Fun Science Experiments

From LoveToKnow Kids

Looking for some fun science experiments to do with your kids? Look no further! Doing science experiments helps kids learn to analyze and synthesize information better. Aside from that, you can often produce some really cool effects.

science experiments at home

Fun Science Experiment Tips

To make the most out of doing science experiments with kids, make sure that you follow these tips:

The Science Journal

A science journal doesn’t have to be anything more than a simple notebook. The idea though is that everything is in one place so that you can look back on what you did and re-create it or simply observe changes over time.

Safety Precautions

Before you begin an experiment that is going to cause a chemical reaction, make sure everyone has safety goggles.

Materials

To make the most out of fun science experiments, make sure that you have the right materials on hand and even some extra. In addition, you may want to consider even trying alternative materials to add to the experimenting fun.

Fun Science Experiments to Try With Your Kids

These experiments are guaranteed to wow your kids! They will be begging to do these over and over again.

Diet Coke and Mentos

Materials:

  • 2 liter or 1 liter bottles of diet coke
  • one package of Mentos

What to do: Open the diet coke bottle and immediately insert a Mentos candy. Then step back quickly unless you want to get wet!

What happens: The candy coating around the Mentos reacts to the carbon in the soda to cause a pretty big explosion. You can do this experiment with any soda, but many find diet coke preferable because it’s less sticky.

Spark in the Dark

Materials:

  • wintergreen Lifesavers
  • a hammer

What to do: You have to be in the dark in order to really see the effect. Take the hammer, and making sure there are no fingers and toes in the way, give the wintergreen candy a good whack!

What happens: You should see sparks fly. The effect is known as triboluminescence. Essentially, when sugar--which is an asymmetrical crystal-is crushed, it emits sparks. This experiment also works if you simply chew the candy in a dark closet--but it’s more easily viewable if you smash it by hammer.

Carniverous Flora

Materials:

  • a venus flytrap (You can obtain these from a carnivorous plant supply catalog such as: Pet Flytrap.
  • hamburger meat, or a dead fly

What to do: Let’s face it--the idea of a meat eating plant is just cool. They are fascinating to watch in action as well. When you order your venus fly trap make sure that you follow instructions regarding how to care for it. You can “feed” it a fly or a little piece of raw hamburger every so often and observe what it does. Consider how long it takes for the petal to open up again.

Build a Hot Air Balloon

Materials:

  • tissue paper (or other lightweight material like nylon)
  • a pint basket like the kind that bluberries or strawberries come in
  • light weight nylon string (fishing wire looks well)
  • adhesive spray
  • hair dryer

Note: you can also just buy a kit with everything included from a supply store like Twisted Grins.

What to do: If you buy a kit, then you can follow the directions in the kit.

If you’re making your own, lay a square of tissue paper on top of another square so that you have an eight-pointed star. Use the adhesive spray to attach the two squares together. Once dry, use a sewing needle to thread thin string through each of the eight corners. Tie the other end to the basket. It works best if the space between the bottom of the balloon and the basket is about six to eight inches.

Lay the balloon flat on the ground and point a hair dryer into the balloon.

What happens: Hot air rises, and so after the balloon is “full” of hot air, it too will begin to rise. The affect will last longer on a warm day, but the hot air should keep the balloon afloat for a few minutes and maybe even longer, depending on how large your balloon is.

Resources for Fun Science at Home

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Comments

Jeff, Thanks for the comments and the site suggestion!-Susie

-- Contributed by: Susie1506

Love fun science experiments like these. Also always looking for new fun experiments to do with my son. I found another cool site with stuff like this for anyone interested.. Weird Science Kids .com

-- Contributed by: Jeff

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