help of course. To know how to do it, you may visit this site for the detailed instructions.
11. Make Elephant Toothpaste
Materials needed:
- 1 tablespoon of dry yeast
- 3 tablespoons of warm water
- ½ cup 20-volume hydrogen peroxide
- Safety goggles
- Food coloring
- Liquid dish soap
- Small cup
- Soda bottle
Since hydrogen peroxide can irritate the eyes, make sure your kids will wear safety goggles. The first step is to pour the hydrogen peroxide into the bottle. Do this for your kids for safety purposes. Then add 8 drops of food coloring into the bottle. After that, add 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap and swish the bottle around to mix it. Then using a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast together and mix it for about 30 seconds. Lastly, pour the yeast and water mixture into the bottle and watch the foam overflow from the bottle.
12. Make Water Beads Glow
Materials needed:
- Clear water beads
- Tonic water
- Blacklight
Most kids love glowing things and water beads as well. So why not combine the two and make water beads glow? To find out how, you can visit this site for the full details and instructions.
13. Bend Water with Static Electricity
Materials needed:
- A dry plastic comb
- An indoor faucet
- A head full of clean dry hair
First, turn on the faucet and slowly turn down the water until it becomes a very thin stream of water flowing. Then take the plastic comb and brush it through your hair ten times. After that, slowly bring the comb close to the flowing water, without touching the water. The experiment works if the stream of water bend towards the comb.
14. Make Fossil Cookies
Materials needed:
- 1cup walnuts, toasted
- Salt
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Teaching your kids about paleontology and fossil records would be more fun if you make them into cookies. Visit this site for the recipe and full instructions in making fossil cookies.
15. Make a Paperclip Float
Materials needed:
- Clean dry paper clips
- Tissue paper
- A bowl of water
- Pencil with eraser
First, fill a bowl with water and try to make the paper clip float. You will see that it won’t float. What you need to do is tear a piece of tissue paper and gently drop it flat onto the surface of the water. Then, gently place a dry paper clip flat onto the tissue without touching the water or the tissue. After that, use the eraser end of the pencil to poke the tissue carefully until it sinks. The experiment is successful if the tissue sinks and the paper clip floats. This experiment is all about surface tension.
16. Bursting Bags Experiment
Materials needed:
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Gallon size bags
- Toilet paper
- Tablespoon measure and 2/3 cup measure
This is an outdoor science experiment your kids will enjoy. This activity will teach them about chemical reactions. You can find the full instruction of this experiment here.
17. The Magic Ketchup Experiment
Materials needed:
- 1 liter clear plastic bottle
- Ketchup pack from fast food restaurant
- Salt
This experiment is about buoyancy. First, fill the bottle with water then place a ketchup pack in it. If the ketchup floats, screw the cap on the bottle and squeeze the sides of the bottle hard. After doing that, the ketchup pack should sink when you squeeze it and float when you release it.
If the ketchup sinks after putting it in the bottle, add 3 tablespoons of salt into the bottle. Cap the bottle then shake it up until the salt dissolves. Continue adding salt until the ketchup pack is barely floating to the top of the bottle. Lastly, squeeze the bottle. The magic ketchup should sink when you squeeze the bottle and float when you release it.
18. Color Changing Milk
Materials needed:
- 500ml milk
- 1 round or square plate
- Food coloring: red, orange, and green
- Dishwashing liquid
- 5 earbuds
- 3-5 pipettes or droppers
- 5 plastic bowls
First, fill some water in a bowl then add some food color. Make solutions for each food color. After that, pour enough milk in a plate. Then add one drop of food color in the center of the plate. Then further add different food colors and make sure they are at the center of the plate. Then, dip an earbud at the center and observe. After that, try dipping an earbud with dishwashing liquid into it and observe the rush of colors.
19. Seed Science
Materials needed:
- Paper towels
- Water
- Seeds
Another fun and interesting science experiment your kids will love is growing different seeds in a jar. Kids are observant and they’ll sure enjoy observing seeds grow into a plant without using soil. Find out here how.
20. Ivory Soap Experiment
Materials needed:
- Ivory soap
- Microwave
This is a very easy experiment. All you need to do is place the ivory soap in the microwave and set it to 2 minutes. Your kids will surely be amazed at the result as the ivory soap will grow bigger and foamy as well.
These are just some of the many science experiments your little kids might like. We hope these will help you have a great time with your children.