For parents, one of the most enjoyable things in life is seeing their child’s eyes light up upon seeing something they totally didn’t expect.
Wouldn’t it be great if such occurrences happened more often?
Well…they can – with a little help from science!
In this article, we describe three safe and fun experiments you can conduct with your child right in your own home…or, at least, in your backyard.
Let’s dive right in!
You’ve probably seen this experiment at some point in the past few years, but in case you forgot, we’ll provide a little reminder.
For this experiment, you’ll need:
- A two-liter bottle of diet Coke
- A pack of Mentos
- A piece of paper
- An outdoor area
- Open the soda bottle carefully, and take all the Mentos out of the package
- Roll the paper up into a tube lengthwise, then stick the tube into the soda bottle
- Have your child make predictions about what they think might happen
- Place the Mentos (the more the better) into the tube so they slide into the soda bottle easily
- Back away quickly!
This quick, easy, and messy experiment can help you introduce the idea to your children that, when put together, certain materials will react in crazy, unexpected ways.
The reason the “explosion” occurs in this experiment is due to a physical reaction, rather than chemical. Essentially, the miniscule holes in the Mentos candies cause a large amount of bubbles (filled with CO2) to form around each piece. As the Mentos sinks, the bubbles surrounding the candy pop – causing CO2 to bubble to the surface – and then some!
The next experiment, while similar, deals with a chemical reaction – allowing you to explain the basic difference between the two phenomena to your young scientist.
Don’t throw away that now-empty soda bottle just yet; it’ll come in handy for this experiment!
- Empty soda bottle
- 2 Tbsp of warm water
- 1 tsp of yeast
- ½ cup of 6% hydrogen peroxide
- Food coloring
- Dish soap
- A plastic or glass container
- Outdoor space
- Pour the water and yeast into the container, stir it up, and set it aside
- Place the hydrogen peroxide, food coloring, and dish soap into the soda bottle using the funnel
- Clean the funnel before the next step
- Have your child make predictions about what they might think will happen (especially after the last experiment!)
- Pour the yeast mixture into the soda bottle using the funnel
- Back away!
In this experiment, the change is caused by a chemical reaction (the hydrogen peroxide breaks down into water and oxygen), with the yeast causing the reaction to occur rapidly. The soap catches the oxygen, causing the soap bubbles to expand (similar to the bubbles bursting in the previous experiment).
All this might be a bit much for your little one, but it’s another great example of how different substances, when combined, react in different ways. After this second experiment, your child will almost certainly be thinking about becoming a mad scientist and ready to embark on their next learning expedition!
Now for an experiment your child can actually eat!
Here, you’ll need to gather the following:
- A long piece of string
- A pencil
- A paper clip
- A glass jar
- 1 cup of water
- 2 cups of sugar
- Tie string around the middle of the pencil
- Tie the paper clip to the end of the string
- Place the pencil over the jar so the string hangs down inside of it. Make sure the paper clip isn’t touching the bottom or sides of the jar. Take it out and place the string, etc. to the side.
- Boil the water, then add ¼ cup of sugar
- Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add another ¼ cup of sugar
- Repeat this process until the sugar is gone
- Note: Only dissolve ¼ cup of sugar at a time, otherwise the experiment won’t work as well
- Once all of the sugar is dissolved in the boiling water, pour the water into the jar, then place the clip inside the jar as you did earlier
- Allow the project to sit undisturbed for about a week, at which point sugar crystals will have formed around the paperclip and string
Along with furthering your explanation of mixtures and solutions, you can use this experiment to explain to your child the importance of being specific when measuring (whether doing a science experiment, preparing a meal, or something else entirely).
Also, the fact that your child will have to wait to see results will help them strengthen their ability to withhold pleasure, and to remain patient in order to earn their reward. And, of course, there’s the added bonus of candy at the end of the wait!
So…how did your kiddo react to these experiments?
(Get it? Get it???)
If they loved these quick little science activities, they’re going to love what we have in store for them at our Camp Little Scientist. Not only will we do some fun experiments with the little ones, but we’ll also dig into some of the other exciting aspects of science, as well.
Registration is currently open, so if you want to give your child a week of educational fun this summer, get them signed up as soon as possible.
See you then!