How to Make a Naked Egg

Make a Naked Egg

Peeling isn't just for hard-boiled eggs; you can separate the shell from an unboiled egg simply by soaking it in vinegar! Not only will you be left with a "naked egg," but you'll also have a chemistry lesson to go along!

Full post: How to Make a Naked Egg

How to Make a Soda Bottle Volcano

Make a Soda Bottle Volcano

Making a soda-bottle volcano is a classic science experiment that doubles as a great excuse to make an explosive mess. Read on for instructions on making a make a soda-bottle volcano with soda and Mentos (which can produce eruptions of up to 18 feet if done correctly) or with the classic baking soda and vinegar combo; additionally, scroll down to find instructions on designing the volcano itself.

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Glittery Volcano

Glittery Volcano

This project is part science experiment, part sensory fun! The volcanic reaction of vinegar and baking soda, with some glitter for extra sparkle, exploding over corn starch made some wonderful pretend snow to play in. Although easy to set up, it occupied my kids for nearly an hour afterwards.

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Salt Water vs. Fresh Water

Salt Water vs. Fresh Water

Explore the difference in density between salt water and fresh water with this easy experiment.

What You'll Need:

- Water (2 glasses)

- Salt

- Spoon

- Food coloring

- Ice

Full post: Salt Water vs. Fresh Water

Exploding Colors in Milk

Exploding Colors in Milk

Make colors swirl and mix in milk.

What You'll Need: 

- Whole milk

- Food coloring

- Dishwashing liquid

- Cotton

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How to make a Tornado in a Bottle

Make a Tornado in a Bottle

Make a Tornado in a Bottle

Learn how to make a tornado in a bottle with this fun science experiment for kids. Using easy to find items such as dish washing liquid, water, glitter and a bottle you can make your own mini tornado that’s a lot safer than one you might see on the weather channel. Follow the instructions and enjoy the cool water vortex you create!

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How to make Glowing Water

Make Glowing Water

Make Glowing Water

Make glowing water with the help of a black light in this fun science experiment for kids.

Tonic water doesn't look very strange under normal light but what happens when you look at it under a black light? Does the dye from a highlighter pen do the same thing? Find out what happens and why it happens with this cool experiment that you can do at home.

What you'll need:

- A black light (you can find them at places like Walmart and hardware stores, as well as online stores like Amazon).

- Tonic water or a highlighter pen.

- A dark room to do the experiment

Full post: Make Glowing Water

Ice Sculptures with Salt and Liquid Watercolors

Ice Sculptures with Salt and Liquid Watercolors 

This colorful salt and ice sculpture activity is an oldie but a goody. I've seen it around a fair bit, but we hadn't tried it ourselves until just recently

First, I made a block of ice by freezing water in a milk carton. I set the ice in a baking dish and let Maia take over for the rest of the art project (or is it a science project? both I guess). I think you're supposed to sprinkle salt on top of the ice. Maia poured salt on top. Lots of it. First coarse sea salt, then Morton's table salt.

Full post: Ice Sculptures with Salt and Liquid Watercolors 

Magic Potion Spoons

Magic Potion Spoons

Today we decided to try an experiment that I saw from one of my favorite bloggers, Mom To 2 Posh Lil Divas. Rather than tell my kids we were doing an experiment, I told them we were going to have fun with some magic potion spoons. What kid doesn't love magic? My kids definitely had a lot fun, especially when trying to guess what color potion they would get next. We'll definitely be doing this again soon!

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Science Experiment: Sparkly Explosion

Sparkly Explosion

My daughter has been requesting science experiments that explode, sparkle, and use fire!  I love child-led learning because it helps cultivate a love for education and skills to learn independently in the future.  It is also a form of assessment because you can see exactly how your child is processing information you have already taught.  This little gem is completely my daughter's creation, but we all loved it.  I hope you have as much fun with it as we did!  And don't worry--I have several more fiery experiments and demonstrations to put up soon!

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Celery and Food Coloring Experiment

Celery & Food Coloring Experiment

My son was eager to use a plastic pipette he had (what is it about kids and water play?), so we decided to do a simple science experiment. By dipping celery stalks in colored water, you can literally see water traveling up the celery! 

Full post: Celery & Food Coloring Experiment

What Soda Does to Teeth

What Soda Does to Teeth

Why is soda bad for your teeth? My kids keep asking why they can't have more soda. The tooth fairy was kind enough to lend us some baby teeth for us to experiment with, and we got some very interesting results.

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Dinosaur Soap

Dinosaur Soap 

My son is a paleontologist in training. Anything with fossils, bones, or dinosaurs just makes his day. He absolutely loved the idea of burying a dinosaur in soap--plus, I didn't have to convince him to take a bath for weeks!

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Vinegar, Baking Soda, and...Balloon Eye Droppers?

Vinegar, Baking Soda, and...Balloon Eye Droppers

This is a very basic experiment: Watching the reaction of vinegar to baking soda. I thought this would be the perfect activity for little miss V, at age 2.5, to start her first science experiment! 

I did not have eyedroppers lying around my house for this project so I came up with a tool that is easier for a toddler to use, while providing the means to complete this experiment—balloons as eye droppers!

Full post: Vinegar, Baking Soda, and...Balloon Eye Droppers?

Rainbow Density Cylinder

Rainbow Density Cylinder 

This liquid density demonstration will impress and educate children who think of liquids as "all the same." Let young kids play with jars of colored water first, seeing them mix... then show them this. They'll surely be impressed!

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Shoe-box Maze

Shoe-box Maze

The following experiment is a fun and easy way to see the effects of phototropism on a plant by making it complete your own maze 

These are the materials needed to make your own shoe-box maze

-Shoebox 

-Extra cardboard 

-Scissors 

-Tape 

-Small potted plant (bean plant) 

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Dancing Oobleck

Dancing Oobleck

Oobleck is a great, and kids LOVE it.  My kids are no different.  If you have never made it before Oobleck is a mixture of cornstarch and water.  When played with fast it acts like a solid and when allowed to relax it acts like a liquid.  When we saw a few youtube videos that involved Dancing Oobleck, we decided we needed to take our play to the next level.  You will need to make the Dancing Oobleck a bit thicker than usual.  We used about 2 cups of corn starch and 1 cup of water.

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Elephant Toothpaste

Elephant Toothpaste

This exciting science experiment works great in a discussion on reactions, as a demonstration, or as an actual experiment.  To use it as an experiment, perform it once with your child, then ask your child what might happen if you changed the amounts or left out an ingredient. Let her direct the experiment!  Also, the foam created is safe to touch.  It is simply water, oxygen gas, and soap, so if your child has no soap allergies, she can experience and experiment with the texture of the foam!

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How to make a Rainbow

Make a Rainbow

Here’s another learning activity to add to the list of Things to Do with the Kids this Summer — Make a rainbow with a hose! This is a simple way to demonstrate that when sunlight shines on water droplets at a certain angle, the water refracts the beams of sunlight to separate them into different colors.

To make a rainbow of your own, you will need: a sunny day, and a garden hose (hooked up to a water source) with a fine mist nozzle.

While standing in a sunny spot, point the hose in the direction of your shadow, and turn it on. Instant rainbow!!

Full post: Make a Rainbow

Lemonade Fizzy Drink

Make Lemonade Fizzy Drink

Make Lemonade Fizzy Drink

There's a lot of people out there that like drinking fizzy drinks, so why not do a fun science experiment that leaves you with your own lemon soda to drink afterwards!

A bit of lemon here and a bit of baking soda there and before you know it you'll be an expert at making your own fizzy drinks. Make your own lemonade softdrink with this fun experiment for kids.

What you'll need:

- Lemon

- Drinking glass

- Water

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- Some sugar to make it sweet

Full post: Make Lemonade Fizzy Drink