Kids love to get hands on when it comes to playtime, and if you can add learning into it and still keep them interested, you’re supermom. Science experiments that range from tasty to goopy are sure to keep them coming back for more, asking plenty of questions, and enjoying playtime. We found these suggestions over at Metalfloss for creative, fun science experiments you can do in your own home, with things you probably already own. So get out the goggles and gloves and prepare to transform your kids into mad scientists with these fun new tricks
Homemade Rock Candy – why buy it in stores? Teach your kids and give them the final delicious product to eat!
All you need for this is a tall jar or cup, a clothespin, 1 cup of water, 2-3 cups of sugar and a wooden skewer or clean wooden chopstick. Simply clip the skewer at a point where when you place the clothespin on the mouth of the jar/cup the skewer doesn’t touch the bottom. Boil your water then dissolve all of that delicious sugar into slowly, making sure it stays liquid, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Fill your cup with the syrup almost to the top, hang your skewer inside and wait.
Kids will love to jump up and watch their rock candy grow and form – it usually takes about 3-7 days – and you will be able to teach them about precipitation, solutions, and probably most importantly, patience!
Dancing Ooblek – is it liquid, is it solid?
Recently having adopted its name from a Dr. Seuss book, Ooblek is what is known as a non-Newtonian fluid, which means that it is neither purely a liquid nor solid.
You can make it simply by mixing 1 1/2 – 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of water in your kitchen. Place in a bowl and you’ve got goopy fun! Kids can pick it up quickly and roll it in their hands – as long as they keep pressure on it and play quckly it will remain solid, but as soon as you lay your hand flat it spills like liquid all over!
If you want to make your Oobleck dance, simply get an old boombox speaker, or subwoofer and cover it completely with plastic wrap. Place a scoop of Oobleck on top and play different tempos of music. You can add drops of food coloring as it dances for a crazy cool color party. When the kids ask questions you’ll be able to explain sound waves that you can hear, but normally not see, and also about different states such as liquid, solid, and gas. Have them name some examples and then try to figure out which one your Oobleck is!
We hope you guys try these out and let us know which one they liked best in the comments!
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