Directions: Put your water in a freezer, then let it sit in the refrigerator for a day. Make sure it hasn’t frozen yet, and be careful with them. The water could freeze on you at the slightest touch, in fact you can tap them and they will freeze instantly. If they don’t freeze well enough when you pour them give them more time in the freezer, just a little. They should be cooler than freezing temperatures. If they don’t freeze when you pour them you don’t have a nucleus for them to freeze around, stick an ice cube half in the glass and hold it, it will stay. Remember to be careful with them and pour quickly or it will freeze in the neck of the bottle.
Mentos and Cola
This turns out to be another case of nucleation. Because Mentos have a porous surface and are dense they drop into the bottle fast, creating a physical reaction with the carbonation in the cola. Aspartame, which is a rather unhealthy sweetener found in high concentrations in diet sodas also facilitates this reaction. Putting dish soap in the 2 liter before you try it will give you a bigger geyser. Just get some diet Coke, and a pack of Mentos, and have fun.
Magnetic putty and anything metal, The mechanical Blob (That ate everything Metal)
This is a complicated project, but one your children will enjoy. You’ll need some magnetite or iron oxide (Fe3O4), Elmer’s glue, Starch (liquid), and some bowls to mix it up in. Here are the instructions to make it, the page calls for other magnets but those aren’t necessary because the iron oxide is magnetic, but if you already have some rare earth mineral sitting around the kids can have even more silly fun with making and playing with it. Just make sure you don’t have metal ceiling fans that are hard to reach!
Acids and Bases, a marriage of opposites
This is one experiment that every child should know. The basic vinegar and baking soda experiment, add a little food coloring and you have a rainbow of “exploding” gases.
This can be a fun artistic project as well; let your kid mix the food coloring to their own array of colors. You can even let them add the baking soda, this is a very small and basic chemical reaction. But if you really want that “nailed it moment” visit this page to get the proper instructions for the picture perfect rainbow.
Building a Better mousetrap
Your child may be bored with coloring by now, he or she has sat through too many classes where they were forced to paint or share their feelings and they might be bored with that. If they’re interested in what dad does in the garage maybe they’d like to learn how to make power with this fun scientific project. Everyone likes electricity, especially kids today. If they want to know what had to be done to power their I-Pad maybe you can Watch this video and help them make their first generator. Mechanical engineering and new energy is very lucrative, but don’t tell them they may be be learning about their future job! Kids don’t want to hear about how they might not be a ballerina/cowboy or Superman. Let’s not break it to them that Superman is literally the only Kryptonian left. Directions:
Cooking is a Chemical Reaction too
1 cup sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup pinch of salt 1/2 tsp peppermint extract 4-5 drops neon blue food coloring
Directions: After a hard day of learning about science, why not have them help you make a treat? The science is basic mix ingredients and add heat. The blue peppermint rock candy was inspired by frozen, and any child will love that Elsa has made them special candy with her magical powers. If have you have much older children who enjoy the Breaking Bad series, an alternative to the frozen theme could be a simple hint that a man named Heisenberg stopped by to give them some “samples.” If you know any chemistry teachers you could also drop off a bag of this to them at work.
A full list of activities for your child can be found here. There are 35 fun Scientific Projects that you and your family can enjoy with simple ingredients and make right at home. Featured photo credit: smartschoolhouse.com via buzzfeed.com
