05 July 2022
Have Fun and Learn: 32 Unique At-Home Science Experiments for Kids
A great way to get your kids into science is by organizing fun projects and experiments at home. You certainly don’t need a laboratory or fancy chemicals to show them how cool and accessible science is. The good news is that a vast majority of experiments can be conducted with items you already have at home.
Science is all around us, but kids can have a hard time connecting science and the real world. When you set up at-home science experiments, it becomes less abstract and infinitely more fun.
If you’re ready to get started, pop on your protective goggles, grab your lab coats on, and keep reading for 34 unique at-home science experiments for kids!
Build Colored Bridges
Teach your kids the magic of capillarity with this simple science experiment for kids. Using a circle of water glasses, let them see how the colored water “walks” over the bridges and into the different cups!
Make a Climbing Rainbow
Here’s another example of capillary action. This STEAM experiment lets kids create a beautiful rainbow while exploring cause and effect and the scientific process.
https://youtu.be/OAm9b7xXZVE
Make Your Own Candy
Let them learn how crystals grow, how to create a supersaturated solution, and how evaporation and precipitation work in this rock candy experiment. Once their candy is ready, after about a week, it will be made up of about a quadrillion molecules.
Build an Erupting Volcano
Chemical reactions take center stage with this easy volcano experiment. All you need is a bit of baking soda and vinegar and, of course, don’t forget to stand back!
https://youtu.be/x8--3M7GGCA
If you want to take your volcano to the next level, make your own with paper mache and use hydrogen peroxide, yeast, and potassium iodide for the reaction.
https://youtu.be/dAFVTbhr3AI
Make a Candy Rainbow
This experiment lets kids get up close with the concept of density. After dissolving Skittles and letting the solutions cool, they’re arranged using an eye dropper. Why do the layers of color form like them do? Let your kids figure it out.
Build a Lava Lamp
Offer another lesson in density and introduce the concept of polarity with this lava lamp experiment. Show them what happens when oil and gas mix together. All you need are a few supplies you probably already have at home.
Homemade Rain
Get ready to control the weather by making it rain inside a jar. The focus here is condensation and precipitation and the goal is to make a homemade water cycle.
Gravity-Defying Water
This cool activity will open up a discussion about gravity and what it means when we create a vacuum. Part science experiment, part magic trick, your kids will be eager to try to do this one.
https://youtu.be/kUyL326uiCA
Dancing Magic Milk
Your kids will never look at milk the same way again after they make this magical version. They’ll be able to learn how the soap molecules connect with the fat molecules, pushing the food coloring into a virtual explosion.
Blow Up Balloon
What happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar together? You get carbon dioxide. Help your kids harness this chemical reaction and watch their surprised faces when they fill up the balloon.
Make Your Own Butter
Not only is this experiment edible and delicious, but it also teaches kids about the changing state of matter. Bake some homemade bread beforehand and then eat the results once the kids are done shaking their containers.
You can even make your own ice cream using this method! It’s the perfect summer experiment.
Melting Icy Hands
This is a cool chemistry activity that will start an interesting conversation about how salt lowers the freezing point of water. Your kids will love trying to melt the icy hands!
Bouncing Eggs
Not all eggs crack and splatter on the floor, some of them bounce! This activity teaches little ones about osmosis (through a semipermeable membrane, if you want to get advanced with older kids).
https://youtu.be/2ViGD-Ov5hQ
Harness the Sun for Artwork
This cool project requires a few unusual items. Let kids see firsthand how the sun interacts with light sensitive paper and leaves shadows of objects on top of it. Not only do they get to make art and play with nature, they also get to experience the sun’s energy.
DIY Seed Bombs
Making seed bombs is a pretty amazing science activity as kids get to learn a little bit about ecology, recycling, and plant life cycles all at once.
https://youtu.be/GomVCAR-Hew
pH Fun
Introduce your littles to the pH scale and the relationship with acids and bases. Let your kids get artistic with some turmeric, a lemon, washing powder, and water.
https://youtu.be/2uHZ4Fwjx7o
DIY Wind Turbine
Science, weather, and engineering all come together in this advanced experiment. It’s perfect for starting a conversation about renewable energies!
The Light Box
Light refraction and reflection are the main talking points around this sunlight box idea. This experiment will keep them entertained for hours as they learn how light bends when it hits the colored water bottles.
Dancing Candy Canes
If you’ve got some candy canes lying around after the holidays, you could always let your kids make them dance. The carbon dioxide gas bubbles your kids create will lift the candy up and make it “dance.”
Snowstorm in a Jar
Teach your kids about density and weather when they create carbon dioxide bubbles inside a jar. You can also talk about what happens when oil and water combine.
https://youtu.be/CYG9_0-zw28
The Browning Apple
If your kids like apples, they might have asked you why they turn brown. Turn that question into a science experiment where you get to talk about oxidation.
Here they get to try placing apple slices in different liquids and hypothesizing about the effects.
The Dancing Pepper
Introduce your littles to concepts like surface tension, physics, and cohesion with this super simple experiment with pepper, soap, and water.
Rainbow Rain Clouds
Have your kids ever asked you why it rains? Show them with this colorful at-home science experiment that kids love. Explain to them that when the clouds (here, made using shaving cream), become full and heavy, they swell and it starts to rain. Just not in a rainbow of colors, like with this activity.
https://youtu.be/U_9FRYsYJWA
Water Pencils
Combine magic and science with this popular trick/experiment. Explain to your kids how the plastic bags are made of polymers. When you insert the sharp pencil, the molecule chains make a seal around it so the water can’t escape.
Make Your Own Lightbulb
This is a bit more advanced and will require the hands-on support of an adult, but watch your child’s when you make a homemade lightbulb together! This is a great opportunity to teach your kids about circuits and the movement of electrons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7NaDyTDm3c&t=4s
Static Electricity
Talk to your kids about static electricity and negative and positive charges and wow them when they learn how to “magically” move a pencil with a balloon.
https://youtu.be/7vibwnXvNww
DIY Sundial
This activity will get you and your child talking about the earth’s rotation. It’s super easy to make a sundial and just as easy for kids to follow along.
Magnetic Slime
If you’ve made your own homemade slime before, you know this is generally a big hit with kids. But what happens when you add a surprising element to it, like iron oxide powder? It becomes magnetic!
Ice Kings and Queens
Let your kids create their own ice instantly with this neat science experiment. Introduce them to the concept of flash freezing and nucleation.
Tea Bag Rockets
As this experiment uses fire, adult supervision and participation is essential. Help your little scientists create their own rockets out of teabags. They look a lot like fireworks too! This is a great study of density and it also shows how hot air rises.
https://youtu.be/xrX7ggcr99s
DIY Plastic
Did you know you can make your own casein polymer with vinegar and milk?
Let your kids shape and decorate their own plastic out of natural ingredients instead of synthetic chemicals.
Egg in a Bottle
With the help of an adult, show your kids two different ways to insert an egg into a bottle. Open up a discussion about the combustion reaction and condensation.
Green Pennies
For this experiment, you can teach your kids weathering and oxidation, what a patina is, and what pennies have in common with famous statues like the Statue of Liberty.
DIY Magnifying Glass
Did you know that you can make your own magnifying glass from ice?
This is a great activity that lets you broach subjects like angular magnification and refraction. In short, this is a great at-home science experiment!