Science Fun at Home

Sizzle…bubble..fizzing…splash..oooo…so soft…

“Can we do science experiments, please,” asked the girls. I was not so convinced about doing experiments at home since it would get too messy; however, Aria, Kiara and Sanaya googled the experiments they wanted to do, made the ingredient list and wrote down the steps to the experiment.

With them being so convincing, I could not say no to them. Therefore, we created a lava lamp, salt crystals, snow fluff and food coloring stamp.

Most of these ingredients are what you already have at home; thus, making it easier to conduct the experiment. I will share with you how to do these various experiments.

The main site which the girls went off was Science Fun For Everyone – https://www.sciencefun.org/kidszone/experiments/. They have so many different experiments which are safe to do at home and also interesting enough to keep the kids active. I am sure there must be other sites out there too, but I also really liked how easily they explained the procedure, how it works and what additional stuff they can do from that experiment.

Lava Lamp

Ingredient:

• A plastic bottle
• Water
• Vegetable Oil (or you could use Mineral or Baby Oil instead)
• Alka Seltzer or any fizzing tablet
• Food Coloring

Method:

• Fill the bottle with 1/4 water.
• Add 2-3 drops of food coloring.
• Fill 1/4 of the bottle with oil.
• Then add the Alka Seltzer. You will see the food color break up like the lava lamp.
• You can also shine flashlight through the bottle to create effects.

Salt Crystals

Ingredient:

• Epsom Salt
• Food coloring
• Water

Method:

• Take 1/4 cup warm water.
• Add few drops of food coloring.
• Add 1/4 cup Epsom Salt.Mix until completely dissolved. You may want to rewarm up the water if the salt does not dissolve.
• Leave the glass in the fridge for around 3-4 hours to set. (Crystals did form; however, it was still very liquidy even after 5 hours. But definitely worth a try.)

Snow Fluff

Ingredient:

• Cornstarch
• Food Coloring
• Shaving Cream

Method:

• Take 1 cup cornstarch in a bowl.
• Mix it with 1 cup shaving cream.
• Add 5-10 drops of food coloring you want.
• Keep mixing till you get a fluffy texture. If it is too dry, add some shaving cream or if it is too wet, add corn starch. (It does get quite messy.)

Food coloring stamps

When you have younger siblings, they make sure that even they get the opportunity to create their own experiment just to make sure they match up to their older siblings. Well, with our little nephew, Ryan, he waited to do just that – his own experiment. Therefore, I created something simple and easy for a 5 year old.

Ingredient:

• paper plate
• food coloring
• blocks or any toy you can use as a stamp

Method:

• Let your kids add different drops of food coloring in a plate.
• Mix it and then take a block and a paper and stamp away.

These are few experiments you can do at home. I am sure you must already be doing different experiments with kids, so do share your experiments! If not, try these out and let me know how it goes. I know I enjoyed doing these experiments as much as the kids did.