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Science experiments at home is one of the easiest ways to demonstrate complex topics to kids. Plus, they’re fun and engaging for kids of all ages.
We have compiled some of the best at-home science experiments that you can use to enrich your at-home learning experience!
All of these experiments are fun to do, but before beginning, remember to go through the scientific method to ensure that the experiment is educational (as well as fun!).
Have your child create a hypothesis and make predictions before beginning. Then, have them extend their learning, but testing their hypothesis further with additional questions after they complete the experiment.
Happy learning!
Did you know that purified water (or water without any particles in it) takes longer in the freezer to become solid? That’s part of what makes this science experiment at home so much fun to do.
Beginning with a bottle of purified water put the unopened bottle into the freezer for a little less than three hours. When you pull the bottle out of the freezer, you’ll notice it’s well-chilled but not solid.
Next, place ice onto a plate. Using your ultra-chilled purified water, slowly pour the water directly onto the ice cubes.
What happens next will appear to be true magic as the ice begins to grow right before your eyes!
So is the ice growing, or is Elsa hiding somewhere in the background magically creating it? Neither! Since purified water is void of all impurities, it won’t freeze as quickly. However, when added to the ice cube, the ice serves as the nuclei for the water. This allows the water to freeze instantly!
For this experiment, you will need an egg, vinegar, and a jar.
Fill the jar with vinegar and gently add the raw egg. Make sure there is enough vinegar to cover the egg completely.
It will take two days for the entire experiment to work. After about 12 hours, you will notice a white foam at the top of your jar– that’s the eggshell!
After two days, gently remove the egg from the vinegar and rinse.
Now you have an egg without a shell! You can safely bound the egg (within 1-2 inches of its landing spot).
For added excitement, place the naked egg into a cup of water and see how much more it will grow! Since the egg is predominantly water, there is more room for it to grow.
Vinegar is an acid, which allows for it to dissolve the calcium carbonate shell. Since the egg is protected by two fragile membranes, the egg will still be contained once the shell dissolves.
Hey parents! This experiment requires lighter fluid and, you guessed it, fire. It’s probably a great experiment to do outside with close supervision.
In a bowl, combine 4 teaspoons with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. In a disposable tin, fill with sand and make a small mound in the center.
Pour lighter fluid on the mound and make sure the sand is well saturated.
Spoon the sugar and baking soda mixture onto the mound.
Carefully light the sand near the sugar mixture. As the mixture mixes with the fire, the snake will begin to grow! It’s a slow process, so be patient! It can take up to 20 minutes for the full effect to take place.
Numerous reactions are happening in this experiment to work. First, the sugar burning mixed with the oxygen creates carbon dioxide gas and water vapor. This reaction causes the sugar and baking soda to continue to push upwards to the fresh air.
This solid carbon now gives the snake some shape and also gives the snake its black color.
Lastly, the baking soda also decomposes in the heat, producing solid sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide gas, and water vapor. Altogether, these three reactions produce both the solid components of the snake (carbon and sodium carbonate) and hot gases (CO2 and water vapor) that expand and inflate the snake up and out of the sand bowl.”
Finally, the sand serves as the heating plate for the entire reaction. It allows the heat to be evenly distributed,, allowing for the steady burn that allows your snake to grow.
Have a lot of egg shells laying around? This activity is fun to create and even more fun to play with. Starting with 10 clean and dry eggshells, crush the shells into a fine powder (this could easily be done with a food processor).
Add two teaspoons of flour to your eggshells and slowly add hot water until you create a still paste.
Add food coloring to the paste and form into a shape (with either ice cube trays or by rolling the paste into a paper towel).
Let the stick of paste dry completely and you will have a fully functional stick of chalk!
For this experiment, you will need a measuring cup, 1 cup of milk, a mug and microwavable container, paper towels, and a spoon.
Heat your milk in a microwavable container (about 5 minutes on 50% power). The milk should be hot chocolate temperature.
Once warm enough, add 4 tablespoons of vinegar into the mug. Begin stirring until small curbs begin to form.
Layer paper towers until thick on a surface that can get wet (like a plate).
Spoon the curds from the milk and place onto the paper towels, pressing the towels on top of the curds to get the extra moisture out.
Being kneading and molding the curds into any shape, you have successfully created Casein Plastic. The plastic will dry and fully harden within 48 hours.
All plastics are built with repeated molecules called polymers. The protein in milk, called Casein, undergoes a reaction when added to acid. This reaction changes the Casein and reorganizes the molecules into the curdles and eventually creates the polymer Casein Plastic.
Gather dirty copper coins (at least 6) and add one to mixtures of the following solutions, 1/4c each:
Properly label each mixture and allow the coin to sit in the mixture for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the coins and wash off.
Observe the coins: which one is cleanest? Which one is the shiniest? Was the result what you expected?
When copper interacts with oxygen, it starts to tarnish (or get dirty looking). To clean the copper, you must put it into acid to break down the oxidation. The vinegar is effective as breaking down the oxidation but so is the ketchup (since there is acid in vinegar and tomatoes). The clear winner will be the vinegar and salt combination, since the mixture creates hydrochloric acid– a more acidic vinegar!
In a small cake pan, add about an inch of flour. Then lightly add sprinkles, next sift cocoa power over the top of the flour and sprinkles, covering the surface completely.
Using a rock, create craters in the surface by dropping the rock from various heights above the pan.
To extend the experiment try dropping differently sized rocks and from different heights to observe how the craters size changes.
The three layers of the flour, sprinkles, and cocoa create the layers of the moon’s surface. This activity will help illustrate how space rocks that impact the moon affect the surface through the creation of craters.
For this science experiment, keep any turkey or chicken bones from aside after a meal. Make sure the bones are clean of any meat, and test the bone to ensure that it doesn’t bend easily.
Next, add the bone to a jar filled with vinegar and cover it. Leave the bone in the vinegar for three days. Remove the bone, rinse, and try bending it — does it bend more easily now?
You have now created a rubber bone!
As we already have covered, vinegar is an acidic liquid that dissolves calcium. Since bones are predominantly made of calcium, when it’s submerged in vinegar, the calcium dissolves.
Now you know why you’re always told to drink milk to get strong bones! The more calcium you consume, the stronger you will be!
Collect small rocks and wash them. Then dissolve 1/4 cup salt into 1/2 cup of boiling water. Stir the salt until it is nearly dissolved, then pour over the rocks (in a small pan) and let dry.
This experiment, much like the rock candy experiment, uses the over saturation of salt in water to create the crystals. As the water dissolves, the salt will be left behind on the rocks, creating a unique experiment.
This experiment is a great way to teach kids about the crystallization process. To get started, all you need is water, sugar, a clothespin, a pot, and some wooden skewers (you can also grab some food dye to make the crystals even more beautiful).
Bring two cups of water to a boil in the pot on the stove. Next, stir in 4 cups of sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves (if you want to add flavor, now is the time to do it! I recommend vanilla or root beer extract).
Allow the mixture to cool for 15 – 20 minutes. While you’re waiting, saturate your skewers in water and roll them in granulated sugar. Set the stick aside to allow for the sugar to dry completely to the sticks.
Once the sugar solution has cooled completely, pour the solution into jars and insert the sugar-covered skewers into the jars. You must make sure that the stick is not touching the jar.
Secure the top of the stick with the clothespin and cover the glass’s top with a paper towel.
Set the jars aside in a cool and quiet place where they will grow for the next two weeks. The crystals can break if there is too many loud noises or movement. When you are happy with your crystals (in about 10-14 days), remove the stick from the mixture to dry and enjoy!
Science is one of the most fun subjects in school and it’s easy to see why. With experiments like these, kids can often forget they’re even learning! Are you looking for more ways to include science in your child’s life? ArgoPrep has created award-winning science workbooks to enrich science education at any age. Filled with fun and interactive practice, your child will see improvements in their understanding in as little as 20 minutes per day!
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