The best part about learning is that you can start at any age. What most of us fail to understand is the fact that we need to understand the concept. Once the concept is clear, you can replicate and build on the same.
This works particularly well in science that’s all about understanding concepts. Whether it is medicine, quantum mechanics, hydraulics, or organic chemistry, there’s ample to learn.
But to learn all of this, your child does not need to sit through just lectures at school. Instead, make science playful and more importantly, make it an interactive experience.
When children do something first-hand instead of just reading about it, the impact is more substantial and imprinted in their minds.
So let’s make studying fun again with these nine fun easy science experiments to do at home.
1. Instant Ice
Image Source: blog.stemscouts.org
This is one of the easiest science experiments that can be conducted with minimal supplies. But it has a big impact. All you need to do is pour liquid water and watch it turn into ice within no time.
What You Need:
- Bottled water
- Glass or ceramic bowl
- Plastic tray or shallow metal cookie sheet
- Ice cubes
- Freezer
Steps:
- Put water bottles in the freezer for two hours.
- Make sure to lay the bottles on the sides.
- Once the crystals start forming, remove the water bottles before they completely freeze.
- Place a ceramic bowl upside down on a flat surface to catch the water overage.
- Keep an ice cube on the top of the pouring surface.
- Watch as your pour water that instantly turns into ice.
Kids learn about:
The science in this experiment tells kids about the freezing temperature of the water, and also about how ice crystals form.
The process is Flash Freezing, which occurs when the freezing temperature is reached and the water molecules freeze by forming ice crystals
2. Lava Lamp
Image Source: www.birdandlittlebird.typepad.com/blog
Another simple yet effective experiment to try at home. This experiment works with kids of all ages. And isn’t too complicated either.
What You Need:
- A clean plastic bottle
- Water
- Vegetable Oil
- Fizzing tablets
- Food colouring
Steps:
- Fill the bottle with water for up to a quarter.
- Pour the vegetable oil until the bottle is nearly full.
- Give it a minute and you will see the oil and water separate.
- Add a few drops of food colouring to the mix.
- Watch the colour make it way through the oil.
- Then the add the fizzy tablet into the bottle and watch the bubble blobs form.
Kids learn about:
Oil is denser than water and that’s why it floats on top of the water. The food colour, however, has the same density as the water, and so, it sinks through the oil and mixes with water.
The fizzy tablet dissolves in water and creates carbon dioxide. This gas in lighter than water, and so, it rises to the top bringing some of that food colouring along with it. When the air releases, the food colouring sinks again.
3. Bending Electricity
Image Source: Pexels
Here’s one of the fun easy science experiments to do at home that can happen anytime. Do give this flexible experiment a try.
What You Need:
- A dry plastic comb
- An indoor faucet
Steps:
- Slowly turn on the faucet until there’s a very thin stream of water flowing.
- Take a plastic comb and brush it through your hair 10-15 times.
- Bring the comb close to the flowing water. The water should now bend towards the comb.
Kids learn about:
When you brush your hair using the comb, electrons collect together. They have a negative charge that gets attracted to things that have a positive charge.
It’s the same principle as magnets. So, when you bring the negatively charged comb near the faucet, it’s attracted to the positive charge in the water.
The attraction is strong enough to pull that thin stream towards the comb. Hence, it appears like the water is bending towards the comb.
4. Sundial
Image Source: Pexels
Learn to read time as the ancestors did thousands of years ago with this fun backyard experiment.
What You Need:
- A stick that is about 2 feet in length
- Small rocks
- A watch
Steps:
- In your backyard or a sunny side of the house, raise a stick vertically into the ground. If you are doing this at home, pour some sand in a bucket and try this experiment.
- Start the experiment at 6 am and use a small rock to mark the time on the clock based on where the shadow of the stick falls.
- Continue the same at every hour. So, use the small rock to mark 8 am, 9 am, 10 am and so on throughout the day.
- Mark every hour till sunset to complete your clock.
Kids learn about:
The sun’s light casts a shadow on the sundial. The shadow’s position keep every hour, depending on how the sun’s light is hitting the stick. This happens because the earth is constantly rotating the revolving around the sun.
5. Shiny Pennies
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It’s time to shine those dirty pennies around the house. And what better way to do this than by incorporating it in a fun science experiment.
What You’ll Need:
- Dirty pennies
- 2 paper cups
- Vinegar
- Dish soap
- Paper towel
- Soda
Steps:
- Put each dirty penny in a paper cup and pour vinegar in one cup and dish soap in the other. Make sure the liquids cover the penny completely.
- Wait for about ten minutes.
- Take the pennies out and rinse them with water. Use a paper towel to rinse them.
- Now compare how the pennies look.
- Try this with other detergents in the house.
Kids learn about:
Copper in the penny reacts with oxygen in the air, which dulls them over time. The copper and oxygen form copper oxides that make the penny appear dark.
However, the acetic acid in the vinegar dissolves the oxides and leaves the penny to look new. The dish soap cleans the penny but cannot dissolve the copper oxide buildup, and hence, looks dull.
6. Light Refraction
Here’s one of the most interesting, fun easy science experiments to do at home that you can never go wrong with. While it may look like a magic trick, light refraction works on simple science experiments.
What You Need:
- Piece of Paper
- Marker
- Glass
- Water
Steps:
- Draw two big arrows on a sheet of paper. Make sure the arrows are pointing the same direction.
- Fill a glass with water.
- Slowly lower the piece of paper behind the glass of water.
- Look through the glass of water and see the arrow directions change.
Kids learn about:
Refraction takes place by the bending of light. This happens when light travels from one medium to another. When light travels from the glass and into the water, and finally out of the glass, it travels fastest through, a little slowly through the water and then more slowly through the glass.
That’s why the light bends when it travels through the glass cup of water and then again when it travels out of the glass cup into the air. The light paths cross and the image appears to be flipped.
7. Surface Tension With Black Pepper
Image Source: DaveHax on YouTube
This is one of the more popular fun easy science experiments to do at home that helps explain the fundamental principle of surface tension.
What You Need:
- Black pepper
- Plate or bowl
- Water
- Liquid soap
Steps:
- Fill a plate with little water.
- Sprinkle some pepper on top of the water to cover as much of the surface as possible.
- Dip your finger into liquid soap and then touch the pepper.
- Watch the pepper run farther from the liquid soap.
Kids learn about:
The liquid soap helps break the surface tension of water. That exists because the water molecules stick together closely. Water has high surface tension.
But you add soap to the water, you break the surface tension and the molecules pull away from your finger.
8. Static Electricity Hair
Image Source: Pexels
This is one of the simplest, fun easy science experiments to do at home. Want your kids to have an electrifying look? Let them learn about static electricity and try some crazy experiments of their own.
What You Need:
- Balloon
- Curios child with hair
Steps:
- Rub the surface of the balloon with a cloth for 40-50 seconds.
- Hold the balloon close to the child’s head and watch the hair raise and stick to it.
Kids learn about:
The balloon gains electrons upon rubbing with the cloth and hold a negative charge. When you bring it closer to the hair that has a positive charge, it immediately attracts to it and pulls the hair closer, raising it.
9. Build LEGO Vehicles
Image Source: Pexels
Kids have ample LEGO bricks laying around. So put them to good use to make LEGO vehicles.
- Let kids have a blast by building the boat, car, bike or plane of their dreams.
- Limit the number of LEGO bricks to make the build harder and more interesting.
- Let their imagination skills go loose with ideas and designs.
- Test the functionality of vehicles. Check if the weight is balanced on a car or if the boat floats on water.
Kids learn about:
LEGO bricks allow kids to use their imagination more actively and when you make vehicles out of them, you essentially learn about design and engineering.
Ask kids about how their design is functional and why they chose to put that specific brick in that place. Let them give you reasons of their own. While some ideas may be logical, the rest would be pure imagination. Either way, it will allow their minds to wander and try new concepts and ideas.
You should also use this opportunity to teach them about how weight and design can make a difference.
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