Your home is a treasure trove of potential science experiments for your kids, did you know that? Check out these creative and crafty experiments that are safe for your tweens to do in the kitchen, the garage or backyard.
1. Space Bound: Turn water into wine
What you’ll need:
- 2 identical drinking glasses
- Water
- Wine, or any colored beverage
- A waterproof card (such as an old credit card or playing card)
Watch how both pressure and equilibrium can be astounding right in your own kitchen with just a centimeter of space.
2. Science Channel: Make your drawing move
What you’ll need:
- A ceramic plate or frame
- A dry erase marker
- Water
Drawing a 2D picture is simple enough. How cool would it be to add water to make it move? Your discussion point: when soaked with water, the alcohol content of the marker ink dissolves and evaporates, and the pigment is left behind to slide off the paper and float on the water puddle. A stick figure is a good doodle to start with; and then you can get crazy with your animation.
3. Science Fun: Design your own lava lamp
What you’ll need:
- A plastic bottle
- Vegetable oil
- Food coloring
- Any fizzing tablets (like Alka Seltzer)
Not only will your tween learn about the density of different liquids and the reactions of different matter; but they’ll also get a super cool ornament for their bedside table.
4. Science Max: Develop superhuman strength
What you’ll need:
- Rope
Tie the rope to anything stable, like a post or even your gate outside. Then tie the other end to anything heavy. Go to the center of the rope and pull sideways. Now see how much easier it is to move.
5. Go Science Girls: Make a volcano erupt
What you'll need:
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Food color
- Volcano mold using clay or a cardboard cone
There are two things to discuss with your child as you do this experiment: chemical reactions between compounds and mixtures, and what makes (real) volcanoes erupt.
6. Science Channel: Beat the record for world’s longest straw
What you’ll need:
- A pack of straws (or two)
- Any beverage
The actual record for the longest straw is about 11 kilometers long and made up of 58 thousand straws. We don’t condone using that much plastic, though, just for the sake of an experiment. But we do think it’s cool to make a straw long enough to be on the second floor and drink juice from a glass downstairs through a straw. (P.S. When you’re done sipping, cut up the straws you used and put them in an ecobrick.)
