simple science experiments to do

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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72 Easy Science Experiments Using Materials You Already Have On Hand

Because science doesn’t have to be complicated.

If there is one thing that is guaranteed to get your students excited, it’s a good science experiment! While some experiments require expensive lab equipment or dangerous chemicals, there are plenty of cool projects you can do with regular household items. We’ve rounded up a big collection of easy science experiments that anybody can try, and kids are going to love them!

Easy Chemistry Science Experiments

Easy physics science experiments, easy biology and environmental science experiments, easy engineering experiments and stem challenges.

1. Taste the Rainbow

Teach your students about diffusion while creating a beautiful and tasty rainbow! Tip: Have extra Skittles on hand so your class can eat a few!

Learn more: Skittles Diffusion

2. Crystallize sweet treats

Crystal science experiments teach kids about supersaturated solutions. This one is easy to do at home, and the results are absolutely delicious!

Learn more: Candy Crystals

3. Make a volcano erupt

This classic experiment demonstrates a chemical reaction between baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar (acetic acid), which produces carbon dioxide gas, water, and sodium acetate.

Learn more: Best Volcano Experiments

4. Make elephant toothpaste

This fun project uses yeast and a hydrogen peroxide solution to create overflowing “elephant toothpaste.” Tip: Add an extra fun layer by having kids create toothpaste wrappers for plastic bottles.

5. Blow the biggest bubbles you can

Add a few simple ingredients to dish soap solution to create the largest bubbles you’ve ever seen! Kids learn about surface tension as they engineer these bubble-blowing wands.

Learn more: Giant Soap Bubbles

6. Demonstrate the “magic” leakproof bag

All you need is a zip-top plastic bag, sharp pencils, and water to blow your kids’ minds. Once they’re suitably impressed, teach them how the “trick” works by explaining the chemistry of polymers.

Learn more: Leakproof Bag

7. Use apple slices to learn about oxidation

Have students make predictions about what will happen to apple slices when immersed in different liquids, then put those predictions to the test. Have them record their observations.

Learn more: Apple Oxidation

8. Float a marker man

Their eyes will pop out of their heads when you “levitate” a stick figure right off the table! This experiment works due to the insolubility of dry-erase marker ink in water, combined with the lighter density of the ink.

Learn more: Floating Marker Man

9. Discover density with hot and cold water

There are a lot of easy science experiments you can do with density. This one is extremely simple, involving only hot and cold water and food coloring, but the visuals make it appealing and fun.

Learn more: Layered Water

10. Layer more liquids

This density demo is a little more complicated, but the effects are spectacular. Slowly layer liquids like honey, dish soap, water, and rubbing alcohol in a glass. Kids will be amazed when the liquids float one on top of the other like magic (except it is really science).

Learn more: Layered Liquids

11. Grow a carbon sugar snake

Easy science experiments can still have impressive results! This eye-popping chemical reaction demonstration only requires simple supplies like sugar, baking soda, and sand.

Learn more: Carbon Sugar Snake

12. Mix up some slime

Tell kids you’re going to make slime at home, and watch their eyes light up! There are a variety of ways to make slime, so try a few different recipes to find the one you like best.

13. Make homemade bouncy balls

These homemade bouncy balls are easy to make since all you need is glue, food coloring, borax powder, cornstarch, and warm water. You’ll want to store them inside a container like a plastic egg because they will flatten out over time.

Learn more: Make Your Own Bouncy Balls

14. Create eggshell chalk

Eggshells contain calcium, the same material that makes chalk. Grind them up and mix them with flour, water, and food coloring to make your very own sidewalk chalk.

Learn more: Eggshell Chalk

15. Make naked eggs

This is so cool! Use vinegar to dissolve the calcium carbonate in an eggshell to discover the membrane underneath that holds the egg together. Then, use the “naked” egg for another easy science experiment that demonstrates osmosis .

Learn more: Naked Egg Experiment

16. Turn milk into plastic

This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but don’t be afraid to give it a try. Use simple kitchen supplies to create plastic polymers from plain old milk. Sculpt them into cool shapes when you’re done!

17. Test pH using cabbage

Teach kids about acids and bases without needing pH test strips! Simply boil some red cabbage and use the resulting water to test various substances—acids turn red and bases turn green.

Learn more: Cabbage pH

18. Clean some old coins

Use common household items to make old oxidized coins clean and shiny again in this simple chemistry experiment. Ask kids to predict (hypothesize) which will work best, then expand the learning by doing some research to explain the results.

Learn more: Cleaning Coins

19. Pull an egg into a bottle

This classic easy science experiment never fails to delight. Use the power of air pressure to suck a hard-boiled egg into a jar, no hands required.

Learn more: Egg in a Bottle

20. Blow up a balloon (without blowing)

Chances are good you probably did easy science experiments like this when you were in school. The baking soda and vinegar balloon experiment demonstrates the reactions between acids and bases when you fill a bottle with vinegar and a balloon with baking soda.

21 Assemble a DIY lava lamp

This 1970s trend is back—as an easy science experiment! This activity combines acid-base reactions with density for a totally groovy result.

22. Explore how sugary drinks affect teeth

The calcium content of eggshells makes them a great stand-in for teeth. Use eggs to explore how soda and juice can stain teeth and wear down the enamel. Expand your learning by trying different toothpaste-and-toothbrush combinations to see how effective they are.

Learn more: Sugar and Teeth Experiment

23. Mummify a hot dog

If your kids are fascinated by the Egyptians, they’ll love learning to mummify a hot dog! No need for canopic jars , just grab some baking soda and get started.

24. Extinguish flames with carbon dioxide

This is a fiery twist on acid-base experiments. Light a candle and talk about what fire needs in order to survive. Then, create an acid-base reaction and “pour” the carbon dioxide to extinguish the flame. The CO2 gas acts like a liquid, suffocating the fire.

25. Send secret messages with invisible ink

Turn your kids into secret agents! Write messages with a paintbrush dipped in lemon juice, then hold the paper over a heat source and watch the invisible become visible as oxidation goes to work.

Learn more: Invisible Ink

26. Create dancing popcorn

This is a fun version of the classic baking soda and vinegar experiment, perfect for the younger crowd. The bubbly mixture causes popcorn to dance around in the water.

27. Shoot a soda geyser sky-high

You’ve always wondered if this really works, so it’s time to find out for yourself! Kids will marvel at the chemical reaction that sends diet soda shooting high in the air when Mentos are added.

Learn more: Soda Explosion

28. Send a teabag flying

Hot air rises, and this experiment can prove it! You’ll want to supervise kids with fire, of course. For more safety, try this one outside.

Learn more: Flying Tea Bags

29. Create magic milk

This fun and easy science experiment demonstrates principles related to surface tension, molecular interactions, and fluid dynamics.

Learn more: Magic Milk Experiment

30. Watch the water rise

Learn about Charles’s Law with this simple experiment. As the candle burns, using up oxygen and heating the air in the glass, the water rises as if by magic.

Learn more: Rising Water

31. Learn about capillary action

Kids will be amazed as they watch the colored water move from glass to glass, and you’ll love the easy and inexpensive setup. Gather some water, paper towels, and food coloring to teach the scientific magic of capillary action.

Learn more: Capillary Action

32. Give a balloon a beard

Equally educational and fun, this experiment will teach kids about static electricity using everyday materials. Kids will undoubtedly get a kick out of creating beards on their balloon person!

Learn more: Static Electricity

33. Find your way with a DIY compass

Here’s an old classic that never fails to impress. Magnetize a needle, float it on the water’s surface, and it will always point north.

Learn more: DIY Compass

34. Crush a can using air pressure

Sure, it’s easy to crush a soda can with your bare hands, but what if you could do it without touching it at all? That’s the power of air pressure!

35. Tell time using the sun

While people use clocks or even phones to tell time today, there was a time when a sundial was the best means to do that. Kids will certainly get a kick out of creating their own sundials using everyday materials like cardboard and pencils.

Learn more: Make Your Own Sundial

36. Launch a balloon rocket

Grab balloons, string, straws, and tape, and launch rockets to learn about the laws of motion.

37. Make sparks with steel wool

All you need is steel wool and a 9-volt battery to perform this science demo that’s bound to make their eyes light up! Kids learn about chain reactions, chemical changes, and more.

Learn more: Steel Wool Electricity

38. Levitate a Ping-Pong ball

Kids will get a kick out of this experiment, which is really all about Bernoulli’s principle. You only need plastic bottles, bendy straws, and Ping-Pong balls to make the science magic happen.

39. Whip up a tornado in a bottle

There are plenty of versions of this classic experiment out there, but we love this one because it sparkles! Kids learn about a vortex and what it takes to create one.

Learn more: Tornado in a Bottle

40. Monitor air pressure with a DIY barometer

This simple but effective DIY science project teaches kids about air pressure and meteorology. They’ll have fun tracking and predicting the weather with their very own barometer.

Learn more: DIY Barometer

41. Peer through an ice magnifying glass

Students will certainly get a thrill out of seeing how an everyday object like a piece of ice can be used as a magnifying glass. Be sure to use purified or distilled water since tap water will have impurities in it that will cause distortion.

Learn more: Ice Magnifying Glass

42. String up some sticky ice

Can you lift an ice cube using just a piece of string? This quick experiment teaches you how. Use a little salt to melt the ice and then refreeze the ice with the string attached.

Learn more: Sticky Ice

43. “Flip” a drawing with water

Light refraction causes some really cool effects, and there are multiple easy science experiments you can do with it. This one uses refraction to “flip” a drawing; you can also try the famous “disappearing penny” trick .

Learn more: Light Refraction With Water

44. Color some flowers

We love how simple this project is to re-create since all you’ll need are some white carnations, food coloring, glasses, and water. The end result is just so beautiful!

45. Use glitter to fight germs

Everyone knows that glitter is just like germs—it gets everywhere and is so hard to get rid of! Use that to your advantage and show kids how soap fights glitter and germs.

Learn more: Glitter Germs

46. Re-create the water cycle in a bag

You can do so many easy science experiments with a simple zip-top bag. Fill one partway with water and set it on a sunny windowsill to see how the water evaporates up and eventually “rains” down.

Learn more: Water Cycle

47. Learn about plant transpiration

Your backyard is a terrific place for easy science experiments. Grab a plastic bag and rubber band to learn how plants get rid of excess water they don’t need, a process known as transpiration.

Learn more: Plant Transpiration

48. Clean up an oil spill

Before conducting this experiment, teach your students about engineers who solve environmental problems like oil spills. Then, have your students use provided materials to clean the oil spill from their oceans.

Learn more: Oil Spill

49. Construct a pair of model lungs

Kids get a better understanding of the respiratory system when they build model lungs using a plastic water bottle and some balloons. You can modify the experiment to demonstrate the effects of smoking too.

Learn more: Model Lungs

50. Experiment with limestone rocks

Kids  love to collect rocks, and there are plenty of easy science experiments you can do with them. In this one, pour vinegar over a rock to see if it bubbles. If it does, you’ve found limestone!

Learn more: Limestone Experiments

51. Turn a bottle into a rain gauge

All you need is a plastic bottle, a ruler, and a permanent marker to make your own rain gauge. Monitor your measurements and see how they stack up against meteorology reports in your area.

Learn more: DIY Rain Gauge

52. Build up towel mountains

This clever demonstration helps kids understand how some landforms are created. Use layers of towels to represent rock layers and boxes for continents. Then pu-u-u-sh and see what happens!

Learn more: Towel Mountains

53. Take a play dough core sample

Learn about the layers of the earth by building them out of Play-Doh, then take a core sample with a straw. ( Love Play-Doh? Get more learning ideas here. )

Learn more: Play Dough Core Sampling

54. Project the stars on your ceiling

Use the video lesson in the link below to learn why stars are only visible at night. Then create a DIY star projector to explore the concept hands-on.

Learn more: DIY Star Projector

55. Make it rain

Use shaving cream and food coloring to simulate clouds and rain. This is an easy science experiment little ones will beg to do over and over.

Learn more: Shaving Cream Rain

56. Blow up your fingerprint

This is such a cool (and easy!) way to look at fingerprint patterns. Inflate a balloon a bit, use some ink to put a fingerprint on it, then blow it up big to see your fingerprint in detail.

57. Snack on a DNA model

Twizzlers, gumdrops, and a few toothpicks are all you need to make this super-fun (and yummy!) DNA model.

Learn more: Edible DNA Model

58. Dissect a flower

Take a nature walk and find a flower or two. Then bring them home and take them apart to discover all the different parts of flowers.

59. Craft smartphone speakers

No Bluetooth speaker? No problem! Put together your own from paper cups and toilet paper tubes.

Learn more: Smartphone Speakers

60. Race a balloon-powered car

Kids will be amazed when they learn they can put together this awesome racer using cardboard and bottle-cap wheels. The balloon-powered “engine” is so much fun too.

Learn more: Balloon-Powered Car

61. Build a Ferris wheel

You’ve probably ridden on a Ferris wheel, but can you build one? Stock up on wood craft sticks and find out! Play around with different designs to see which one works best.

Learn more: Craft Stick Ferris Wheel

62. Design a phone stand

There are lots of ways to craft a DIY phone stand, which makes this a perfect creative-thinking STEM challenge.

63. Conduct an egg drop

Put all their engineering skills to the test with an egg drop! Challenge kids to build a container from stuff they find around the house that will protect an egg from a long fall (this is especially fun to do from upper-story windows).

Learn more: Egg Drop Challenge Ideas

64. Engineer a drinking-straw roller coaster

STEM challenges are always a hit with kids. We love this one, which only requires basic supplies like drinking straws.

Learn more: Straw Roller Coaster

65. Build a solar oven

Explore the power of the sun when you build your own solar ovens and use them to cook some yummy treats. This experiment takes a little more time and effort, but the results are always impressive. The link below has complete instructions.

Learn more: Solar Oven

66. Build a Da Vinci bridge

There are plenty of bridge-building experiments out there, but this one is unique. It’s inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s 500-year-old self-supporting wooden bridge. Learn how to build it at the link, and expand your learning by exploring more about Da Vinci himself.

Learn more: Da Vinci Bridge

67. Step through an index card

This is one easy science experiment that never fails to astonish. With carefully placed scissor cuts on an index card, you can make a loop large enough to fit a (small) human body through! Kids will be wowed as they learn about surface area.

68. Stand on a pile of paper cups

Combine physics and engineering and challenge kids to create a paper cup structure that can support their weight. This is a cool project for aspiring architects.

Learn more: Paper Cup Stack

69. Test out parachutes

Gather a variety of materials (try tissues, handkerchiefs, plastic bags, etc.) and see which ones make the best parachutes. You can also find out how they’re affected by windy days or find out which ones work in the rain.

Learn more: Parachute Drop

70. Recycle newspapers into an engineering challenge

It’s amazing how a stack of newspapers can spark such creative engineering. Challenge kids to build a tower, support a book, or even build a chair using only newspaper and tape!

Learn more: Newspaper STEM Challenge

71. Use rubber bands to sound out acoustics

Explore the ways that sound waves are affected by what’s around them using a simple rubber band “guitar.” (Kids absolutely love playing with these!)

Learn more: Rubber Band Guitar

72. Assemble a better umbrella

Challenge students to engineer the best possible umbrella from various household supplies. Encourage them to plan, draw blueprints, and test their creations using the scientific method.

Learn more: Umbrella STEM Challenge

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35 Easy Science Experiments You Can Do Today!

Looking for easy science experiments to do at home or in the classroom? You’re in luck because we’ve got over 35 easy science activities for kids that will help you make science fun for all ages. 

Most of these simple science experiments for kids are easy to prepare, quick to perform, and use household items or inexpensive materials you can find almost anywhere. To connect the fun to the “why it works” you’ll find an easy to teach explanation with every experiment!

Musical Jars Science Experiment 

This super easy experiment is simple as it is fun! Kids make their own musical instruments with clear jars and water then investigate sound waves, pitch, and more.

When the experiment is complete, use the colorful new “instrument” for a fun music lesson. Kids can play and take turns to “name that tune”!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Musical Jars Science Experiment

Viscosity of Liquids Science Experiment

Viscosity may be a confusing term for kids at first, but this super easy experiment can help them see viscosity in action!

With marbles, clear jars, and a few household materials, kids will make predictions, record data, and compare the results while they test high and low density liquids.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->   Viscosity Science Experiment

Floating Egg Science Experiment

Can a solid egg float? Kids can find the answer and understand why with this quick science experiment. 

Discover just how easy it can be to make a raw egg float while testing the laws of density. We’ve included additional ideas to try so kids can make predictions and test the concept further.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->   Floating Egg Science Experiment

Paper Towel Dry Under Water Experiment

Is it possible to keep a paper towel dry even when submerging it under water? The answer is a surprising “yes,” if you use science to help!

Start with the properties of your materials, make a prediction, then explore matter, density, volume, and more.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->   Paper Towel Dry Under Water Experiment

Mixing Oil & Water Science Experiment

This simple experiment for kids helps them better understand density and the changes that happen when adding an emulsifier to the mix. 

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->   Mixing Oil & Water Experiment

Will it Float or Sink Science Experiment

Will it sink or will it float? This fun experiment challenges what students think they know about household items!

Students record their hypothesis for each item then test it to compare what they think will happen against their observations.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Float or Sink Science Experiment

Water Temperature Science Experiment

What does thermal energy look like? In this easy science experiment, kids are able to see thermal energy as they explore the concept in action.

With clear jars and food coloring, students can quickly see how molecules move differently through hot and cold water.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Water Temperature Science Experiment

Balloon Blow-up Science Experiment

Kids will discover how matter reacts when heated and cooled as they watch with surprise as baking soda and vinegar blow the balloon up before their eyes.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Balloon Blow-up Science Experiment

Floating Ping Pong Ball Science Experiment

Kids will giggle with joy with this super easy experiment. With only a ping pong ball and a hair dryer, students will have a great time while exploring Bernoulli’s Principle in action. 

We’ve included additional ideas to further explore the concept with different objects and observe the change in results.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Floating Ping Pong Ball Science Experiment

Hair Stand on End Science Experiment

It’s especially fun for those who’ve never seen static electricity in action before!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Hair Stand on End Science Experiment

Oil Bubbles in Water Science Experiment

Kids explore density and experience some chemistry when creating oil bubbles in water with everyday household items.

This experiment is particularly fun when kids see that they’ve made what looks like a lava lamp!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Oil Bubbles in Water Science Experiment

Color Changing Water Science Experiment

Kids will be surprised as they watch a new color being “created” without mixing! Using only a clear bowl and glass, some food coloring, and water, this super easy science experiment is quick and easy with a huge wow factor. 

Try it with yellow and blue to follow along with our demonstration video then try different primary color combinations and explore the results.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Color Changing Water Science Experiment

Magnetic Paper Clip Chain Science Experiment

It may seem a bit like magic but it’s actually science! It’s not hard to capture your kids’ attention with this quick and easy science experiment as they watch paper clips “stick” together and form a chain!

Perfect for younger children, the experiment only takes a few minutes and is a fun way to explore the concept of magnetic transference.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Magnetic Paper Clip Chain Science Experiment

Is it Magnetic Science Experiment

With only a magnet and a few household items, kids will make and record their predictions, test and observe, then compare what they think is magnetic against the results.

Simple and quick, but some of the results may surprise your students!

Cloud in a Jar Experiment

This simple experiment only requires a few materials but really holds student attention as a cloud forms before their eyes!

Kids will learn new weather vocabulary as they explore how physical changes and reactions happen as clouds begin to take form. We’ve also included a helpful chart on the types of clouds.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Cloud in a Jar Science Experiment

Magic Milk Science Experiment

Create a dancing rainbow of colors with this easy science experiment for kids!

Using only a few ordinary kitchen items, your students can create a color explosion in ordinary milk when they add our special ingredient. (Hint: The special ingredient (soap!) includes hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules that make the magic happen!)

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Magic Milk Science Experiment

Walking Water Science Experiment

Water can’t really walk upwards against gravity, but this cool science experiment makes it seem like it can! 

Kids are able to see the capillary action process and learn how attraction and adhesive forces in action allow water to move out of one glass into another. 

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Walking Water Science Experiment

Light Refraction Science Experiment

The results of this easy science experiment are so amazing, it makes kids (and adults) think it must be magic!

Young scientists watch in surprise while they see an arrow change directions instantly. Investigating refraction couldn’t be more fun!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Light Refraction Science Experiment

Dancing Raisins Experiment

Learn about the reactions of buoyancy and density in this simple science activity for kids. 

They may not need dancing shoes, but give them a glass of soda pop and the raisins in this fun experiment love to dance!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Dancing Raisins Science Experiment

See Sound Experiment

Kids love this experiment because they are encouraged to drum loudly so they can “see” sound waves in action!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> See Sound Science Experiment

Elephant Toothpaste Science Experiment

Grab some giant brushes and get ready to make elephant toothpaste! Although you might not be able to get an elephant excited by this super easy experiment, kids love it!

The impressive and quick results created by the chemical reaction and the heat released in the process makes an abundant amount of fun and colorful foam!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Elephant Toothpaste Science Experiment

Upside Down Glass of Water Science Experiment

We all know what happens when we turn a glass of water upside down, but what if I told you you can do it without the water spilling out?

The experiment only requires a few common items and you’ll be amazed by the results of air pressure in action!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Upside Down Glass of Water Science Experiment

Pick up Ball with a Jar Science Experiment

It almost seems like magic but with the help of science, you can pick up a ball with an open jar!

Instead of magic, this easy science activity uses centripetal force and practice to do what seems like the impossible. 

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Pick up Ball with a Jar Experiment

Will It Melt Science Experiment

Can you guess which items will melt? This easy outside experiment challenges what students think they know about the effects of the sun.

Pepper Move Science Experiment

Can you make pepper move and zoom away with just a light touch of your finger? With science you can!

This experiment only takes a few quick minutes from beginning to end, but the reaction caused by surface tension makes kids want to do it over and over. 

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial ->  Pepper Move Science Experiment

Crush a Plastic Bottle Science Experiment

Go for it, crush that bottle, but don’t touch it! Although it usually can’t be seen or touched, air pressure is pushing against all surfaces at all times.

With this easy science activity kids can see air pressure at work when they watch a bottle crushes itself!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Crush a Plastic Bottle Science Experiment

Egg in Vinegar Science Experiment

This vinegar science experiment will have your eggs and kids bouncing (with excitement!) before you know it!

Kids can watch and explore the results of chemical reactions as the egg changes from something that seems solid into what feels like something bouncy!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Egg in Vinegar Science Experiment

Straw Through a Potato Science Experiment

Can you make a normal plastic straw go into a raw, solid potato? It seems like something impossible, but science can easily make it possible!

Pick your potatoes then let kids try their strength as they explore air pressure with this super easy experiment.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Straw Through a Potato Science Experiment

Rainbow in a Jar Science Experiment

With only a few household items, they’ll explore mass, volume, and density with every color layer!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Rainbow in a Jar Experiment

Tornado in a Bottle Science Experiment

Kids can have fun while learning more about centripetal force with this fun experiment.

With a little muscle and science, kids watch with amazement as they create their own glitter cyclone in a bottle as the centripetal force vortex appears.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Tornado in a Bottle Science Experiment

Why Doesn’t the Water Leak Science Experiment

Can you poke holes in a plastic bag full of water without the water leaking out? With this super easy science activity you can!

Kids are stunned as they learn about polymers and how they can do what seems to be impossible.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Why Doesn’t the Water Leak Science Experiment

Use a Bottle to Blow-up a Balloon Experiment

Is it possible to blow up a balloon with only water and science? 

In this super easy experiment, kids learn more about how matter behaves as they watch a balloon inflate and deflate as a result of matter being heated and cooled.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Use a Bottle to Blow-up a Balloon Experiment

Orange Float Science Experiment

Kids explore buoyancy as they learn about and test density in this sink or float science activity.

While it only takes a few minutes, this super easy experiment invites kids to predict what they think will happen then discuss why the heavier orange floats!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Orange Float Science Experiment

Pick up Ice with String Science Experiment

With only a few household items, kids learn about freezing temperatures and the results they create in saltwater versus freshwater.

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Pick Up Ice with String Science Experiment

Color Changing Walking Water Experiment

Using the concepts explored in our popular Walking Water Science Experiment, kids will see color walk from one glass to another and change colors as it goes!

The quick experiment seems to defy gravity like magic, but don’t worry, kids can find out how science makes it work!

Detailed Instructions & Video Tutorial -> Color Changing Walking Water Experiment

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37 Cool Science Experiments for Kids to Do at Home

General Education

Are you looking for cool science experiments for kids at home or for class? We've got you covered! We've compiled a list of 37 of the best science experiments for kids that cover areas of science ranging from outer space to dinosaurs to chemical reactions. By doing these easy science experiments, kids will make their own blubber and see how polar bears stay warm, make a rain cloud in a jar to observe how weather changes, create a potato battery that'll really power a lightbulb, and more.

Below are 37 of the best science projects for kids to try. For each one we include a description of the experiment, which area(s) of science it teaches kids about, how difficult it is (easy/medium/hard), how messy it is (low/medium/high), and the materials you need to do the project. Note that experiments labelled "hard" are definitely still doable; they just require more materials or time than most of these other science experiments for kids.

#1: Insect Hotels

• Teaches Kids About: Zoology
• Difficulty Level: Medium
• Messiness Level: Medium

Insect hotels can be as simple (just a few sticks wrapped in a bundle) or as elaborate as you'd like, and they're a great way for kids to get creative making the hotel and then get rewarded by seeing who has moved into the home they built. After creating a hotel with hiding places for bugs, place it outside (near a garden is often a good spot), wait a few days, then check it to see who has occupied the "rooms." You can also use a bug ID book or app to try and identify the visitors.

• Materials Needed
• Shadow box or other box with multiple compartments
• Hot glue gun with glue
• Sticks, bark, small rocks, dried leaves, bits of yarn/wool, etc.

#2: DIY Lava Lamp

• Teaches Kids About: Chemical reactions
• Difficulty Level: Easy

In this quick and fun science experiment, kids will mix water, oil, food coloring, and antacid tablets to create their own (temporary) lava lamp . Oil and water don't mix easily, and the antacid tablets will cause the oil to form little globules that are dyed by the food coloring. Just add the ingredients together and you'll end up with a homemade lava lamp!

• Vegetable oil
• Food coloring
• Antacid tablets

#3: Magnetic Slime

• Teaches Kids About: Magnets
• Messiness Level: High (The slime is black and will slightly dye your fingers when you play with it, but it washes off easily.)

A step up from silly putty and Play-Doh, magnetic slime is fun to play with but also teaches kids about magnets and how they attract and repel each other. Some of the ingredients you aren't likely to have around the house, but they can all be purchased online. After mixing the ingredients together, you can use the neodymium magnet (regular magnets won't be strong enough) to make the magnetic slime move without touching it!

• Liquid starch
• Adhesive glue
• Iron oxide powder
• Neodymium (rare earth) magnet

#4: Baking Soda Volcanoes

• Teaches Kids About: Chemical reactions, earth science
• Difficulty Level: Easy-medium
• Messiness Level: High

Baking soda volcanoes are one of the classic science projects for kids, and they're also one of the most popular. It's hard to top the excitement of a volcano erupting inside your home. This experiment can also be as simple or in-depth as you like. For the eruption, all you need is baking soda and vinegar (dishwashing detergent adds some extra power to the eruption), but you can make the "volcano" as elaborate and lifelike as you wish.

• Baking soda
• Dishwashing detergent
• Large mason jar or soda bottle
• Playdough or aluminum foil to make the "volcano"
• Additional items to place around the volcano (optional)
• Food coloring (optional)

#5: Tornado in a Jar

• Teaches Kids About: Weather
• Messiness Level: Low

This is one of the quick and easy and science experiments for kids to teach them about weather. It only takes about five minutes and a few materials to set up, but once you have it ready you and your kids can create your own miniature tornado whose vortex you can see and the strength of which you can change depending on how quickly you swirl the jar.

• Glitter (optional)

#6: Colored Celery Experiment

• Teaches Kids About: Plants

This celery science experiment is another classic science experiment that parents and teachers like because it's easy to do and gives kids a great visual understanding of how transpiration works and how plants get water and nutrients. Just place celery stalks in cups of colored water, wait at least a day, and you'll see the celery leaves take on the color of the water. This happens because celery stalks (like other plants) contain small capillaries that they use to transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.

• Celery stalks (can also use white flowers or pale-colored cabbage)

#7: Rain Cloud in a Jar

This experiment teaches kids about weather and lets them learn how clouds form by making their own rain cloud . This is definitely a science project that requires adult supervision since it uses boiling water as one of the ingredients, but once you pour the water into a glass jar, the experiment is fast and easy, and you'll be rewarded with a little cloud forming in the jar due to condensation.

• Glass jar with a lid
• Boiling water
• Aerosol hairspray

#8: Edible Rock Candy

• Teaches Kids About: Crystal formation

It takes about a week for the crystals of this rock candy experiment to form, but once they have you'll be able to eat the results! After creating a sugar solution, you'll fill jars with it and dangle strings in them that'll slowly become covered with the crystals. This experiment involves heating and pouring boiling water, so adult supervision is necessary, once that step is complete, even very young kids will be excited to watch crystals slowly form.

• Large saucepan
• Clothespins
• String or small skewers
• Candy flavoring (optional)

#9: Water Xylophone

• Teaches Kids About: Sound waves

With just some basic materials you can create your own musical instrument to teach kids about sound waves. In this water xylophone experiment , you'll fill glass jars with varying levels of water. Once they're all lined up, kids can hit the sides with wooden sticks and see how the itch differs depending on how much water is in the jar (more water=lower pitch, less water=higher pitch). This is because sound waves travel differently depending on how full the jars are with water.

• Wooden sticks/skewers

#10: Blood Model in a Jar

• Teaches Kids About: Human biology

This blood model experiment is a great way to get kids to visual what their blood looks like and how complicated it really is. Each ingredient represents a different component of blood (plasma, platelets, red blood cells, etc.), so you just add a certain amount of each to the jar, swirl it around a bit, and you have a model of what your blood looks like.

• Empty jar or bottle
• Red cinnamon candies
• Marshmallows or dry white lima beans
• White sprinkles

#11: Potato Battery

• Teaches Kids About: Electricity
• Difficulty Level: Hard

Did you know that a simple potato can produce enough energy to keep a light bulb lit for over a month? You can create a simple potato battery to show kids. There are kits that provide all the necessary materials and how to set it up, but if you don't purchase one of these it can be a bit trickier to gather everything you need and assemble it correctly. Once it's set though, you'll have your own farm grown battery!

• Fresh potato
• Galvanized nail
• Copper coin

#12: Homemade Pulley

• Teaches Kids About: Simple machines

This science activity requires some materials you may not already have, but once you've gotten them, the homemade pulley takes only a few minutes to set up, and you can leave the pulley up for your kids to play with all year round. This pulley is best set up outside, but can also be done indoors.

• Clothesline
• 2 clothesline pulleys

#13: Light Refraction

• Teaches Kids About: Light

This light refraction experiment takes only a few minutes to set up and uses basic materials, but it's a great way to show kids how light travels. You'll draw two arrows on a sticky note, stick it to the wall, then fill a clear water bottle with water. As you move the water bottle in front of the arrows, the arrows will appear to change the direction they're pointing. This is because of the refraction that occurs when light passes through materials like water and plastic.

• Sticky note
• Transparent water bottle

#14: Nature Journaling

• Teaches Kids About: Ecology, scientific observation

A nature journal is a great way to encourage kids to be creative and really pay attention to what's going on around them. All you need is a blank journal (you can buy one or make your own) along with something to write with. Then just go outside and encourage your children to write or draw what they notice. This could include descriptions of animals they see, tracings of leaves, a drawing of a beautiful flower, etc. Encourage your kids to ask questions about what they observe (Why do birds need to build nests? Why is this flower so brightly colored?) and explain to them that scientists collect research by doing exactly what they're doing now.

• Blank journal or notebook
• Pens/pencils/crayons/markers
• Tape or glue for adding items to the journal

#15: DIY Solar Oven

• Teaches Kids About: Solar energy

This homemade solar oven definitely requires some adult help to set up, but after it's ready you'll have your own mini oven that uses energy from the sun to make s'mores or melt cheese on pizza. While the food is cooking, you can explain to kids how the oven uses the sun's rays to heat the food.

• Aluminum foil
• Knife or box cutter
• Permanent marker
• Plastic cling wrap
• Black construction paper

#16: Animal Blubber Simulation

• Teaches Kids About: Ecology, zoology

If your kids are curious about how animals like polar bears and seals stay warm in polar climates, you can go beyond just explaining it to them; you can actually have them make some of their own blubber and test it out. After you've filled up a large bowl with ice water and let it sit for a few minutes to get really cold, have your kids dip a bare hand in and see how many seconds they can last before their hand gets too cold. Next, coat one of their fingers in shortening and repeat the experiment. Your child will notice that, with the shortening acting like a protective layer of blubber, they don't feel the cold water nearly as much.

• Bowl of ice water

#17: Static Electricity Butterfly

This experiment is a great way for young kids to learn about static electricity, and it's more fun and visual than just having them rub balloons against their heads. First you'll create a butterfly, using thick paper (such as cardstock) for the body and tissue paper for the wings. Then, blow up the balloon, have the kids rub it against their head for a few seconds, then move the balloon to just above the butterfly's wings. The wings will move towards the balloon due to static electricity, and it'll look like the butterfly is flying.

• Tissue paper
• Thick paper
• Glue stick/glue

#18: Edible Double Helix

• Teaches Kids About: Genetics

If your kids are learning about genetics, you can do this edible double helix craft to show them how DNA is formed, what its different parts are, and what it looks like. The licorice will form the sides or backbone of the DNA and each color of marshmallow will represent one of the four chemical bases. Kids will be able to see that only certain chemical bases pair with each other.

• 2 pieces of licorice
• 12 toothpicks
• Small marshmallows in 4 colors (9 of each color)
• 5 paperclips

#19: Leak-Proof Bag

• Teaches Kids About: Molecules, plastics

This is an easy experiment that'll appeal to kids of a variety of ages. Just take a zip-lock bag, fill it about ⅔ of the way with water, and close the top. Next, poke a few sharp objects (like bamboo skewers or sharp pencils) through one end and out the other. At this point you may want to dangle the bag above your child's head, but no need to worry about spills because the bag won't leak? Why not? It's because the plastic used to make zip-lock bags is made of polymers, or long chains of molecules that'll quickly join back together when they're forced apart.

• Zip-lock bags
• Objects with sharp ends (pencils, bamboo skewers, etc.)

#20: How Do Leaves Breathe?

• Teaches Kids About: Plant science

It takes a few hours to see the results of this leaf experiment , but it couldn't be easier to set up, and kids will love to see a leaf actually "breathing." Just get a large-ish leaf, place it in a bowl (glass works best so you can see everything) filled with water, place a small rock on the leaf to weigh it down, and leave it somewhere sunny. Come back in a few hours and you'll see little bubbles in the water created when the leaf releases the oxygen it created during photosynthesis.

• Large bowl (preferably glass)
• Magnifying glass (optional)

#21: Popsicle Stick Catapults

Kids will love shooting pom poms out of these homemade popsicle stick catapults . After assembling the catapults out of popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and plastic spoons, they're ready to launch pom poms or other lightweight objects. To teach kids about simple machines, you can ask them about how they think the catapults work, what they should do to make the pom poms go a farther/shorter distance, and how the catapult could be made more powerful.

• Popsicle sticks
• Rubber bands
• Plastic spoons
• Paint (optional)

#22: Elephant Toothpaste

You won't want to do this experiment near anything that's difficult to clean (outside may be best), but kids will love seeing this " elephant toothpaste " crazily overflowing the bottle and oozing everywhere. Pour the hydrogen peroxide, food coloring, and dishwashing soap into the bottle, and in the cup mix the yeast packet with some warm water for about 30 seconds. Then, add the yeast mixture to the bottle, stand back, and watch the solution become a massive foamy mixture that pours out of the bottle! The "toothpaste" is formed when the yeast removed the oxygen bubbles from the hydrogen peroxide which created foam. This is an exothermic reaction, and it creates heat as well as foam (you can have kids notice that the bottle became warm as the reaction occurred).

• Clean 16-oz soda bottle
• 6% solution of hydrogen peroxide
• 1 packet of dry yeast
• Dishwashing soap

#23: How Do Penguins Stay Dry?

Penguins, and many other birds, have special oil-producing glands that coat their feathers with a protective layer that causes water to slide right off them, keeping them warm and dry. You can demonstrate this to kids with this penguin craft by having them color a picture of a penguin with crayons, then spraying the picture with water. The wax from the crayons will have created a protective layer like the oil actual birds coat themselves with, and the paper won't absorb the water.

• Penguin image (included in link)
• Spray bottle
• Blue food coloring (optional)

#24: Rock Weathering Experiment

• Teaches Kids About: Geology

This mechanical weathering experiment teaches kids why and how rocks break down or erode. Take two pieces of clay, form them into balls, and wrap them in plastic wrap. Then, leave one out while placing the other in the freezer overnight. The next day, unwrap and compare them. You can repeat freezing the one piece of clay every night for several days to see how much more cracked and weathered it gets than the piece of clay that wasn't frozen. It may even begin to crumble. This weathering also happens to rocks when they are subjected to extreme temperatures, and it's one of the causes of erosion.

• Plastic wrap

#25: Saltwater Density

• Teaches Kids About: Water density

For this saltwater density experiment , you'll fill four clear glasses with water, then add salt to one glass, sugar to one glass, and baking soda to one glass, leaving one glass with just water. Then, float small plastic pieces or grapes in each of the glasses and observe whether they float or not. Saltwater is denser than freshwater, which means some objects may float in saltwater that would sink in freshwater. You can use this experiment to teach kids about the ocean and other bodies of saltwater, such as the Dead Sea, which is so salty people can easily float on top of it.

• Four clear glasses
• Lightweight plastic objects or small grapes

#26: Starburst Rock Cycle

With just a package of Starbursts and a few other materials, you can create models of each of the three rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Sedimentary "rocks" will be created by pressing thin layers of Starbursts together, metamorphic by heating and pressing Starbursts, and igneous by applying high levels of heat to the Starbursts. Kids will learn how different types of rocks are forms and how the three rock types look different from each other.

• Toaster oven

#27: Inertia Wagon Experiment

• Teaches Kids About: Inertia

This simple experiment teaches kids about inertia (as well as the importance of seatbelts!). Take a small wagon, fill it with a tall stack of books, then have one of your children pull it around then stop abruptly. They won't be able to suddenly stop the wagon without the stack of books falling. You can have the kids predict which direction they think the books will fall and explain that this happens because of inertia, or Newton's first law.

• Stack of books

#28: Dinosaur Tracks

• Teaches Kids About: Paleontology

How are some dinosaur tracks still visible millions of years later? By mixing together several ingredients, you'll get a claylike mixture you can press your hands/feet or dinosaur models into to make dinosaur track imprints . The mixture will harden and the imprints will remain, showing kids how dinosaur (and early human) tracks can stay in rock for such a long period of time.

• Used coffee grounds
• Wooden spoon
• Rolling pin

#29: Sidewalk Constellations

• Teaches Kids About: Astronomy

If you do this sidewalk constellation craft , you'll be able to see the Big Dipper and Orion's Belt in the daylight. On the sidewalk, have kids draw the lines of constellations (using constellation diagrams for guidance) and place stones where the stars are. You can then look at astronomy charts to see where the constellations they drew will be in the sky.

• Sidewalk chalk
• Small stones
• Diagrams of constellations

#30: Lung Model

By building a lung model , you can teach kids about respiration and how their lungs work. After cutting off the bottom of a plastic bottle, you'll stretch a balloon around the opened end and insert another balloon through the mouth of the bottle. You'll then push a straw through the neck of the bottle and secure it with a rubber band and play dough. By blowing into the straw, the balloons will inflate then deflate, similar to how our lungs work.

• Plastic bottle
• Rubber band

#31: Homemade Dinosaur Bones

By mixing just flour, salt, and water, you'll create a basic salt dough that'll harden when baked. You can use this dough to make homemade dinosaur bones and teach kids about paleontology. You can use books or diagrams to learn how different dinosaur bones were shaped, and you can even bury the bones in a sandpit or something similar and then excavate them the way real paleontologists do.

• Images of dinosaur bones

#32: Clay and Toothpick Molecules

There are many variations on homemade molecule science crafts . This one uses clay and toothpicks, although gumdrops or even small pieces of fruit like grapes can be used in place of clay. Roll the clay into balls and use molecule diagrams to attach the clay to toothpicks in the shape of the molecules. Kids can make numerous types of molecules and learn how atoms bond together to form molecules.

• Clay or gumdrops (in four colors)
• Diagrams of molecules

#33: Articulated Hand Model

By creating an articulated hand model , you can teach kids about bones, joints, and how our hands are able to move in many ways and accomplish so many different tasks. After creating a hand out of thin foam, kids will cut straws to represent the different bones in the hand and glue them to the fingers of the hand models. You'll then thread yarn (which represents tendons) through the straws, stabilize the model with a chopstick or other small stick, and end up with a hand model that moves and bends the way actual human hands do.

• Straws (paper work best)
• Twine or yarn

#34: Solar Energy Experiment

• Teaches Kids About: Solar energy, light rays

This solar energy science experiment will teach kids about solar energy and how different colors absorb different amounts of energy. In a sunny spot outside, place six colored pieces of paper next to each other, and place an ice cube in the middle of each paper. Then, observe how quickly each of the ice cubes melt. The ice cube on the black piece of paper will melt fastest since black absorbs the most light (all the light ray colors), while the ice cube on the white paper will melt slowest since white absorbs the least light (it instead reflects light). You can then explain why certain colors look the way they do. (Colors besides black and white absorb all light except for the one ray color they reflect; this is the color they appear to us.)

• 6 squares of differently colored paper/cardstock (must include black paper and white paper)

#35: How to Make Lightning

• Teaches Kids About: Electricity, weather

You don't need a storm to see lightning; you can actually create your own lightning at home . For younger kids this experiment requires adult help and supervision. You'll stick a thumbtack through the bottom of an aluminum tray, then stick the pencil eraser to the pushpin. You'll then rub the piece of wool over the aluminum tray, and then set the tray on the Styrofoam, where it'll create a small spark/tiny bolt of lightning!

• Pencil with eraser
• Aluminum tray or pie tin
• Styrofoam tray

#36: Tie-Dyed Milk

• Teaches Kids About: Surface tension

For this magic milk experiment , partly fill a shallow dish with milk, then add a one drop of each food coloring color to different parts of the milk. The food coloring will mostly stay where you placed it. Next, carefully add one drop of dish soap to the middle of the milk. It'll cause the food coloring to stream through the milk and away from the dish soap. This is because the dish soap breaks up the surface tension of the milk by dissolving the milk's fat molecules.

• Shallow dish
• Milk (high-fat works best)

#37: How Do Stalactites Form?

Have you ever gone into a cave and seen huge stalactites hanging from the top of the cave? Stalactites are formed by dripping water. The water is filled with particles which slowly accumulate and harden over the years, forming stalactites. You can recreate that process with this stalactite experiment . By mixing a baking soda solution, dipping a piece of wool yarn in the jar and running it to another jar, you'll be able to observe baking soda particles forming and hardening along the yarn, similar to how stalactites grow.

• Safety pins
• 2 glass jars

Summary: Cool Science Experiments for Kids

Any one of these simple science experiments for kids can get children learning and excited about science. You can choose a science experiment based on your child's specific interest or what they're currently learning about, or you can do an experiment on an entirely new topic to expand their learning and teach them about a new area of science. From easy science experiments for kids to the more challenging ones, these will all help kids have fun and learn more about science.

What's Next?

Are you also interested in pipe cleaner crafts for kids? We have a guide to some of the best pipe cleaner crafts to try!

Looking for multiple different slime recipes? We tell you how to make slimes without borax and without glue as well as how to craft the ultimate super slime .

Want to learn more about clouds? Learn how to identify every cloud in the sky with our guide to the 10 types of clouds .

Want to know the fastest and easiest ways to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius? We've got you covered! Check out our guide to the best ways to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (or vice versa) .

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Hands On As We Grow®

Hands on kids activities for hands on moms. Focusing on kids activities perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

50 Amazingly Simple Science Experiments for Kids at Home

Science Kindergartners Preschoolers Experiment Resources 30 Comments

Kids love experimenting , and these 50 simple science experiments for kids at home from Brigitte are perfect for all ages! Plus, you probably already have the basic supplies at home.

My daughters and I have had a lot of fun doing science experiments. Each year when we create our spring and summer list , we make sure to include “science days” which are days filled with science experiments.

Sometimes our science experiments don’t work according to plan, but I have been told that all scientists have failures with experiments from time to time.

It’s okay if they aren’t all successes.

Get the FREE Science Experiments Download

50 Simple Science Experiments with Supplies You Already Have

I love these 50 simple science experiments for you to try with your little scientists. They all use basic household supplies that you probably already have at home!

Most of these are experiments my daughters and I have done together. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!

Get little ones involved with these easy toddler-friendly science experiment ideas!

Simple Science Experiments with Water

Not only can water  be a blast to play in, but water plus a few basic supplies equals a lot of science fun!

• Make an orange sink and float with an orange buoyancy experiment from Playdough to Plato.
• Compare the amount of salt in different types of water with this salty egg experiment  as seen on Uplifting Mayhem.
• Do a little more sinking or floating with a fun sink or float experiment  even toddlers can do from Hands On As We Grow.
• Use the free printable to record what sinks or floats in an outdoor experiment from Buggy and Buddy.
• Create some beautiful pieces of paper with this rainbow paper experiment from Science Kiddo.
• Talk about solutions as you try the “what dissolves in water” experiment  as seen on Hands On As We Grow.
• Learn about water absorption with this simple experiment from Little Bins for Little Hands.
• Mix some fun colors with this oil and water experiment  from Fun Learning for Kids.
• Make your own lava lamp , just like on  Hands On As We Grow.
• Can you keep all the water in the bag? Try it with a  leak-proof bag experiment  as seen on Hands On As We Grow.
• Learn about surface tension with this  magic finger pepper experiment  found on Hands On As We Grow.
• Make your own  water cycle in a bottle  as seen on A Dab of Glue Will Do.

Simple Science Experiments with Baking Soda and Vinegar

Baking soda + vinegar = a great chemical reaction! This fizzy reaction can fuel a variety of simple science experiments at home.

First of all, we have tested and found out the absolute best combination of baking soda and vinegar to get the best reaction possible. It makes a difference if you add vinegar to baking soda or vice versa! And how much you use!

• Inflate a balloon without blowing into it with a baking soda and vinegar balloon experiment  as seen on Little Bins for Little Hands.
• Practice colors as you do a baking soda and vinegar with color experiment as seen on Hands On As We Grow.
• Have fun outside with an outdoor volcano eruption  as seen on Preschool Inspirations.
• Have more volcano fun by making apple volcanoes as seen on The Resourceful Mama.
• Learn about acids and bases and the chemical reaction that occurs when you make apple seeds dance with a   jumping apple seeds experiment  as seen on JDaniel4s Mom.
• Watch some rice dance with a   dancing rice experiment as seen on Green Kid Crafts.
• Continue your dance party by making raisins dance with a dancing raisin experiment  as seen on 123 Homeschool 4 Me. What other items can you get to dance?
• Learn more about acids and bases by dissolving a sea shell as seen on Teach Beside Me.
• Make an egg shell disappear with this disappearing egg activity  as seen on Premeditated Leftovers.
• See how far you can launch a soda bottle with this baking soda powered boat as seen on Science Sparks.
• Make your own rocks (or eggs) with this fizzy treasure rocks experiment as seen on Living Life and Learning.
• Have some fun this summer with this frozen vinegar experiment as seen on Inspiration Laboratories.

Plant Themed Simple Science Experiments

Enjoy learning about seeds, plant parts, and how plants grow with these simple science experiments.

• Learn about how plants soak up water through their stems with a flower experiment for kids  from Growing A Jeweled Rose.
• Watch seeds sprout as you grow seeds in a jar  as seen on Teaching Mama.
• Learn about the parts of the seed with a seed coat experiment as seen on Gift of Curiosity.
• Build a house out of sponges and then watch it sprout with this sprout house as seen on The Stem Laboratory.
• Learn what liquids allow seeds to grow the best with this seed experiment  as seen on Gift of Curiosity.
• Explore how plants grow towards the light with this shoe-box maze experiment from Plants for Kids.

Animal Themed Simple Science Experiments

Learning about animals can be even more fun with some simple hands-on simple science experiments.

• Find out more about giraffes and create some giraffe spots  as seen on Preschool Powol Packets.
• Learn about how animals in the Arctic keep warm by making an arctic glove  as seen on Steve Spangler Science.
• Discover how penguins stay dry with a penguin feather experiment as seen on Raising Little Superheroes.
• Learn about different bird beaks with a bird beak experiment as seen on Blessed Beyond a Doubt.
• Explore how fish (and hermit crabs) breathe with this gill experiment  as seen on Preschool Powol Packets.
• Learn about sharks with a   shark buoyancy experiment as seen on Little Bins for Little Hands.

Even More Simple Science Experiment for Kids at Home!

If you are still looking for more science fun, you may enjoy the following simple science experiments.

• Find out how sugary drinks hurt teeth with an  eggs-periment  as seen on Feels Like Home Blog.
• Discover geodes (the state rock of Iowa) with this eggshell geode crystal experiment  as seen on Science Bob.
• Learn about air pressure with an egg and bottle experiment  as seen on Science Sparks.
• Find out what causes an apple to brown with this apple science experiment  as seen on Teach Beside Me.
• Make an  edible bubble apple with an experiment as seen on Preschool Powol Packet.
• Learn more about surface tension with a penny and water experiment  as seen on Artful Parent.
• Mix colors like magic with this color changing milk experiment  from Hands On As We Grow.
• Blow up a balloon with this soda and balloon experiment from Learn Play Imagine.
• Practice letters by making beautiful crystal letters as seen on Books and Giggles.
• Make your own indoor hovercraft  as seen on Living Life and Learning.
• Learn about colors with this beautiful butterfly chromatography craft  as seen on Buggy and Buddy.
• Make soap souffle  as seen on Steve Spangler Science.
• After talking about liquids and solids (and finding them in your own home), create oobleck  as seen on Babble Dabble Do. Is it a liquid, or is it a solid?
• Learn about frost by making some indoor frost as seen on Little Bin for Little Hands.
• Make your own homemade butter in a jar as seen on Happy Hooligans.

What scientific experiment will you try first?

About Brigitte Brulz

Brigitte Brulz is a homeschooling mom of two daughters, wife of her high school sweetheart, and author of Jobs of a Preschooler and Pickles, Pickles, I Like Pickles. She offers free coloring pages and activity ideas on her website at BrigitteBrulz.com .

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Reader Interactions

30 comments.

college brawl says

March 13, 2024 at 1:05 am

Wow, these experiments look like so much fun! I can’t wait to try them out with my kids. We’re always looking for new and creative ways to learn about science at home, and these experiments look like they’ll be perfect for us. Thanks for sharing! 😊

threadsBay says

August 31, 2023 at 3:13 am

I love science experiments! This one is really simple and easy to do.

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45 Easy Science Experiments for Kids

Hello, STEM! These simple DIY activities can be done at home or in school.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Imagine blowing the biggest bubbles imaginable — or even making bubbles within bubbles. Or sending vessels — rockets, tea bags, airplanes — soaring through the sky for impossible distances. Now imagine making things explode, or change colors, or reveal hidden messages with just a few simple mixtures.

First off, it's good to start them off with the scientific method. Give them a journal to record their observations, questions, hypotheses, experiments, results and conclusions. As always, safety counts: wear goggles and coats or aprons if need be (sometimes kids get a kick out of how scientific the protective gear makes them look), and always make sure that the kids are supervised when doing them. (Warning: Some of these are messy!)

These experiments are mostly designed for preschoolers through elementary schoolers — with a couple that are either demonstrations or better for older kids — but if you have a younger one, you can check out these 1-year-old learning activities , toddler learning activities and preschool/kindergarten learning activities , some of which also cover STEM subjects.

Floating Fish

Here's another one that deals with solubility and density.

• Draw the outline of a fish on the bottom of a glass plate or tray in dry-erase marker. Retrace your drawing to make sure all the lines are connected. Let dry for a minute or two.
• Fill the measuring cup with tap water. Place the pour spout just inside the corner of the dish and add water very slowly until it just covers the bottom. Be careful not to pour water directly onto your drawing or make splashes near it. The water will move toward your drawing, eventually surrounding it. Observe what happens. If the water splashes or it doesn’t work on your first try, empty the dish, erase the drawing with a paper towel, dry off the dish, and try again.
• Tilt the dish slightly from side to side. What happens? Jot it down.

The ink in dry erase markers is engineered to be slippery. It’s made with a chemical that causes it to easily release from surfaces. (Permanent markers are made with a chemical that makes the ink stick to surfaces, so be sure not to use these in your experiment!)

The easy-release ink lets go from a surface, but why does it float? There are two reasons. First, dry erase ink isn’t soluble, which means it won’t dissolve in water. Second, dry erase ink is less dense than the water, so it becomes buoyant, meaning it can float. When you tilt the dish, the fish moves around on the water’s surface.

From Good Housekeeping Amazing Science: 83 Hands-on S.T.E.A.M Experiments for Curious Kids! See more in the book »

Brush, Brush!

This one will really get them into brushing their teeth once they scientifically prove all the good things that toothpaste can do.

• Write on sticky notes: Soda 1, Soda 2, Juice 1, and Juice 2. Place them in a row on a counter.
• Fill two glasses halfway with brown soda and place behind the Soda 1 and Soda 2 sticky notes. Fill two glasses halfway with lemon juice and place behind the Juice 1 and Juice 2 sticky notes.
• Carefully place one egg in the bowl. Squeeze a big dollop — about one tablespoon — of toothpaste on top of the egg and gently rub the toothpaste all around with your hands until the egg is completely covered in a thick layer of toothpaste. Repeat with a second egg.
• Gently submerge the toothpaste-covered eggs into the liquids: one egg in the glass labeled Soda 1 and the other egg in the glass labeled Juice 1. Wash and dry your hands.
• Gently submerge the remaining eggs, without toothpaste on them, in the remaining glasses: one in the glass labeled Soda 2 and the other in the glass of juice labeled Juice 2. Wash and dry your hands. Leave the eggs in the glasses for 12 hours.
• After 12 hours, remove the eggs from the glasses of soda one at a time. Rinse them in cool water and pat them dry with the towel. Place each egg by the sticky note of the glass it was in. Are the eggs the same or different colors?
• Remove the eggs from the glasses of juice one at a time. Rinse them under the faucet and pat them dry. Place each egg by the sticky note of the glass it was in. Feel the eggs gently. Does one feel stronger or weaker than the other?
• Write down your observations in your science notebook.

The eggshells in this experiment represent the enamel (outer coating) on your teeth. Toothpaste cleans your teeth and prevents stains: it removes food and drink particles that are stuck on your teeth. Teeth can be stained easily by dark-colored liquids like cola, coffee or tea. The egg without toothpaste will be brown and discolored. The egg covered in toothpaste was protected from turning brown.

Toothpaste also protects your pearly whites from decay (breaking down). The egg without toothpaste left in the lemon juice was worn down and soft to the touch, while the egg that was protected with toothpaste is stronger. The lemon juice is acidic, and those acids broke down the shell just as acidic drinks can wear away your tooth enamel. When a tooth is worn down, a cavity can form more easily. But the fluoride in toothpaste mixes with your saliva to create a protective coating around your tooth enamel. It helps keep your teeth strong and cavity-free.

Grow an Avocado Tree

For an easy lesson in Earth Science, your family can grow an avocado tree from a pit. You can buy an AvoSeedo kit , or just peel the seed and suspend it over water with toothpicks.

Get the tutorial »

Milk Bottle Xylophone

No for an experiment in sound!

• Arrange six glass jars or bottles, all the same size with no lids, in a line. What will each jar sound like when you tap it with a spoon? Make a prediction, then tap each jar. Record your observations.
• Next, put water in each of the jars. Pour 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) of water into the first jar. Add 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) of water to the second jar. Continue in 1⁄4-cup increments, adding 3⁄4 cup (180 ml) of water to the third jar, 1 cup (240 ml) of water to the fourth jar, 11⁄4 cups (300 ml) of water to the fifth jar, and 11⁄2 cups (360 ml) to the sixth jar. Add a couple of drops of food coloring to each jar.
• What will each jar sound like? Will they sound the same or different than when the container was empty? Will they sound the same or different from one another? Record your predictions.
• Tap each jar with a metal spoon. Write down your observations about each jar’s pitch (how high or low a sound is) in your notebook.

Sound waves are created by vibrations, which are back-and-forth movements that are repeated again and again. Pitch depends on the frequency of the waves — how many are created each second. A high pitch is created by high-frequency sound waves, and can sound squeaky. A low pitch is created by low-frequency sound waves, and sounds deep and booming.

When you tapped the jar, it vibrated. The vibrations traveled from the jar to the water to the air and eventually to your ears. The jars with more water had a low pitch. The sound waves vibrated more slowly because they had more water to travel through. The jars with less water had higher pitches. The sound waves vibrated faster because they had less water to travel through. A jar with no water in it makes the highest pitch because it has the least substance to travel through.

"Elephant Toothpaste"

Okay, elephants don't really brush with this stuff, which is made from a chemical reaction between hydrogen peroxide, yeast, dish soap and a few other simple ingredients. But this experiment has a big "wow" factor since, when the substances are mixed, the "toothpaste" foams out of the bottle. You can use it to teach kids about catalysts and exothermic reactions.

Get the tutorial at Babble Dabble Do »

DIY Compass

Explore the way magnetism works, and how it affects everyday objects, by magnetizing a needle and making a DIY compass. You can even spin the compass in the water, and it'll end up pointing the right way again.

Get the tutorial at STEAM Powered Family »

Craft Stick Chain Reaction

Kids can learn about the differences between potential and kinetic energy with this chain reaction. It makes a big impact: Once the tension is released, the pom poms go flying through the air!

Get the the tutorial at Science Sparks »

Color-Changing Invisible Ink

Kids will feel like super-spies when they use this heatless method to reveal pictures or colors written with "invisible ink." You can try different acid/base combinations to see which one makes the most dramatic result.

Get the tutorial at Research Parent »

Paper Bridge

Get the engineering back into STEM with this activity, which challenges kids to create a paper bridge that's strong enough to hold as many pennies as possible. How can they manipulate the paper to make it sturdier? (Hint: Fold it!)

See the paper bridge tutorial at KidsActivities.com »

Challenge your little scientist to lift up an ice cube with just a piece of string. It's possible ... with a little salt to help. Salt melts the ice and lowers the freezing point of the ice cube, which absorbs the heat from the water around it, making the water cold enough to re-freeze around the string.

Get the tutorial at Playdough to Plato »

Marshmallow Catapult

Another lesson in potential and kinetic energy, kids will love sending mini marshmallows flying in the name of science. Change some of the variables and see how that affects the marshmallow's trajectory.

Get the tutorial at Hello, Wonderful »

Leaf Breathing

It's hard for kids to picture how plants and trees "breathe" through their leaves — until they see the bubbles appear on a leaf that's submerged in water. You can also teach them about photosynthesis by putting different leaves in different spots with varying levels of sunlight.

Get the tutorial at KC EDventures »

Hoop-and-Straw Airplane

We all remember how to fold those classic, triangular paper airplanes, but these hoop-and-straw airplanes fly way better (and straighter). Experiment by changing the length of the straw and the size of the hoops and see how it affects the flight.

Get the tutorial at Mombrite »

Film Canister Rocket

Blast off! You don't need jet fuel to make these rockets go, just Alka-Seltzer tablets and baking soda, but they'll be amazed when they achieve lift-off! (Note: If you can't find old film canisters, tubes of Airborne work, too.)

Get the tutorial at Raising Lifelong Learners »

Coin Inertia

Stack up about five or so coins on a piece of cardboard and place it over a glass of water. Then, flick the cardboard out from on top of the glass. Do the coins drop into the water, or ride with the cardboard? Due to inertia, they drop into the water — a very visual (and fun!) demonstration of Newton's First Law of Motion.

Get the tutorial at Engineering Emily »

Apple Oxidation

What works best for keeping an apple from turning brown? Test to find out! Slice up an apple, and let each slice soak in a different liquid. Then take them out, lay them on a tray, and check the brownness after three minutes, six minutes and so on. Not only does this test the properties of different liquids, it also helps students practice the scientific method if they create hypotheses about which liquids would be most effective.

Get the tutorial at Jennifer Findley »

RELATED: 50 Fun Activities for Kids Will Keep Them Entertained for Hours

Coffee Ground Fossils

By making a salt dough with coffee grounds and pressing various shapes into it (toy dinosaur feet, seashells), kids can get a better understanding of how fossils are made. If you poke a hole in the top before it dries, the kids can hang their "fossils" up in their rooms.

Get the tutorial at Crafts by Amanda »

Chromatography Flowers

Chromatography is the process of separating a solution into different parts — like the pigments in the ink used in markers. If you draw stripes around a coffee filter, then fold it up and dip the tip in water, the water will travel up the filter and separate the marker ink into its different pigments (in cool patterns that you can display as a craft project). This family made the end-result even brighter by adding an LED circuit to the center.

Get the tutorial at Steam Powered Family »

Water Walking

You'll need six containers of water for this one: three with clear water, one with red food coloring, one with blue coloring, and one with yellow coloring. Arrange them in a circle, alternating colored and clear containers, and make bridges between the containers with folded paper towels. Your kids will be amazed to see the colored water "walk" over the bridges and into the clear containers, mixing colors, and giving them a first-hand look at the magic of capillarity.

Get the tutorial at Fun Learning for Kids »

Sunscreen Test

This experiment puts the A (art) in STEAM: Paint different designs on construction paper with different sunscreens, leave the papers out in the sun and compare the results. Then, hang your "conclusions" on your fridge.

Get the tutorial at Tonya Staab »

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother . She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.

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21 Easy Science Experiments for Kids to Do at Home

Looking for fun and educational activities to keep your kids engaged at home? How about diving into the world of science with some exciting science experiments that are easy to set up and guaranteed to spark curiosity?

These simple science experiments use everyday household items and turn them into magical learning experiences that will amaze your little ones and teach them the wonders of the scientific world.

From walking rainbows to growing gummy bears, these hands-on activities are perfect for exploring basic scientific concepts in a fun and interactive way.

Whether your kids are interested in chemistry, physics, or biology, there’s something here to captivate their imaginations and keep them asking, “Why?” and “How?”

So, gather your supplies and get ready to embark on a journey of discovery right in your own kitchen or backyard.

Easy Science Experiments for Kids

Walking rainbow science experiment for kids.

Create a walking rainbow in this fun and easy science experiment for kids! This experiment teaches kids about capillary action, the process by which liquid moves through a material against gravity, illustrating how water travels through plants and other porous materials.

Rain Cloud in a Jar STEM Experiment for Kids

With this raincloud in a jar experiment, kids will learn about the science principle of precipitation, observing how clouds accumulate moisture until they become heavy enough to release rain.

Watch as the color seeps through the shaving cream and “rains” into the jar, demonstrating how real clouds release rain when they become saturated.

Magic Milk Science Experiment

Kids will love seeing chemistry in action with this fun magic milk science experiment! This is a great opportunity to learn about surface tension and the interaction of different kinds of molecules as you watch colors swirl and create beautiful patterns.

Bouncy Egg Experiment

Learn about chemical reactions with this bouncy egg experiment for kids. Your kids will be fascinated watching their egg’s structure change over the course of this experiment, leaving them with an egg that actually bounces!

Easy Paper Helicopter DIY STEM Activity

Kids will have a blast creating simple helicopters from paper and watching them twirl to the ground when dropped in this DIY STEM activity!

This hands-on activity teaches children about the forces of gravity, lift, and air resistance. By experimenting with different variables in their design, kids can also explore how these factors affect the way the helicopter flies, providing insights into the principles of flight and aerodynamics in a fun and interactive way.

Jell-O and Vinegar Experiment for Scented Science Fun

In this Jell-O and vinegar experiment, kids can learn about chemical reactions in a fun and visual way! Adding vinegar to the Jell-O and baking soda mixture will create a fizzy, colorful eruption that will leave kids wanting to do this experiment over and over again.

Growing Gummy Bears Experiment for Kids

In this easy experiment, kids place gummy bears in different solutions like water, saltwater, and vinegar to observe how they change in size. This experiment is a fun way to help children learn about osmosis, the process by which water moves through a semi-permeable membrane.

Skittles Rainbow Experiment

With this experiment, kids can create their own colorful rainbow at home using Skittles! This is a great way for kids to learn about the concept of diffusion, demonstrating how colors and substances mix and move through water.

Make an Ant Farm Science Experiment for Kids

Create a miniature habitat in a jar with this ant farm science experiment!

This experiment helps children learn about the fascinating world of ant biology, including their social structures, tunneling behaviors, and how they work together to create and maintain their underground homes.

How to Make a Lava Lamp Experiment

Kids can make a mesmerizing lava lamp at home using a few simple ingredients, transforming ordinary items into a exciting science project.

This experiment is a fun and interactive way to explore concepts of liquid density and gas production, plus it’s so colorful and fun to look at!

Make Your Own Water Compass Science Experiment

In this fun experiment kids can make their own water compass and learn to magnetize a paper clip! This experiment helps children understand the principles of magnetism and how the Earth’s magnetic field can be used for navigation.

Hot and Cool Colors Outdoor Science Experiment for Summer

In this hot and cool colors experiment, kids see how color affects temperature and learn about the concept of heat absorption.

It’s a hands-on way to explore the relationship between color and temperature in a fun, summer-friendly activity.

Growing Rock Candy Sticks

What kid wouldn’t love to grow their own rock candy? That’s exactly what they’ll learn to do in this fun experiment!

This experiment helps children learn about the process of crystallization, demonstrating how saturated solutions deposit solids as they cool and evaporate. It’s a sweet and educational way to explore the principles of solubility, saturation, and crystal growth.

Magic Paint Potions: A DIY Process Art Lab for Kids

Use common household ingredients to make your own magic paint potions- and some pretty awesome art in the process!

This is an engaging, hands-on way for kids to learn about chemical reactions as they experiment with the different art their “potions” can create.

How to Make a Papier Mache Erupting Volcano

Kids will love making their own bubbling, erupting volcano with this fun activity!

This classic experiment helps children learn about chemical reactions and the dynamic nature of volcanic eruptions. And what kid wouldn’t love to see a mini volcano that actually erupts?!

Heart STEM Activity for Kids

In this fun science activity, an invisible ink solution is used to paint a simple diagram of the human cardiovascular system on a paper outline of the human body. By using a special reagent to reveal the hidden ink, kids will be delighted to see the heart, veins, and arteries “magically” appear.

This engaging experiment teaches children about the cardiovascular system, while also demonstrating the chemical reaction between the invisible ink and the reagent that makes the hidden illustration come to life.

Leaf Chromatography Science Experiment For Kids

In this leaf chromatography science experiment, kids explore the hidden pigments in leaves by separating their colors using a simple chromatography technique.

This fascinating activity helps children learn about leaf pigmentation, revealing the different chemicals like chlorophyll and carotenoids that give leaves their vibrant green, yellow, and orange hues.

Underwater Volcano Experiment for Kids

This underwater volcano experiment teaches children about the principles of density and convection currents, demonstrating how warm water, being less dense, moves upwards through colder, denser water. It mimics the way underwater volcanic eruptions release hot magma, creating dynamic movement and mixing in the ocean.

How to Make a Mini Balloon Racecar

In this fun project, kids create a small racecar powered by the force of a deflating balloon.

As the air rushes out of the balloon, it propels the car forward, providing a hands-on way to learn about Newton’s Third Law of Motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Working Indoor Water Cycle Experiment

Learn all about the water cycle with this working indoor water cycle experiment!

This experiment helps children understand the stages of the water cycle by observing how water vapor rises, condenses into droplets on the cling wrap, and then falls back into the bowl, mimicking rain.

It’s a hands-on way to explore the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation in a contained environment.

Fun Bouncing Bubbles Activity

In this bouncing bubbles experiment, kids create a special bubble solution that allows them to make bubbles that can bounce without popping easily.

This fun activity helps children learn about surface tension, which is the force that holds the surface of a liquid together. Kids explore how surface tension works to keep the bubbles intact, providing a fascinating look at the properties of liquids and the science behind bubbles.

Final Thoughts

Exploring these easy and engaging science experiments is a fantastic way to spark curiosity and excitement in young minds.

Each activity, from making a raincloud in a jar to growing rock candy sticks, provides a hands-on opportunity for kids to discover fundamental scientific principles.

These experiments transform everyday materials into tools for learning, making complex concepts like density, osmosis, and the water cycle both accessible and fun.

I hope these experiments inspire your children to ask questions, make observations, and see the world around them through the lens of a budding scientist.

Keep experimenting and enjoy the journey of discovery together!

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Easy Science Experiments for Kids

Looking for some easy experiments to do with the kids? We’ve got you covered with all of our favourite, easy science experiments for kids. The best part about all of these ideas is that they may be simple, but the lessons are powerful! Plus they can be adapted for a wide variety of ages and learning environments.

100+ Genius Easy Science Experiments for Kids

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Fun Science Experiments

First let’s kick things off with a list of easy science experiments for kids that we have done many times over and are a favourite of STEAM Powered Family readers around the world. Almost all of these projects use common household items and are tested by kids and teachers. We have science experiments for all ages, from preschool to middle school, even adults love to do these. The best part is that you can use these ideas to help students gain comfort and eventually mastery of the Scientific Method . This list is also a fantastic place to find ideas for your science fair projects.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments

It is incredible the number of cool science experiments you can create from this one simple chemical reaction between Baking Soda and Vinegar . This endothermic reaction, is a classic acid and base chemical reaction.

Here is the chemical formula of this reaction

C 2 H 4 O 2  + NaHCO 3  -> NaC 2 H 3 O 2  + H 2 O + CO 2 vinegar + sodium bicarbonate -> sodium acetate + water + carbon dioxide

Some of our favourite baking soda and vinegar science activities of all time include Bottle Rockets , Fireworks Experiment , Baking Soda Oobleck , and Hatching Dinosaur Eggs . No matter which one you pick, you must try at least one vinegar and baking soda experiment when little scientists are first learning about chemistry.

Balloon Races – Physics Science Experiment

This fast paced, exciting science experiment explores the principles of physics and Newton’s Laws of Motion. It is so simple, kids won’t believe how much they are learning while having fun! Balloon Races make a fantastic activity for the classroom, camp, after school program or at home when the kids need to burn off some energy while learning!

Build a Compass – A Magnetism Science Experiment

Did you know it is actually very easy to build a compass ? All you need is a bowl of water, a needle and a cork! Have your children explore the same magnetic forces that inspired Einstein as a child in this fun science experiment.

Lollipop Layers Density Experiment

Density is such a fun phenomenon to explore, and in this version of a density experiment we are using candy! Lollipop layers is so simple, all you need is a bunch of lollipops or hard candies, water, and a patient hand. The result… GORGEOUS!

Greenhouse Effect Science Experiment

Climate change experiments are so important for helping foster a deep understanding in our students. In this Greenhouse Effect Science Experiment we learn how gas are changing the atmosphere and affecting global temperatures.

Volcano Experiment

A classic science project for kids, making a volcano can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. The goal of the exercise, a big, bubbly reaction that is sure to WOW students. Here are some of our favourite Volcano Experiments we have done.

Have you ever made a Lava Lamp at home? This sensory science experiment is mesmerizing! Watching those bubbles bounce and dance and play is sure to capture students of all ages. Best of all, we have 5 different ways you can make a Lava Lamp (including the old favourite with alka seltzer), so no matter what supplies you have available, we have a Lava Lamp experiment you can do.

Make Milk Plastic

While teaching elementary science I was always on the hunt for cool science experiments that would impress my kids and really stretch their interests and foster their curiosity. One of the biggest hits of all time was a surprisingly simple experiment, that we never really considered as possible… making plastics. Specifically making bioplastics out of milk . With this concept you can create a lesson that is a powerful way to explore polymers with kids. This easy science experiment is a sure fire hit with students and gives them a wonderful keepsake of their studies.

Bouncy Naked Egg in Vinegar Experiment

Have you ever tried to shell a raw egg? Impossible you say? Challenge your hypothesis in this egg in vinegar science experiment ! Not only will you remove the shell from a raw egg, but the result is a bouncy, rubbery, raw egg. An incredibly simple science experiment, it can also be used to teach higher level concepts in osmosis and biology for students learning about the parts of the cell.

Making Water Rise Experiment Magic

When we did this water experiment the kids jaws hit the floor! It is so simple, but the results shock the kids. This is one very easy science experiment that is also incredibly memorable. It teaches the science of creating a vacuum in a very simple approach with just a jar, water and a candle. Learn how to make water rise and wow your students!

Elephant Toothpaste

You have probably seen the Elephant Toothpaste Science Experiment done on TV or at the Science Center where they create a massive gusher that goes many feet into the air, but did you know there is a very simple and easy way you can do this experiment yourself with items you already have available? This classic science experiment is one every student should experience.

Frozen Bubbles

If you live where it gets well below freezing, one of our favourite winter science experiments is to freeze bubbles . There are some specific science principles you need to understand to ensure this experiment is a beautiful success!

Growing Crystals

As a crystal lover and passionate family of rock hounds, the idea of growing crystals is something that we love! Over the years we have found all the ways to simplify and perfect the process so you can easily grow gorgeous crystals and learn the science behind crystallization. We have made crystals from borax, alum and sugar. We even have edible crystals called Rock Candy … yum!!

Explore Surface Tension with Glitter (or Pepper) and Soap

Surface tension is the focus of this simple science experiment that provides a powerful demonstration of the effect soap has on surface tension. Do this easy experiment, all you need is a plate, water, glitter or pepper and dish soap. Such an easy science experiment for kids!

Bottle Crush – Simple Heat Transfer Experiment

Got a soda pop bottle, some hot water and a cold winter day (or a bucket of ice)? Then you have all the makings of a cool science experiment! This this Bottle Crush science experiment , kids feel like all powerful magicians as they crush plastic bottles without touching them.

pH Testing Lab

Have you ever done a pH lab ex periment? In this simple version, you can use items from the kitchen to create a science lab that allows students to explore pH and learn more about acids and bases.

Gummy Mummies – Gummy Bear Mummification Experiment

Gummy Bear Science Experiments are always a hit with kids and in this easy science experiment we explore how the mummification process works. Add an extra fun comparison by also placing some of the gummy bears in liquid.

Walking Rainbow

Want a beautiful rainbow science experiment that is soooo easy it all happens without you even needing to do anything? Simply set it up, walk away, and come back to a beautiful rainbow of colours. In the Walking Rainbow Science Experiment kids learn about capillary action and color mixing. All you need is jars, paper towels, water and food coloring.

Rainbow Rain

On a rainy day, why not make Rainbow Rain in this simple science experiment for kids. The results are beautiful and will brighten a dreary day. All you need is water, shaving cream and a few drops of food colouring.

Skittles Experiment

It doesn’t get any easier than the simple Skittles Experiment . All you need is a plate, some Skittles and water. Soon you will have a spectacular science experiment the kids will beg to do again and again.

It’s been all the rage for a few years, and whether you love it or hate it, making slime can actually be a fantastic science experiment for kids.

Ready to do one of the most simple science experiments, but also the most fun? It’s time to make non-Newtonian Fluids! Known as Oobleck , it turns sold under pressure and liquifies when you remove pressure. And it will keep kids learning hands on and exploring for hours! The best part is all the different science experiments you can do with Oobleck.

Now when you think of Moon Dough , you don’t immediately think of easy science experiments for kids, but that’s because you have never made Moon Dough the way we make Moon Dough! In our recipes we learn about emulsifiers, glow in the dark science, chemical reactions, heat transfer, all while having so much fun exploring science and sensory play with kids of all ages.

Making playdough with your kids is a great way to teach them about mixtures, solutions, substances, and chemical changes. It is also teaches about the importance of formulas and the role each ingredient plays in creating one of the all time most popular sensory play items, playdough!

Magic Milk Experiment

Ready for some serious wow factor in a really easy science experiment? Magic Milk is a classic experiment that always mesmerizes kids. Over the years we have used it to learn about surface tension, space, pollution on Earth Day, and so much more. All you need is milk, dish soap and a drop of food colouring… and watch the magic colour explosion happen!

Simple Snow and Ice Experiment

Is it winter where you live? This is a fantastic, very simple and easy experiment to do with young students. All you need is some jars, snow, ice cubes and water… and watch the melting magic !

Heat Transfer Experiment – Slurpee Making

Kids love this simple slurpee science experiment where they get a cold, sweet treat at the end in the form of a homemade slurpee! Using the science of heat transfer, kids will make their very own slurpee out of juice. A great experiment for learning about temperature, heat and heat transfer.

Flying Ghosts Tea Bag Experiment

Obviously this easy science experiment is perfect for Halloween, but don’t let that stop you from doing it at any time during the year. The results of the flying tea bag experiment are always a hit with kids and all you need is fire and a tea bag to set flight to curiosity!

Ice Fishing

Inspire your little ones to learn more about how salt and water react in this fun ice fishing science experiment .

Water and Oil Experiment

Demonstrate how oil and water don’t mix in this colourful oil and water experiment. All you need is a few simple ingredients: water, oil and food colouring. When it comes to easy science experiments for kids, it doesn’t get easier than this!

Magnet Science – Harry Potter Inspired Wingardium Leviosa

Use the magic of science to wow students, or teach students this experiment so they can wow their friends with their new found magical abilities. You can also use this science to make ghosts fly! Who knew magnet science was so cool?

Marshmallow Science

Marshmallows are the secret to easy science experiments that you never knew existed in your pantry! Learn how to teach concepts around heat, molecules, expansion and more in this marshmallow science experiment .

Sky Science

Kids wondering why the sky changes colour during sunrise and sunsets? Or the always famous, why is the sky blue, question? Explore the science of the sky colours in this easy experiment .

Easy STEM Challenges

Why not combine Science with some Technology, Engineering and Math in these easy STEM Projects for kids.

Build a Popsicle Stick Catapult

One of the original STEM projects kids have been building for generations is the simple catapult. There are lots of different ways you can build a catapult, but here we are making the always easy and popular Popsicle Stick Catapult .

Build a Water Clock

This easy STEM project has some significant historical context that your history loving students will go wild over. Plus building a water clock is surprisingly easy but packs a powerful learning punch.

Make a Glow Salt Circuit

Before you start to worry, building a circuit doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, once your students master the basics of electricity and circuits, they will want to start adding circuits to everything. To get started, one of the most simple circuit projects you can make is our Glow Salt Circuit . Don’t worry, we provide all the detailed instructions to ensure your project is a hit.

Build a Battery

Another great way to explore electricity science is to build a simple battery out of food. We have built Lemon Batteries , Pumpkin Batteries and even Potato Batteries . Kids love capturing the energy in our foods and using it to light up!

Build a Bridge

A bridge building challenge is a great way to challenge a class either in school, at camp or in an after school program. Kids get to let their innovation, creativity, and understanding of science and engineering go wild as they build their creations. Then test them out against other designs to see which concepts come out on top.

Rube Goldberg Machine

Building simple machines is an incredible STEM project for all ages. With a Rube Goldberg Machine you are linking simple machines into a chain reaction to achieve an end goal. The best part about a Rube Goldberg Machine project is that it challenges students to work together and apply critical thinking and problem skills as they develop their STEM literacy. Check out the Rube Goldberg Machine we built as a Leprechaun Trap .

Build a Catapult Cannon

Catapults may be fun, but as kids get older, they want bigger challenges, bigger launches and bigger fun with their learning. Enter the Catapult Cannon , a Catapult design that launches harder and farther than your regular catapults, and challenges students to apply more advanced engineering and physics concepts.

Build a Confetti Cannon or Seed Bomb Launcher

For a smaller scale challenge with mini cannons, try making this Confetti Cannon , which includes two different designs, one for little learners and one more complex design for older kids. Plus you can use a similar design concept to make a Seed Bomb Launcher for homemade Seed Bombs.

Tower Construction Challenge

A very easy STEM Project is to challenge kids to build a tower. Now you can do this with blocks or LEGO, but up the challenge by having kids build with candy , marshmallows , paper, pasta or even frozen bubbles . Add a time limit to turn this into a one minute STEM challenge.

Make a Thaumatrope

Optical illusions are always a fun experiment for kids. For a quick and easy optical illusion for kids, try building Thaumatropes . It is so easy, especially with our ideas and templates.

Build a Balloon Car

This is a STEM build that is perfect for a classroom or after school group. Build a Balloon Car that is powered by air. For younger kids, challenge them with the Make It Move STEM Challenge .

Biology Science Building Models

Turn a boring Biology lesson into a fun science class with a STEM project inspired by the human body. Build functioning models of The Lungs , The Heart or The Hand .

Science Projects and STEM Activities for the Holidays

Need something specific to celebrate the seasons or holidays? Check out all of these resources featuring the best in easy science experiments for kids with a special theme!

Spring Activities

Summer Activities

Fall Activities

Winter Activities

End of School Year

Valentine’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day

Halloween Activities

Christmas Activities

5 Days of Smart STEM Ideas for Kids

Get started in STEM with easy, engaging activities.

32 Cool Science Experiments for Kids (that are Fun AND Easy!)

Do you ever want to do science experiments at home with your kids, but you’re not quite sure what to do? Not just any old kitchen science experiment will do – you want something cooler than vinegar + bicarb soda! But, you also want something simple and easy to do – because no-one wants a huge mess from their kids doing crazy science experiments at home!

We understand, and that’s why the writing team here at STEM Geek has put our heads together to come up with the most awesome at-home science experiments for kids! As science enthusiasts and educators, we also wanted to make sure that these are genuine science learning opportunities. So not only are they captivating for the kids, but we also emphasize what questions can be asked as kids explore and apply the scientific method! Plus, we’ve arranged them according to how much time they take: up to 1 hour, 1 to several hours, and long-term.

Related Post: Ultimate Boredom Buster: 101 Things To Do When Kids Are Bored

Science Experiments at Home that take Less than 1 Hour

1. tie-dye milk.

Sounds delicious, right? You’re not actually drinking it, but instead watching science magic happens when you combine dish soap with milk and food coloring. This is a very pretty experiment that draws the focus and mind into what’s happening on the plate, and all because of a little chemistry with everyday items. Well, food dye may not be an everyday item, but it might be after your kids get a hold of this!

So, what’s going on here, scientifically-speaking? Milk is made up of two major ingredients: water and fat. When you add a little dish soap, it bonds with the fat in the milk so strongly that it literally pushes the food coloring and water away from the cotton ball. On a microscopic level, the dish soap is wandering around the milk, which causes the colors to swirl and swirl.

Questions to ask beforehand:

• Before knowing what will happen to the food coloring, ask the kids what they think will happen when dish soap mixes with milk.
• Since the major catalyst is fat in the milk, what would happen if you used other types of milk: Skim milk, soy milk, coconut milk?

You’ll need:

• Round cake pan or plate with high edges
• Cotton ball (some tutorials show cotton swabs)
• Dish detergent
• Different colors of food dye (three or four should do)

Procedure/Instructions:

• Fill the pan halfway with milk.
• Drip one color of food dye in one section of the plate away from the center. Four to five drops works and later you can play around with more or less. Do the same for the rest of the colors around the plate.
• Soak the cotton ball in dish detergent, and when you’re ready for action, place the cotton ball into the center of the pan.
• Watch the colors racing around, creating a psychedelic tie-dye effect!
• You can add more cotton balls throughout the dish to see more action.
• If some food coloring hugs the wall of the plate, take a cotton swab dipped in dish detergent and place it into the food coloring. It will move away!

2. Saturn’s Glowing Rings

I don’t know about you, but I love everything about space. This experiment shows you how Saturn’s rings are made of rocks and ice chunks even though they look so smooth in pictures. You’ll also see why there are big gaps in the rings. Younger kids take delight in using a flashlight and sprinkling powder, while older kids can get more specific with questions about Saturn and how the rocks and ice stay in orbit.

• Do Saturn’s rings give off their own light?
• Why are some rocks and ice chunks more lit up than others?
• Compare the results of light sprinkles to thicker sprinkles.
• Strong flashlight
• Powder (flour, baby powder, etc) in a shaker
• Very dark room
• Darken a room and set the flashlight on the edge of a table or counter, pointing it at a blank wall. Lay the newspaper on the floor between the flashlight and the wall.
• Turn on the flashlight and notice where the light comes from the flashlight and where it hits the wall. You should only see the light from these two places and not from the space between them. This shows you that the light travels through the air without being seen until it hits the wall. The light represents the sun’s light.
• Now to see how Saturn’s rings glow: Hold the powder shaker and sprinkle some powder over the beam of light where you know the light is traveling. You’ll notice the powder lights up and sparkles in the beam of light. The powder shows in glowing clumps, just like in Saturn’s rings.

3. Breaking Down Colors

We all know that the fun, vibrant colors we see in our lives are created by mixing the basic red, yellow, and blue. In this experiment, you and your child will learn which colors make up those fun shades they have in their art supplies. This also teaches some basic chemistry and uses materials you already have at home. It can be done very simply and expanded to create a large-scale investigation if you love it.

• Which colors separate out first?
• Is the same order for each test?
• Which colors make up the original shade?
• Do the different types of color (pen, pencil, paint) separate in the same way or differently?
• Are some separated in a shorter space are the colors the same mixture?
• Coffee filters
• Color sources (markers, colored pencils, paint, etc.)
• A plain pencil
• To complete this experiment, cut the coffee filters into strips, mark one end with a line the same distance from the bottom on each strip.
• Color in each strip (between the bottom and line) with your colors, and write at the top what the color and source are (e.g., purple marker).
• Place each strip in a glass and help it to stand up by folding the top over a pencil (a chopstick, table knife, or any long narrow object will also work) so that it stands up in the glass.
• Fill the glass up to the top of your colored block, and wait. The water will move up the filter, and the colors will separate out as it goes.
• Remove the strip once the water gets near the top of the strip to stop the experiment. 

To make this a true experiment, we recommend testing multiple colors and using markers, colored pencils, and paint (as some starting examples). You could test the same colors from each type of art supply to investigate whether they all use the same mix of basic colors to create the same end product.

This post has a nice full description of the methods if you need more detail.

4. Water Xylophone

This simple experiment will teach your child about sound and pitch using glasses, water, and something to act as a mallet. Don’t let the simplicity deceive you, there are a lot of ways to experiment and learn through this process, and it also brings in an element of music that makes it interesting and engaging.

• Do you think more water makes the sound higher or lower in pitch?
• How do you think the shape or size of the glass will affect the sound?
• How should we arrange the glasses to play a simple song?
• Do you think this will work with a plastic cup, why or why not?
• Some glasses
• Something wood to act as a mallet (we recommend wood so you don’t break the glasses!)
• A great way to start is with glasses that are the same size, shape, and material, and filling them with different amounts of water.
• Have your child use the mallet to test how the amount of water affects the sound.
• From there, it’s a really simple extension to use different sized and shaped glasses (or any glass vessel like jars and bowls) to experiment with how the shape, size, and amount of water in the glass affect the tone. 

To take this one further and really bring in the musical component, you and your child could work out a simple song and create the right tones to play it. If you or your child are musical, you could get very elaborate and creative (try googling harry potter or star wars theme songs on glasses, there are so many options that I couldn’t even choose one)!

5. Ultimate Bottle Flipping

Ah, bottle flipping. The fad that kids can’t get enough of, but parents are well and truly over. The constant thud of semi-filled water bottles being tossed (and hopefully landing upright) is guaranteed to send parents around the twist!

If you can stand it for a bit longer though, there’s a lot of STEM knowledge to be gained in this bottle flipping experiment. As we know, the aim of bottle flipping is to flip a partially filled water bottle underhand and get it to land upright.

In this experiment, kids will learn the importance of observing a result multiple times before changing a variable (the amount of water in the bottle).

• How much water should you put in the bottle?
• What is the ideal amount of liquid to get the perfect flip?
• What should be the ideal amount of water?
• Was their prediction correct?
• Why do they think the amount of water affects the chances of landing the bottle?
• A plastic water bottle
• Measuring jug
• Paper to record results
• Get the kids to start by flipping their bottle with no water in it at all. Kidspot recommends flipping it 50 times for each step, but you could do less if you need to.
• Try it again with 50ml of water.
• Keep adding more water until the bottle is full.

If they’re keen, you could try other types or sizes of bottles, or even try different liquids to see if that affects the results!

6. Rainbow in a Jar

This simple science experiment is not only very visually appealing, but it’s also a great way to learn about the density of liquids. Warning though, this one could get messy so make sure kids are in some old clothes and you might want to take it outside! I like this experiment because you’ll probably have most of the materials in your kitchen already!

• Which liquids they think will be heaviest?
• Which ones will be lightest?
• Why do they think that?
• A glass jar
• Food coloring
• Various liquids like honey, corn syrup, dishwashing liquid, olive oil, rubbing alcohol and water.
• Use the food coloring to make all your liquids a different color. A dropper comes in handy here, but if you don’t have one you can manage without.
• Slowly add each liquid to the jar (pouring into the middle of the jar is best).
• Soon, you’ll have different layers of colored liquid forming your very own rainbow in a jar.

You might even get them to draw a diagram of what they think the jar will look like at the end. They can compare this with the experiment results to see if their prediction was correct.

It might also help to talk to your kids first about what density is and how materials are all made of different amounts of molecules. The more molecules a liquid has, the heavier it will be. Playdough to Plato demonstrates a great way of introducing this concept using marbles. 

7. Write Your Own Secret Messages! 

We love science experiments that are made up primarily of supplies that you likely already have in your home.

• Why do you think this will work?
• Which liquid do you think will make the best secret message?
• Why do people write secret messages?
• Juice (eg. Lemon)
• Lamp (or anything else that can be used as a heat source)
• In order to complete this experiment, you’ll need to gather all of your supplies along with a piece of paper, some q-tips, and a lamp or other item that you can use as a heat source.
• Next, you’ll mix your lemon juice with a slight amount of water. 
• Using your q-tip, use the mixture you’ve created to begin writing your message. 
• Allow it to dry. 
• Once dry, apply heat to it in order to get your message to appear.

Extend this project by attempting to write with a juice and water mixture, a milk and water mixture, or any other variation of the liquids we listed as necessary supplies!

8. Create Your Own Butterfly

Your little ones will love practicing their color mixing by creating their very own coffee filter butterflies. Hang them in the windows of your home to spread some cheer and to watch the sun flow through their beautiful wings! 

• What colors can mix together to make other colors?
• How do butterflies fly?
• What do you think will happen when we add water to the markers?
• Water spray bottle
• Allow your child to draw on the coffee filter to their heart’s content.
• Spray it with water and allow the colors to mix together.
• Allow it to dry thoroughly.
• Once dry, fold it like a fan and then clip it in the middle.

Ta-da, you’ve created a beautiful butterfly! 

9. Make A Duck Call

Give your family an excuse to head outdoors by allowing your children to craft their own duck calls. Test them out at a local pond and see if you can get the ducks to come closer to you for a healthy veggie snack! 

• Do you think ducks will be able to hear us with this?
• What other materials do you think could make this noise?
• How is what we have created similar to a duck’s beak?
• Plastic straw
• Push down on the straw to flatten one end and then cut the flattened end into a point.
• Flatten out your straw and then blow into it.
• Feel free to experiment with different amounts of flattening and different point shapes to see how you can adjust the sound.
• When finished, take your duck call into the wild to test it out.

10. Make Ivory Soap Boats

Did you ever carve items out of soap at camp when you were a child? Give your child the same opportunity. Soap can be carved using safe items, like plastic knives. 

• Why are we able to carve soap so easily?
• Do you think our boats float?
• Why do you think they float or sink?
• Carving tools (for kids)
• Allow your child to express their creative side by carving their boat out of soap. 
• Once they have finished carving it, allow them to test them out in the bathtub. . Extend their learning by discussing density with them–the soap floats because it is less dense than the water.

11. Make Your Own Quicksand 

As John Mullaney famously said, “I thought quicksand would be a much bigger problem in my adult life than it would have turned out.” For some reason, quicksand permeates children’s adventure stories – and their imaginations! 

• Where can we find quicksand in real life?
• How do you think quicksand works?
• What do you think we will need to make our own quicksand?
• Cornflower (one cup)
• Water (half cup)
• A container
• To make your quicksand, you’ll need to mix the cornflour and water. 
• Be sure to stir slowly in order to demonstrate – if you stir too quickly, it will become hard and you won’t be able to see it function the way it should!

12. Make Your Own Lava Lamp

We’ve tried this one in our classrooms, and trust us, our kids go wild year after year. Kids love making something that they can use as home decoration, and they love how easy it is to show new people – this is the experiment that lives on and on! 

• How do you think density is involved in this experiment?
• Why don’t the water and oil mix?
• Why can’t we shake our lava lamps?
• Clear Plastic Bottle
• Vegetable Oil
• Food Coloring
• Alka-Seltzer
• Pour water into the plastic bottle until it is approximately one quarter full. 
• Then pour vegetable oil in until the bottle is almost completely filled. 
• Allow some time for the oil and water to separate. 
• It is important that your children do not shake the bottle in this step. It will extend the experiment for no other reason than you waiting for the bubbles to dissipate. 
• Add as much food coloring as your child deems fit and then drop a piece of Alka-seltzer tablet into the bottle for the lava lamp fun to begin.

13. Guess the Smell

This one will take a little more prep work, but it’s a great touchstone for your children to begin discussing one of their five senses: the sense of smell! 

• What are examples of times we use our sense of smell?
• What other senses do we have?
• If you could only use one sense for the rest of your life, which one?
• Plastic Cups
• Smells (eg. coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice)
• Place a variety of common smells in small plastic cups. We like to use coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon juice. 
• Pour these in and place tin foil securely over the top of the cup. 
• Poke small holes in the top of the foil. 
• Secure the foil with tape (on the sides, not over the holes). 
• Allow your children to guess the smells and record their findings on paper.

Home Science Experiments that take 1 to Several Hours

14. mangrove bioshield  .

Ecologists and conservationists are pushing for more regulations in building and saving mangrove forests around coastal areas. The reason is represented in this STEM activity. The trees act as a mangrove BioShield (bio = life, shield = protection), showing how natural obstacles can prevent critical damage from marine natural disasters such as tsunamis.

The mangrove BioShield can be for older elementary kids through to high school. Obviously, the younger they are, the more parent involvement. This experiment is done twice to show the effects of having and not having a BioShield. The first part uses little to no trees, and the second uses a forest of trees and rocks.

• What will happen in a tsunami if the village is without a BioShield? And the village with a BioShield?
• Would a BioShield help with hurricanes?
• Would you want to encourage people to save manatee forests if they are beneficial?
• Medium to large clear, plastic container
• Newspaper – wad into balls, then cover half of the bottom container – this help to keep the ground sturdy
• Mud – cover the newspaper and press it in to form a slope down to the empty side of the container. The top side should be flattened for the cardboard houses, then it slopes down into the empty half of the container.
• Cardboard houses (use the bottoms of milk cartons for the house and popsicle sticks for the roofs, place houses on the mud towards the top of the high slope
• Model trees or leafy stems from plants – Different amounts for activity 1 and activity 2
• Several small rocks
• Cardboard – long enough to fit across the container and tall enough to hold it from out of the water
• Water – enough to go halfway up the slope

A tsunami without the mangrove forest – insert only one or two trees down the slope. Place the cardboard piece into the water end of the container and move back and forth to create waves. Notice how easy it is for the water to destroy the village you’ve created.

Repeat the process of constructing the village, but this time insert a lot of trees down the slope to where the water meets the mud. They need to be deeply rooted like mangroves, and I’ve found that aquarium plants work well for this reason. Place the rocks within the mangrove forest and in front of the trees. Add a little bit more water. Insert the cardboard again and move it back and forth to create waves.  

15. A Greater Crater

When you look at the night sky and see the moon, one of the first things you notice is its craters. The moon is completely covered in them, and some are so large we can see them from Earth. Meteorites often make the craters that we see when they hit the surface, but it makes us wonder why some craters are so much bigger than others.

This experiment will help you to investigate one of the main reasons why craters come in different sizes.

• What causes craters?
• How big do the meteorites have to be to make a crater?
• What is it about the meteorite that causes the size of the crater?
• Paper to record your results
• Flat floor surface for the experiment, large enough for the newspaper to cover
• Shallow metal pan at least 2 inches deep
• Flour to fill 2 inches of the pan
• ¼ cup hot chocolate powder
• Mesh strainer or flour sifter
• Large marble (and others of varying sizes if comparing results)
• Metric ruler
• Tongs or long tweezers
• Pour the flour into the pan until it reaches 2 inches. Place the pan on top of the newspaper on a level surface.
• Sift a layer of hot chocolate powder over the flour (this is so you can better see the rays and other features of the craters).
• You will be dropping your marble from three different heights, then comparing the sizes of the craters. Measure the diameter (side to side) of the marble and record this on your paper as Marble 1. Hypothesize how large the crater will be and write that next to the diameter of Marble 1.
• Stand next to your pan and hold the marble at knee height above the flour. Drop the marble (do not throw it, just let it fall from your fingers) into the flour and study the shape of the crater. Look for a rim around the crater or any rays coming from the edges.
• Measure across the widest part of your crater, from rim to rim and record on your data sheet as Marble 1 – Knee Height – Width or something similar. You can also draw a picture of your results.
• Very gently use the tongs or long tweezers to remove the marble without destroying the crater.
• Repeat this procedure from waist height, shoulder height, top of head height. Make sure you aim in different parts of the flour so you don’t land on top of another crater. Record all of your results as the different heights you’re using.
• Compare your results.
• You can try again with a different sized marble as “Marble 2” to compare those results with each height as done with Marble 1.

Perhaps now, you’ll look at the moon a little differently!

16. Rube Goldberg Chain Reaction Machine

We’ve all seen them, some pretty far-out there chain reaction machines to complete simple tasks, usually in movies. But they are real , and are becoming even more popular now that we’re all stuck at home for a while. This is a fun way to explore physics with stuff you have at home.

Ask your child to decide what the end goal is (e.g. get the ball into the cup), and ask them to think about creative ways to make it get there. Working together, you can start with small pieces of a circuit to find out how your ball reacts to the set-up, and grow it from there. You can even refer to this video for more ideas:

• What will happen when the ball bounces off of this wall?
• How will these dominoes change the speed of the ball?
• What can we use to make sure that the ball goes in the direction we want it to at this point?
• What should we put here to get the best bounce? 
• Paper towel
• Toilet paper tubes
• Fixed objects like walls or furniture
• Any other toys and materials that can be used to build your circuit

To make this a true experiment, it needs to include more than a one-off demonstration, and there are a lot of ways to accomplish this.

• Set up parallel courses and use different sized or weighted balls to go through the circuit.
• Set up one elaborate circuit and use different objects one at a time.
• Set up circuits in different ways to see how different set-ups affect your end goal.

Another experimental component is the process used to create a circuit that reaches your end goal ( like this video about getting the ball into the cup, but you could come up with lots of other endpoints!). Along the way, you and your child get a lot of time to learn about momentum, velocity, friction, energy transfer, and interference (e.g., the cat). 

17. Melting

This is a simple and fun experiment that can be set up in a short time and then fill-up your day with observations and new experiments. Using only things you already have at home, you can set-up an engaging experiment with your kids!

Ice melts at different rates depending on a variety of factors including temperature, pressure, and if there are impurities (think salt, sugar, dirt) in the ice or touching the ice. There is a lot of opportunities to get creative and do the experiment in multiple ways, keeping your kids engaged and developing their investigative, experimental, and critical thinking skills.

• Which ice melts the fastest, slowest, and if they have any guesses about why?
• What other ice-melting experiments they think would be fun: Using different temperature liquids? Using different amounts of ice? Different sized cups?
• Lots of ice
• Several matching cups (i.e., they are the same size, shape, and color)
• Measuring cups
• A variety of liquids for the test
• Paper for writing down observations
• Measure the same amount of ice and place it in each cup.
• M easure equal amounts of each liquid and place them in the cups: try to complete this part quickly so that the ice in each cup is in liquid for as close the same amount of time as possible.
• Set up your cups in a place that is easy for your child to watch and observe.
• Ask them to check in at regular intervals (every 15 minutes, every hour) and record or talk to you about their observations.

Other potential experimental examples:

• Using different liquids to test if they affect melting time;
• Using the same liquid and placing ice in different locations to test what conditions throughout your home affect melting;
• Test if different amounts of ice melt at different rates;
• Test if different kinds of cups change melting time.

There are endless possibilities for you to come up with new ways to complete these simple experiments. You get the idea. Explore more!

18. Breathing Leaves

Science experiments don’t get much more simple than this one!  It’s effective though and kids will enjoy watching their leaf ‘breathe’. Learning about plant science is often tricky because it can seem a bit abstract. This experiment allows kids to see the process of plants making oxygen right before their eyes!

A question to ask beforehand:

• What do you think will happen if we leave it for a few hours?
• A fresh leaf from a tree
• A bowl of water
• Pluck a fresh leaf from a tree and place it in a bowl of water.
• Use a rock to weigh it down and leave the experiment out in the sun.
• Have your kids predict what they think they will see when they come back in a few hours (they can write their prediction down or draw a diagram if that’s more their style).
• After a few hours, your kids will see lots of tiny little bubbles on the edge of the leaf and in the glass bowl of water (use a magnifying glass to get a closer look if you have one).

So, what’s happening here? Leaves take in carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen during photosynthesis. The bubbles you can see are the leaf releasing the oxygen it’s created. You could explain to your kids how trees and plants make the oxygen we need to breathe. Kids Fun Science explains this experiment in more detail and suggests taking it further by leaving the plant for a longer period of time (do you see more or fewer bubbles?) or placing a leaf in a dark area to see what difference that makes!

19. How Does Sunscreen Work?

If there’s one thing I know, it’s that kids hate wearing sunscreen! Trying to get it on them is like wrestling a crocodile. Maybe if they knew how sunscreen worked they’d understand how important it is to wear it when they’re out in the sun (and be slightly more cooperative when we’re lathering it over their little faces). This is a simple experiment that shows kids the difference wearing sunscreen will make to their skin.

• What do they observe when they come back?
• Why do they think one side faded and the other not?
• A piece of colored cardboard (a dark color would be best)
• Your usual bottle of sunscreen
• Have your kids smear the sunscreen over one part of the cardboard and leave the other part clear.
• Kids can then predict what they think will happen when they return to the experiment after a few hours.
• Talk to them about how the sun’s UV radiation is absorbed by the sunscreen so it can’t get through to damage the cardboard.

You could even take it further by trying different kinds of sunscreen or leaving your cardboard out during different times of the day.

20. Make A Rubber Egg

Imagine a world in which eggs can be used like bouncy balls. Well, with a couple of home supplies and a little bit of science, you can live in that world. Your child will be dazzled as they remove eggshells from eggs while leaving the insides intact. 

• Is vinegar an acid or a base?
• Is there another substance that could do this?
• Simply leave the egg in the vinegar for a few hours and wait to see what happens. Because of the transformative nature of this experiment, it lends itself to science journaling. 
• Consider having your kiddos draw before and after pictures of the eggs in order to track their journeys. 

21. Flying Tea Bags

Nothing will get your kids’ attention faster than telling them that you are going to spend some time creating something that will fly. However, because this experiment will involve fire, please ensure that you select a time in which you will be able to provide ample adult supervision. 

• How do we stay safe with fire?
• How do we make sure we don’t damage the surface we are working on?
• Why do you think the tea bag will fly?
• Single Serving Tea Bags
• A Small Bowl
• A Non-Flammable Work Surface
• First, open the tea bags and unfold them. 
• Empty the leaves from the bag. 
• Stand the tea bags up on your surface and light the top of each bag on fire. 

As they begin to burn, they will float into the sky! 

22. Make Wax Paper Lanterns

Your children will love the chance to display their fantastic art skills by creating these paper lanterns. If you want to add a culture lesson, have your children research German’s St. Martin’s Day and learn about why children parade through the streets with lanterns. We promise there’s a good moral story involved here! 

• When could we use lanterns?
• What safety considerations do we need to use in this project?
• Why can we see the light through the wax paper?
• Popsicle Sticks
• To begin, tear a ten-inch piece of wax paper off of the roll and cut it in half. 
• After that, fold each piece in half. 
• Allow your child to color their image on top of the wax paper. (This is a great place for an impromptu lesson in color mixing). 
• Fold the wax paper and iron it (consider something in between the crayon mess and the iron you use on your clothes). 
• Finally, glue the craft sticks into squares, add the wax paper, and turn it into a cube.

Voila, you’ve created your own lantern!

23. Create an Insect Habitat

Alright, this one isn’t for the faint of heart. Draw up your courage and send your child into the backyard to collect all of the creepy crawlies they’d like to.

Now you have a home for them. Better yet, you can keep your child entertained for hours as they track the growth of their bug friends.

• What do bugs need to survive?
• What do bugs eat?
• What is the difference between a need and a want?
• Imagination
• Find something that you’re willing to sacrifice to the bugs in order to create a habitat for them – we recommend a shadowbox so that your child can see inside, but a cardboard box will do just fine as well. 
• Ensure that there is breathing room for the bugs. 
• Create a habitat with sticks, bark, small rocks, dried leaves, and whatever else you can find.
• If you’re willing to hang onto the habitat long enough, use it as an opportunity to talk about decomposition as the bugs begin to break down the twigs.

Long-Term Science Experiments at Home

24. crystal kingdom.

This is the oldest trick in the book, but it’s popular because it’s so effective, fun, and has great results. The only drawback to most crystal-growing recipes is that they take ages to grow, and to be quite honest this one is no exception. In fact, these crystals will take several days to grow but the end result is worth it. The reason is that this experiment involves growing a whole landscape of beautifully colored salt and bluing crystals. Here’s a video for visual reference: 

A few things to keep in mind: Allow for plenty of air circulation, preferably inside rather than outside. Ammonia is not necessary but does help in the process.

• What will happen when you add ammonia?
• Why does more salt and less liquid create faster crystallization?
• What part does the bluing solution have in crystal growing?

(Answers can be found here )

• Two bottles of bluing solution
• Large tray/cookie sheets with sides
• Measuring cup
• Liquid watercolors
• Eye droppers
• Cut sponges into large pieces. Spread them out on the tray.
• Measure out 1 cup of each of salt, water, and bluing and then gently mix together.
• Evenly coat or sprinkle the mix over the sponges.
• Add 1 cup of ammonia to the sponges.
• Coat an extra 1 cup of salt on to the sponges.
• By now you’ll see some crystals growing . Sprinkle the magic mix again: 1 cup each of salt, water, and bluing. You can pour the ingredients onto the tray instead of on top of the crystals to keep them from breaking. Don’t worry, more will grow!
• Take an eyedropper, and drop a tablespoon of each liquid watercolor (undiluted) in different patterns over the sponges and crystals.
• Take note of your garden and what the crystal formations look like. You can make a sketch in your notebook as a before and after. Ask questions and observe!
• Observe how the crystals are bigger than before, and notice the colors aren’t as vibrant. Compare the differences in shapes, sizes, and colors.
• If you want more crystals to grow, add a little more water, bluing, and salt.

25. Blow up a Balloon with Yeast

We are surrounded by science in action, but sometimes it is really difficult to see what is happening, especially when it is on a small-scale. When we make bread, yeast ‘eats’ the sugars in the food and creates CO2, giving bread its airy texture. This experiment lets you both visualize what happens when yeast consumes sugar and is a great set-up for an experiment that can be observed throughout the day.

Depending on your supplies and time, you could start with a demonstration and use that to think of other tests, or you could set up several parallel tests at the same time.

• How quickly does the balloon filled with air?
• When does it stop filling (at some point the yeast will run out of food and will stop making gas)?
• Does the starting temperature affect the experiment?
• Does the balloon fill faster in different places in your home (try especially for different air-temperatures, you could include an outside location)?
• Some balloons
• Blow up the balloon a few times before starting so that it’s loosened up a bit.
• Fill the bottle with about 1 inch of warm water (heat is required to activate the yeast, but you could experiment with different temperatures), add the yeast and swirl to dissolve.
• Add the sugar and swirl more.
• Place the balloon over the opening to the bottle and wait. You should expect to see the balloon begin to inflate after around 20 minutes.
• Continue checking and observing how much the balloon inflates throughout the day.

More example experimental setups include:

• Do different temperatures – either with the water you start with or the air the yeast lives in – affect how quickly the balloon blows-up?
• Does using 2x the yeast result in a balloon that is 2x bigger, or blows-up 2x faster?
• Do different types of sugar (e.g., white sugar, honey, syrup, flour) affect how quickly the balloon blows up or how big it gets?

A sk your child to think of new experiments (you could prompt with some of the examples above, or ideas from this post ). 

26. Seed Germination

A really simple but fun multi-day experiment is germinating seeds under different conditions. This means finding some quick-sprouting seeds such as beans and putting them in different conditions to see how that affects germination (sprouting leaves and roots) and growth.

I love using seed experiments because they are inexpensive, simple, and leave a ton of room for creating your own unique experiment.

• Which seed will sprout fastest?
• Seeds (Beans, radishes, squashes, and many flowers sprout quickly from large seeds, making them good choices.)
• Small pots or paper cups
• Potting soil
• Cloth or paper towel
• Somewhere with good light
• To get started, you’ll need some seeds – feel free to choose something you already have, if you’re a gardener you might have some seeds ready for the coming season and could spare a few – or find something online or at your local nursery.
• Use small pots or paper cups and fill each with your growth material (we recommend a minimum of 3 for a useful comparison).
• Fill one with potting soil, one with sand, and one with a cloth or paper towel.
• Place them somewhere with good light, and add water.
• Ask your child to predict which seed will sprout fastest, and make observations every day. If possible, make them around the same time each day.
• Once you see growth, you can ask your child what they think caused any differences, and you can use that as a jumping-off point for more experiments

Additionally, you could:

• Use one type of seed and different types of growth media: soil, paper towel, gravel, sand, water, etc.
• You could use different seeds (beans, flowers, grass, herbs) and grow them under the same conditions (soil, water, sun exposure) to see how different plants grow differently.
• You could see how different light conditions (by a window, in the basement, in a bright room away from a window, etc.) affect germination.

You could also extend each experiment by simply continuing to grow each seed to learn whether the different germination time affects long-term growth (you may want to re-pot everything in the soil for this to be effective, depending on the specifics of your initial experiment).

27. Colored Celery

It’s hard to imagine plants having little capillaries inside them that transport water and nutrients, but this experiment shows that in action. It’s easy to set up, but you’ll have to wait at least a day to see some results. Your kids will be able to see how transpiration takes place and plants absorb water from the soil all the way up into their leaves.

• A few stalks of celery (celery works best for this because it’s a bit more visible, but you could also use flower stems)
• Different food coloring
• Place each stalk in a cup of colored water and make your predictions about what will happen.
• After a day or so you’ll see the celery leaves becoming the color of the water they’re standing in.
• Have your kids describe their observations (they can write down what they see or draw it if they prefer).
• If you look at the base of the stem you’ll also see tiny little holes that the colored water is traveling through.

When you’re done with the experiment, make sure you snap the celery and look inside – you should be able to see the capillaries in action. For more ideas, Little Bins for Little Hands has got some great hints and tips for this experiment.

28. Moldy Bread

This experiment is an oldie, but a goodie! Kids love looking at disgusting things and this one will certainly come up with the goods. Not only will kids learn about how mold grows, but they might also take on some lessons about the importance of washing their hands!

You might want to check out the results of this experiment at Science Alert before you start to see if your stomach is up to it.

• A few slices of bread
• Some ziplock bags
• Sticky little hands. 
• Get a few slices of bread and lay them out on your kitchen bench.
• Have your kids touch one piece of bread with dirty, unwashed hands.
• They can wash their hands with soap and water and touch another slice, then do the same using hand sanitizer.
• Leave one piece of bread untouched.
• Place them all in clear, labeled ziplock bags and predict which one will grow the most mold.
• Leave your bread slices for at least a week (it may take a bit longer, depending on the conditions where you live) and get the kids to record their observations.

You can also try wiping your bread slices on other surfaces to see what moldy results you get (their laptop or tablet is a great place to start)!

29. Sprouting Beans

Give your household a real survivalist feel by beginning an indoor garden. We recommend planting your beans in a clear cup so that your children can be privy to all of the processes during the plant’s journey.

• How does a plant grow?
• What does germination mean?
• What is in season to grow in our area now?
• Unprocessed Beans
• If you’d like your child to see every step of the process, consider placing the beans inside of a damp paper towel inside of a ziplock. 
• You can wait, see the germinated seed together, and then plant it inside of a small cup.
• Once inside the cup, watch it grow.

Extend your work by planting various beans and altering the growth conditions in order see what makes your beans grow best! 

30. Begin Composting

Begin your “go green” resolutions by teaching your child the value of composting! Best of all, once the science experiment is done, your family will have a recycling process that will last your entire lifetimes. 

• Why is composting important?
• How else can our household go green?
• Why do we need a foundation layer for compost?
• Compost Bin
• Organic Material
• First, create a compost bin. You can purchase one or build one out of wood. 
• To begin your composting, you’ll need even amounts of brown materials (think shredded paper, dryer lint, etc.) and green materials (think fruit and vegetable waste, lawn clippings, etc.). 
• If you’re really feeling fancy, throw some earthworms in there.

For days to come, your family will be able to discuss what can and cannot be broken down by the decomposers inside of the compost bin. Never-ending science! 

31. Turn Grapes Into Raisins

Your kids may or may not eat raising – but we can guarantee you, they’ve likely never considered the option of creating their own! 

• What other snacks can we make with science?
• Should we ever eat our experiments?
• How does this work?
• For this experiment, you’ll need grapes. (Really, that’s it!) 

Leave your grapes somewhere where they will not be disturbed and use this as an opportunity for your children to journal the changes in the grapes from day to day. Believe it or not, this type of sequential journaling is a valuable literacy skill! 

32. DIY Science Experiment

The best science experiment your child can engage in is the one they create themselves! Begin brainstorming a list of questions and let the world be their oyster as they plan and carry out their own experiments. Some of our favorite brainstorming questions, from Scholastic’s Science-Fair Project Guide, are listed below:

• What is the effect of toothpaste brand on teeth-cleaning power?
• What brand of trash bag can withstand the most weight before ripping?
• How does the type of material affect how long a shirt takes to dry?

Written by Miranda Altice, Kaitlin Anselmo, Mark Coster, Allison Ebbets, and Jodie Magrath.

Mark is the driving force behind STEM Geek. With 20 years of experience in chemistry education and research, and 3 willing children as guinea pigs, Mark has a passion for inspiring kids and adults to combine fun and learning with STEM Toys!

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100+ Easy Science Experiments for Kids To Do at Home (Using Materials You Already Have!)

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Looking for fun science experiments to do at home with your kids? We’ve compiled the ultimate list of cool science experiments for kids – most of which can be done with materials you already have on hand!

Children are naturally curious about the world around them, but explaining scientific concepts without a physical demonstration can be confusing, and well, just not fun! We’ve found the best way to teach science is with simple science experiments that provide hands-on learning opportunities – making concepts more accessible, and most importantly, extremely fun and memorable for kids.

We’ve scoured the web to pull together an epic list of the best easy science experiments you can do at home with your kids. Whether you have preschoolers starting at square one, or tweens or teens looking for the ultimate Science Fair project idea, this list has it all – ranging from weather, water and physics experiments, to chemical reactions and explosions (always a kid favorite!).

And you won’t have to make a special trip to the craft or hardware store – almost all of these fun science experiments use common household ingredients that you probably already have at home. Score!

So what are you waiting for – dive right in and have some science fun!

PIN for when you’re ready to perform a fun science experiment:

Science Experiments using Chemistry (Hello, Explosions!)

Your kids will have a blast watching how different materials react and change with these simple chemistry experiments – there’s tons of bubbly explosions, fizzy reactions and rainbow creations to choose from!

(1) These Oozing Pumpkins are sure to bring lots of laughs from your young scientists as you create overflowing reactions from baking soda and white vinegar. (via Little Bins for Little Hands)

(2) Or swap the pumpkin for a lemon to create a miniature volcano right in your kitchen with this Lemon Volcano . (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(3) Go big or go home with this incredible Watermelon Volcano experiment where you just need a few simple materials including baking soda, dish soap, vinegar and a little bit of food coloring. (via Preschool Play & Learn)

(4) We love this colorful twist on the classic Baking Soda and Vinegar Reaction . It just never gets old! (via Crafts by Amanda)

(5) Grab a baking sheet and try this Fizzing Colors activity to make a bubbly piece of art! (via Mom Wife Busy Life)

(6) A fun Rainbow variation on the classic Baking Soda and Vinegar experiment that is sure to make kids smile. (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(7) Make these amazing Magical Color Changing Unicorn Noodles with cabbage and then squeeze on some lemon to watch the noodles change color! (via Left Brain Craft Brain)

(8) Learn about reactions on a large scale and turn milk into a work of art with this interactive Giant Magic Milk experiment . (via Hello Wonderful)

(9) Up the ante and make this Vinegar & Baking Soda Rocket – the chemical reaction can make it fly 30-50 feet into the air! (via 123 Homeschool for 4)

(10) Or try this super cool Chemical Reaction Car – it gets a boost from a fizzy reaction from a base (sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda) and an acid (vinegar) which mix together and release carbon dioxide. (via Left Brain Craft Brain)

(11) Kids love this simple experiment about Apple Oxidation where they can predict which liquid will keep the apple slices from browning, then test their hypothesis. (via Jennifer Findley)

(12) Ever wonder why the Statue of Liberty is green? Get the answer to that question and learn a little bit about a famous US landmark with this cool Penny Science Experiment . (via The Keele Deal)

(13) Wow your kids by making raisins dance! This Dancing Raisins chemical experiment requires minimal ingredients (water + baking soda) but gets maximum results. (via 123 Homeschool 4 ME)

(14) What happens if you drop an egg? It cracks, right? But what if you drop a bouncy egg?!  Learn how to make Bouncing Eggs with this fun kitchen experiment. (via 123 Homeschool 4 ME)

(15) It’s an old classic, but it’s still fun to do – try to fit a hardboiled egg into a glass jar with this Egg in a Bottle experiment. (via Left Brain Craft Brain)

(16) Practice fire safety while learning about the relationship between oxygen and fire with this incredibly simple Fire Safety Experiment . (via Mama Smiles)

(17) Impress your kids with this cool Smoking Fingers Trick that makes it look like your fingers are on fire as smoke rises from them! And yes, it’s best to leave this one to the grown-ups for demonstration. (via Left Brain Craft Brain)

(18) Kids will enjoy watching these balloons inflate “on their own” in this fun Balloon experiment . (via All for the Boys)

(19) With a few ingredients from your pantry, you can head outside and try this Exploding Sidewalk Chalk , because who doesn’t love messy explosions?! (via Hess Un-Academy)

(20) How do elephants keep their teeth clean? With Elephant Toothpaste of course! This is one of the best science experiments for kids of all ages – from preschoolers to teens. All it takes is hydrogen peroxide, dry yeast, dish soap and food coloring to make this super cool foamy reaction. (via Teach Beside Me)

(21) Kids (and parents) will enjoy seeing the “lava” flowing in this fun experiment where you can Take a Look Inside of a Volcano ! (via 123 Homeschool 4 Me)

(22) How pretty are these Crystal Flowers ? They’re a craft and science experiment all in one! (via Preschool Play & Learn)

(23) Make your own sweet treat, with this Fizzy Sherbet and learn the science behind why it tickles your tongue. (via Go Science Kids)

(24) Grab all your dull pennies and task your little scientists to try different solutions to determine How to Clean Pennies , then learn why some solutions work better than others. (via Gally Kids)

Weather Science Experiments for Kids

Why is it rainy one day and sunny the next? What causes thunder and lightning? How do clouds form? 

The weather is always changing and easily observable by kids. That makes weather experiments not only super fun, but incredibly relevant for children of all ages. Explore weather-related science with these easy experiments:

(1) Have fun creating your very own rain clouds using shaving cream and food coloring with this Rain Cloud in a Jar activity. (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(2) If you’ve got a marker and a plastic zipper bag, your kids will love getting to watch the water cycle in action by creating their very own Water Cycle in a Bag . (via Playdough to Plato)

(3) Or simply use a glass bowl and some ice cubes for a Water Cycle Experiment on the kitchen counter! (via Taming Little Monsters)

(4) Alternatively, reuse plastic bottles for a hands-on Water Cycle Experiment . (via 123 Homeschool 4 ME)

(5) Now that you know all about the water cycle, why not Build Your Own Rain Gauge ? (via Nurture Store)

(6) Learn what happens when warm air rises and cool air sinks with this colorful simple experiment. (via Mom Brite)

(7) Kids will love watching a cloud form and escape when you Create a Cloud in a Water Bottle . (via Playing with Rain)

(8) If you don’t have an empty water bottle lying around, you can check out this post to create another billowing cloud using a mason jar . It is so exciting to watch the clouds roll out of the jars! (via Little Bins for Little Hands)

(9) This Tornado in a Jar is one of the most classic science experiments and is always a hit with kids. (via Natural Beach Living)

(10) Light a fire and learn about how heat moves from the Earth in this Observing Conduction experiment. (via Learn, Play, Imagine)

(11) If it’s too cold to go out and play, make the most of your time inside with this Snowstorm in a Jar . (via Taming Little Monsters)

(12) You can create your own lightning spark at home with static electricity by using just a balloon and a metal spoon! (via Learn, Play, Imagine)

(13) Have you ever wondered how hail forms? Well, you’re in luck! Grab your hair dryer for this Understanding Hail activity . (via Playing with Rain)

(14) Watch wind create energy by Making a Pinwheel.  (via Science Sparks)

(15) Your kids will love learning about ice caps and polar regions with this fun sensory Melting Polar Ice Caps science activity. (via Science Sparks)

(16) And if that’s not enough snow, you can kick it up a notch with this Avalanche Experiment . (via A Dab of Glue Will Do)

(17) Grab some sidewalk chalk on a sunny day for a Human Sundial Experiment . (via Rhythms of Play)

(18) Make your own Rainbow and learn about refraction and dispersion of light. (via Rookie Parenting)

Easy Science Experiments with Candy

Adding candy makes anything more exciting for kids (or at least more sweet!), and these cool candy science experiments are no exception.

These experiments are easy, fun, and a great way to use up any extra candy that might be hanging around after the holidays! 

(1) Create a rainbow on your plate with this stunning Easy Skittles Experiment . (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(2) Now this is an experiment that kids will get excited about! Make your own Homemade Rock Candy while learning about the crystallization process. (via Better Life Blog)

(3) Explore chromatography, a technique for separating difference substances (in this case, candy and dye), with this cool Candy Chromatography kid-friendly experiment. (via Mama Miss)

(4) Learn about osmosis and watch gummy candy magically grow with this simple Gummy Bear Science Experiment . (via Playdough to Plato)

(5) Does your child like to collect rocks? Why not let them dig deeper by making these Edible Sedimentary Rocks . (via Rainy Day Mum)

(6) Watch your kids get excited as you make Pop Rocks blow up a balloon in this epic Pop Rock Science Experiment . (via 123 Homeschool 4 ME)

(7) While many people either love or do not love bright marshmallow Peeps, everyone will love learning what makes them dissolve in this Dissolving Peeps experiment. (via A Dab of Glue Will Do)

(8) If your candy has transparent colored wrappers, you can save them to learn about color mixing in with this fun color science project . (via Kids’ Craft Room)

(9) There are many ways to learn about the human body, but we’re pretty sure that the sweetest way is with candy. Kids of all ages will love making this Candy DNA Model . (via Science Sparks)

(10) Your kids won’t be the only wiggle worms in the house with these fun Dancing Frankenworms . (via Playdough to Plato)

(11) Learn how powerful the sun can be with these DIY Solar Oven S’mores . We bet you can’t eat just one! (via Desert Chica)

(12) Your little scientists will LOVE this Mentos Geyser which will teach them what happens when carbon dioxide in Soda meets a Mentos candy, while putting on quite the display! (via I Can Teach My Child)

(13) Usually we’d advise that kids stay far away from broken glass – unless, this is, it’s this yummy Edible Glass ! (via Go Science Kids)

(14) This is a simple science experiment and a magic trick! Find out what happens to sugar when emerged in warm water with this cool Disappearing Candy Cane Stripes experiment. (via Playdough to Plato)

Science Experiments Using Water

If there is anything that is almost universally fun for kids, it’s playing with water. Try one of these fun water science experiments that are perfect for a rainy day indoors, or for keeping cool on a sunny day!

(1) If your little one enjoys all things colorful, they will love this incredible Walking Water Science Experiment – and all you need are paper towels, water and food coloring to get started. (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(2) Your kids won’t believe their eyes when they see cabbage changing colors in this fun Rainbow Cabbage experiment . (via Growing a Jeweled Rose)

(3) Discover how different liquids react together with this easy experiment that creates a colorful Layered Density Column . (via Steve Spangler Science)

(4) Or learn how water travels upward through vines and stems all while creating a beautiful bouquet with these Color Changing Flowers . (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(5) Observe how different liquids do or do not mix by creating Fireworks in a Jar . (via Hands on Teaching Ideas)

(6) Find out how temperature affects the density of water with this colorful Hot and Cold Water Density experiment. (via STEAMsational)

(7) “Grow” your own Rainbow with this colorful science experiment that highlights chromatography. (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(8) Keep exploring the concept of absorption, diffusion and solubility while bringing out your creative side with this Coffee Filter Process Art . (via Babble Dabble Do)

(9) See how quickly you can move water from one container to the next using sponges in this fun Water Transfer Activity.  (via Live Well Play Together)

(10) Play with water and Bubbles while learning about surface tension and evaporation. (via Hello Wonderful)

(11) Who else had a lava lamp growing up? This DIY Frozen Lava Lamp experiment is not only simple and fun, but brings back the lava lamp nostalgia! (via Hello Wonderful)

(12) Explore the relationship between gas, pressure, and volume in this easy Rising Water Experiment . (via Team Cartwright)

(13) Explore the power of water pressure with this low-prep, big fun Water Suspension Science activity. (via A Mothership Down)

(14) If you are looking for an activity that you can do almost anywhere, take a couple of minutes for this Water Light Refraction Experiment . (via Go Science Kids)

(15) Learn about absorption and expansion by Measuring Water Beads. (via Blue Bear Wood)

(16) Kids will love watching their drawings come to life with these Floating Dry Erase Figures . So cool! (via Go Science Girls)

(17) What will happen if you poke a hole in a bag full of water? Will it leak? Not with this Leak Proof Bag experiment. (via Montessori from the Heart)

Life Science Experiments for Kids

One of our favorite things to learn about is how living things (ourselves included) work. These life science experiments and activities will spark your child’s curiosity about the world around them!

Life Science Experiments about the Human Body:

(1) Learn how our heart pumps blood to our bodies with this Heart Pump Model . (via Science Sparks)

(2) Your child can learn how our lungs work by making a Model Lung with simple materials you probably have around the house: a plastic bottle, straw, elastic band, balloons and play dough! (via Science Sparks)

(3) These printable life-sized organs allow kids to study their body anatomy in a hands-on way. (via Adventure in a Box)

(4) Learn all about scabs – what causes them (and why they’re so important not to pick!) by making a Fake Jelly Scab that can then be eaten! (via Science Sparks)

(5) If you’re willing to brave glitter, this Glitter Germs Hand Washing Activity teaches children the importance of thorough hand washing while talking about how germs spread. (via The Soccer Mom Blog)

(6) Or, try this Growing Germs easy science experiment which uses an apple and your own child’s germs to not only teach kids to wash their hands, but all about controls and variables too! (via Playdough to Plato)

(7) Demonstrate how tooth decay happens and how to prevent it by soaking eggshells in various liquids in this Tooth Decay experiment. Is sugar a culprit? A great lesson for kids. (via Sciencing)

(8) This super easy Heart Rate Investigation will teach your kids about their heart, blood circulation and pulse, but also get them moving! (via Science Sparks)

(9) Your budding artists will love this Magic Heart Painting activity. Watch the cardiovascular system appear before their eyes! (via Taming Little Monsters)

Life Science Experiments with Plants:

(10) How do different liquids affect plant growth? Find out with this Plant Growth experiment – it’s one of our favorite science experiments and makes a great Science Fair Project! (via Lemon Lime Adventures)

(11) Discuss how plants grow and what they need to thrive by growing a Bean in a Jar . (via Growling a Jeweled Rose)

(12) Or use a plastic bag instead! All you need is a Ziploc baggie, a few beans and a damp paper towel to Grow Beans in a Bag . (via Community Playthings)

(13) Combine engineering and science while learning all about germination with this DIY Sprout House . (via The STEM Laboratory)

(14) Observe plant growth both above and beneath the “ground” by planting bulbs in a clear cup . (via Buggy and Buddy)

(15) Watch how plants respond to sunlight in this super easy Plant and Sunlight Experiment . (via Mama Smiles)

(16) Kids will love learning How Leaves Breathe with this simple plant experiment. (via Edventures with Kids)

(17) Did you know that you can grow vegetables with scraps? Watch your scrap veggies grow new life with a Scrap Garden . (via Hess UnAcademy)

Easy Physics Science Experiments for Kids

Learn how things move with these simple physics experiments for kids. Physics is the branch of science that studies matter, how it moves, and how it interacts – it encompasses the study of motion, light, electricity, magnetism, aerodynamics, and sound.

We’ve found that the best way to explain physics to kids is to skip the explanation and do a hands-on demonstration instead. Use these fun experiments to jump feet first into the world of Physics:

(1) First off, a classic Craft Stick Catapult ! This simple activity is a great way to teach about energy cause and effect, as well as simple machines…and you thought you were just going to be launching marshmallows across the room! (via Team Cartwright)

(2) Explore physics and play at the same time with these awesome Pom Pom Shooters . (via Left Brain Craft Brain)

(3) This classic science fair project will teach your kids how to use chemistry to generate an electric current by making a Lemon/Lime Battery ! (via Babble Dabble Do)

(4) Explore the science of sound with this pretty Rainbow Water Xylophone . (via Mama Papa Bubba)

(5) Make a simple Newton’s Cradle out of popsicle sticks, string and marbles to demonstration the conservation of momentum – kids loooove this one! (via Babble Dabble Do)

(6) Send a balloon blasting off and introduce simple physics with these neat Balloon Straw Rockets . (via Preschool Play & Learn)

(7) Grab some plastic bottles and string to make this fun Inertia Zoom Ball – a project kids can learn and play with! (via What Do We Do All Day)

(8) Popsicle sticks, rubber bands and some blocks are all you need to make a Stixplosion – demonstrating chain reactions which you can use to teach about kinetic and potential energy. (via Babble Dabble Do)

(9) Make a Salty Circuit to introduce your kids to electricity and how it moves from a battery through a circuit to power an LED. (via Babble Dabble Do)

(10) Demonstrate work and energy with this super cool Paper Airplane Launcher . (via Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls)

(11) Visually show the concept of gravity with this easy Gravity Activity with Paperclips . (via Buggy and Buddy)

(12) If you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you can create your own Light Bulb Experiment to see how electricity travels through a circuit. (via 123 Homeschool for Me)

(13) Discover what things are magnetic and vice versa with this fun Magnet Fishing Game . Great for preschoolers! (via Rhythms of Play)

(14) Baseball fans will enjoy this Frozen Baseball Experiment to observe how temperature affects how a baseball travels. (via Our Family Code)

(15) Learn more about inertia with these easy Inertia Science Experiments with Pennies . (via Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls)

(16) This awesome Rollback Can is a simple physics project that will amaze your kids and demonstrate potential and kinetic energy. (via Babble Dabble Do)

(17) These 4 Magical Magnet Projects will teach your kids about magnetism, and they’ll be mesmerized by its power! (via Babble Dabble Do)

States of Matter Science Experiments for Kids

All matter is either a solid, liquid, or gas, right? Or is it? And what happens to make some matter change states more easily than others? Kids will love these easy States of Matter science activities where they will get to learn the answers to those questions and more! 

(1) This Simple Balloon experiment will teach young kids all about the 3 states of matter with a Hands-on Density test. (via 123 Homeschool 4 ME)

(2) Watch as liquid cream becomes a solid by making your own Homemade Butter . Make sure you taste test it too! (via Playdough to Plato)

(3) And because it’s always a good time for ice cream, see how simple ingredients come together and change state when you make this Ice Cream in a Bag . It’s also a great activity to discuss an exothermic reaction, a chemical reaction that releases light or heat. In this instance, heat is released from the shaking, yet it freezes the cream – science sure is amazing! (via House of Nash Eats)

(4) Fill up balloons with different types of liquid in this fun Water Balloon Science Experiment and then try and predict if they will float or sink in water. (via 123 Homeschool 4 ME)

(5) A messy project that is universally loved by kids – Oobleck ! This Non-Newtonian fluid can act like a solid and a liquid. And you can make it at home as long as you’ve got cornstarch in your pantry. (via The Best Ideas for Kids)

(6) Task your kids to create an insulated box for an ice cube using materials from around the house in this Don’t Melt the Ice experiment. (via Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls)

We hope this list of easy science experiments for kids proves that science doesn’t have to be complicated…or boring! With materials you already have at home, you can create a memorable learning experience, and you definitely don’t need a lab coat to watch science come alive!

RELATED: Looking for more fun indoor activities to keep your kids busy? Check out 87 Energy-Busting Indoor Games & Activities for Kids (because cabin fever is no joke!)

What’s your favorite science experiment? Let us know your favorites in the comments below!

Mary Leigh is a stay-at-home mom to 3 fun and active boys. She started her blog,  Live Well Play Together , as a creative way to encourage moms to celebrate the simple, everyday moments in motherhood.  You can most often find her writing about kids’ activities, thoughts on motherhood, and simple ideas for family fun.  Follow her on  Pinterest ,  Instagram ,  Facebook , and  Twitter for fun ideas to bring a little fun to your everyday!

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Easy Science Experiments You Can Do At Home!

June 27, 2021 By Emma Vanstone Leave a Comment

These science experiments you can do at home have been designed to be simple, open-ended and use materials you already have around the house ( mostly paper, scissors, recycled items and kitchen staples ).

Click on the experiment image or the link to each science experiment to view full details and instructions for each science investigation .

I’ve got 100s more easy and fully explained science experiments for kids and easy STEM Challenges too if you fancy taking a look.

Easy Experiments for Science at Home

These activities are the perfect easy experiment to try at home and the best part is you probably already have everything you need to do them!

Create flying paper spinners. Experiment with different sizes and types of paper.

Use a ruler to test your reaction time.

Create a simple optical illusion.

Design and launch a water powered bottle rocket.

Use cornflour to make gloop!

Use baking soda and vinegar to erupt a volcano.

Create towers of different shapes and test to see how strong they are.

Reverse the direction of an arrow using just a glass of water!

Watch a lava lamp bubble!

Learn about emulsions with this beautiful magic milk investigation.

Place skittles in water and watch as the colours spread.

Use the freezing power of ice and salt to make ice cream in a bag.

Build your own catapult using popsicle sticks.

Make a density jar using oil and water.

Save an egg from breaking by creating a parachute!

More awesome science for kids

It doesn’t get much more simple than these easy newspaper STEM challenges . Roll up paper to create a den or try something more unusual and design paper slippers, or a newspaper monument.

Paint on ice, dissect a flower and make your own bubble wands with these science and STEM Challenge cards .

Some of my favourite Science Sparks experiments are in this collection of Fairy Tale science investigations , including growing a bean for Jack and building a gingerbread house.

I also have themed science investigation ideas for all times of the year including an egg filled collection of Easter science experiments , winter science investigations , summer science and so much more, so do take a look around.

Last Updated on March 29, 2022 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

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WHY NOT TRY A FUN SCIENCE EXPERIMENT RIGHT NOW?

Here’s list of great science experiments with instructions that you can do right at home or at school. In order for your science experiment to be safe and successful, be sure to:

• Get your parent’s or teacher’s permission, and their help
• Follow the directions as written

Building a Hovercraft – Video

The egg drop challenge, make ice cream in a plastic bag, build a hovercraft you can ride, eggshell geode crystals, build a soap powered model boat, a density experiment you can drink, make your own rock candy, build a fizz inflator, make a levitating orb, blobs in a bottle, fantastic foamy fountain, build a film canister rocket, the exploding lunch bag, make your own volcano, bend water with static electricity, a color symphony, make a paperclip float, blow up a balloon with yeast, how to make slime – method 1, see some optical illusions, make an electromagnet, try some lava in a cup, make a balloon rocket.

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40+ Easy Science Experiments For Students: Lots Of Great Ideas

Categories Activities & Ideas

Science is one of the most intriguing subjects to learn in school. It’s so varied and it can be a lot of fun for kids – especially when it comes to conducting science experiments. However, science experiments do not always have to be about beakers and bunsen burners. There are several ways that students can conduct easy science experiments, and it does not require a lot of resources or money to do so.

But what exactly are the options?

Well, if you are a teacher or a parent looking for easy science experiments for students, then we’ve got you covered. Our comprehensive list below shows you plenty of options that they can take part in.

So, if you’re ready to find out a lot more – then read on for lots of ideas!

Easy Science Experiments For Students! 

Without any further delays, let’s dive right into this list of some easy science experiments for students. We’re sure that your young minds will love some of these!

1. Dancing Pepper

Perhaps one of the most intriguing and fun experiments is the dancing pepper experiment. It shows kids how substances behave differently when placed on water in an effort to show how molecular behavior can differ with surface tension.

This can result in some things appearing to dance, so it’s a pretty fun experiment to observe! 

2. Colored Celery 

This is a pretty basic experiment but it can help to show kids how plants absorb water. You just need either celery or a white flower and some colored water. Once the celery is placed in the colored water, it can help kids to visualize how plants sustain themselves.

3. Dissolve Or Not?

This experiment can help teach kids about different solutions, but it’s more about showing kids the way to create their own hypotheses. For example, having six different substances and six different solutions, questioning whether it will dissolve and why they think so. 

4. Volcano (Baking Soda)

Every kid will have fond memories of this experiment. It’s a super fun and easy science experiment that shows how bases and acids react when they are in contact with one another, and it results in a miniature volcano! 

5. The Skittles Experiment 

This is a cool way to learn about diffusion. You simply need a packet of Skittles and observe what happens when each different color coating is exposed to shallow, cold or hot water. 

6. Burn The Bill 

Don’t panic, you won’t be burning any money with this experiment . It’s an easy way to teach kids about combustion, so you can use any paper item. 

7. Dr. Seuss’ Butter Experiment

Any fans of Dr. Seuss may recognize this experiment. You simply need to put heavy whipping cream into a tight jar and observe how the fat molecules clump together and form a butter product!

8. Liquids And Layers 

Using items that you can find in your pantry, this experiment can help to show kids how liquids have different densities and how they might operate.

9. Egg Crystal Geode 

Merging Springtime and Geology together, this is a fun experiment whereby kids can make their own geodes and learn about super-saturated solutions.

10. Make Rain In A Jar 

This quick and simple experiment can help to show students how rain occurs. As we know, rain is the result of warm, humid air converging with cold air in the upper atmosphere. 

So, using a jar and a plate, you can place ice and water into a jar and show kids how rain works by making your own in a jar! 

11. The Unpoppable Balloon 

Students will be intrigued by how you can put a sharp stick through a balloon and it won’t pop! It’s a quick and simple experiment that demonstrates polymers.

12. Float Or Sink?

This experiment is pretty basic but it’s quite important to learn. It can be conducted anywhere too, but it’s best during hot weather using a lake or river. 

Create a hypothesis with multiple items and question whether or not you believe certain items will sink or float. 

13. Make Your Own Sand 

Any kid will get a kick out of making their own sand ! The experiment doesn’t need too many resources or items, but it’s something you need to ensure before you start.

14. Make Your Own Barometer 

This experiment can help show kids how air pressure has an effect on the weather. The best way to do this is to build your own barometer! 

15. Create A Solar Oven

This is a quick and easy way to show students how radiant heat works. By harnessing its power, there are many things you can do! You just have to be careful.

16. The Sticky Ice Experiment 

It’s really fun to show students how salt has an effect on water and its freezing point. You need water, salt, and some string to carry this one out!

17. An Egg In A Bottle

Using a small bottle, some matches, and an egg, you can show your students how objects may react to adaptations in air pressure.

18. Make A CD Garden 

You’re certain to have some old CD cases around. If so, you can get kids involved in making their own CD case garden and observe the ways that plants grow!

19. The Gummy Worm Dance 

When an acidic liquid is mixed with a neutral solution, it’s possible for some things to react in hilarious ways that kids will love. Place a gummy worm in a jar and mix the solutions to watch your students laugh at the results.

20. Make A Green Penny 

If you have an old penny lying around, then why not test out this experiment , which takes about three days? It’s a cool way to learn about metal and chemical reactions , though! 

21. Soap Popcorn 

This experiment needs supervision from an adult, but it’s awesome to watch. Using Charles’ law, simply place a bar of soap in a microwave and watch how it expands as it heats up. 

22. The Cabbage PH Indicator 

Students can test out the PH levels of different liquids simply by using cabbage. It’s pretty simple to perform and it’s cool to watch.

23. Can Ice Grow?

This experiment needs to be followed step by step, but it’s really interesting to observe. With some basic steps, you can get your students to observe how ice might grow and form towers.

24. Paper Cup – The Strength In Numbers 

Using several paper cups and some cardboard sheets, this is an outdoor experiment that can help to demonstrate weight distribution and how paper cups can hold body weight when in numbers.

25. Separate Pepper And Salt 

Draw from the power of static electricity via a plastic spoon and show students how easy it is for matter to divide and separate – which can be shown with salt and pepper.

26. Fireworks In A Jar

At the right time of year, you can theme this experiment using oil, water, food coloring, and a jar. It’s a super fun project to help kids understand density – and the results are pretty! 

27. Water And Oil Discovery Bottles 

Most of us will be familiar with making water and oil discovery bottles from when we were kids, and it continues to be a super fun experiment for students today. All the bright colors are an awesome sensory experience for kids.

28. Color Mixing With Coffee Filters

This experiment is more for younger students, but it’s simple and effective. Using coffee filters, you can add liquids to watch how the filters absorb them and change colors, making mixes which make new colors.

29. Create Fizzy Lemonade 

A tasty experiment for the summer, this can help teach kids how mixing base liquids with acid creates a chemical reaction – but it results in something that you can enjoy at the end! 

30. Magic Milk 

This simple experiment needs a few items; milk, dish soap, and food coloring. This is a super colorful and fun thing to do and can help show kids how molecular behavior might work, how surface tension works, and a little bit about an object’s density.

31. Walking On Eggs 

Another experiment that can show the power of weight distribution is walking on eggs. Show your students how something so fragile can withstand body weight when in large numbers.

32. Create A Hydraulic Elevator 

This experiment sounds more complex than it actually is. You just need to use some sticks and large medicine droppers. It’s a classic experiment that many STEM teachers have used in the classroom before.

33. Demonstrate Inertia 

Newton’s first law of motion can be demonstrated pretty easily, and it’s never too early or too late to show students how it works! 

34. Grow Your Gummy Bears

When it comes to students and science, what better way to teach them than using candy ? Using all areas of the major sciences, you can turn little gummy bears into big gummy bears! 

35. The Disappearing Egg Shell

Students of all ages enjoy watching this experiment , and it’s helpful to show them the ways that chemical reactions operate.

36. Coca-Cola Tooth Experiment 

This is a classic experiment that can help show students the effects of sugary drinks on their teeth. When your students are young and losing their baby teeth, ask them to bring in a tooth and show them the horrible effects in a jar! 

37. Small Tornado In A Bottle

Most of us performed this experiment when we were students, and it’s super fun to keep it going with your own students. Demonstrating centripetal force by creating a water vortex in a bottle is awesome! 

38. Make A Bag Leak-Proof

Another experiment that demonstrates polymers, you need a plastic bag, some water, a sharp pencil, and some patience – and you can show kids the seemingly impossible!

39. Make A Non-Newtonian Fluid 

There are substances out there that get firmer when pressure is applied to them, and these are known as non-Newtonian fluids. It’s really intriguing to see how fluids can behave in such ways, so your students are bound to get a kick out of this.

40. Demonstrate Capillaries

You can show kids how our capillaries function using items you can find pretty much everywhere. It’s super cool and colorful and you’re bound to excite everyone with this in the classroom.

41. Make Candy Rock 

Students, candy, and rocks – they go hand in hand! Your students will love to create their own candy rock and watch as the rock crystals grow.

42. Make The Super Bubble

You can show students how to make a better version of bubble mixture to create much larger bubbles, called superbubbles! 

43. Frozen Vegetable Oil Paintings

Here’s another classic experiment that most kids have conducted when they were in the classroom. It’s a fun way to show kids how some liquids behave when they are frozen, and as vegetable oil behaves differently – you can make awesome paintings! 

44. Make An Ice Magnifying Glass 

This experiment is pretty simple, but we like to add something more fun to it. Once you have made your ice magnifying glass, show your students how glass behaves underwater by designing a real magnifying glass (do not allow them to do this though).

Glass under water can be cut and sliced in much different ways than above the surface, so you can easily create your own glass designs to show your students in a safe way.

45. Can Eggs Float?

Finally, on our list, we have the experiment that has shown students for years how eggs can float on water if salt is added to the liquid. It’s a simple way to explain density, and it’s always a good idea to bring in the Dead Sea example.

The Dead Sea is so salty that people can simply float on its surface, but it’s also deadly because if you turn around – it’s difficult to get your head out of the salty water! 

Things To Remember

There are always things you should remember when it comes to these sorts of experiments. Some are much more obvious than others, but it’s always important to ensure we’re on the same wavelength. These include the following.

Safety 

Conduct a health and safety risk assessment before you carry out any experiment, and always be aware of any safety equipment you and your students may need to wear. Be sure to take reasonable care with all of your experiments (and best to do a trial run first!).

Reinforce Learning 

It’s all fine and good demonstrating the experiments, but you must ensure that you reinforce the student’s learning by asking questions at the end of the lesson. It’s also wise to set some theoretical homework based on their practical experiment. 

Do Your Research 

It’s of course critical that you know exactly what you are doing before you show your students, but it’s also as important to know your students. For example, if an experiment is more tailored for younger students, do not try it for older kids.  You may also like: 1st grade science project ideas .

The Bottom Line 

And that’s our comprehensive list of the easiest science experiments that you can show students in the classroom, at home, or out in the field! We hope you have enjoyed our guide and you’ve found some amazing new experiments for your students! Good luck.

Top tip: Teach your students about the most famous inventors while they work on their own science experiments.

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20 Awesome Science Experiments You Can Do Right Now At Home

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We can all agree that science is awesome. And you can bring that awesomeness into your very own home with these 20 safe DIY experiments you can do right now with ordinary household items.

1. Make Objects Seemingly Disappear Refraction is when light changes direction and speed as it passes from one object to another. Only visible objects reflect light. When two materials with similar reflective properties come into contact, light will pass through both materials at the same speed, rendering the other material invisible. Check out this video from BritLab  on how to turn glass invisible using vegetable oil and pyrex glass.

2. Freeze Water Instantly When purified water is cooled to just below freezing point, a quick nudge or an icecube placed in it is all it takes for the water to instantly freeze. You can finally have the power of Frozone from The Incredibles on a very small scale! Check out the video on this "cool" experiment. 

3. Create Oobleck And Make It Dance To The Music Named after a sticky substance in a children’s book by Dr Seuss , Oobleck is a non-Newtonian fluid, which means it can behave as both a solid and a liquid. And when placed on a sound source, the vibrations causes the mixture to gloopily dance. Check out these instructions from Housing A Forest  on how to make this groovy fluid funk out in every way.

4. Create Your Own Hybrid Rocket Engine With a combination of a solid fuel source and a liquid oxidizer, hybrid rocket engines can propel themselves. And on a small scale, you can create your own hybrid rocket engine, using pasta, mouthwash and yeast. Sadly, it won’t propel much, but who said rocket science ain’t easy? Check out this video from NightHawkInLight on how to make this mini engine.

5. Create "Magic Mud" Another non-Newtonian fluid here, this time from the humble potato. "Magic Mud" is actually starch found in potatoes. It’ll remain hard when handled but leave it alone and it turns into a liquid. Make your own “Magic Mud” with this video.

6. Command The Skies And Create A Cloud In A Bottle Not quite a storm in a teacup, but it is a cloud in a bottle. Clouds up in the sky are formed when water vapor cools and condenses into visible water droplets. Create your own cloud in a bottle using a few household items with these wikiHow instructions .

7. Create An Underwater Magical World First synthesized by Adolf van Baeyer in 1871, fluorescein is a non-toxic powder found in highlighter pens, and used by NASA to find shuttles that land in the sea. Create an underwater magical world with this video from NightHawkInLight .

9. Make Your Own Lava Lamp Inside a lava lamp are colored bubbles of wax suspended in a clear or colorless liquid, which changes density when warmed by a heating element at the base, allowing them to rise and fall hypnotically. Create your own lava lamp with these video instructions.

10. Create Magnetic Fluid A ferrofluid is a liquid that contains nanoscale particles of metal, which can become magnetized. And with oil, toner and a magnet , you can create your own ferrofluid and harness the power of magnetism! 

12. Make Waterproof Sand A hydrophobic substance is one that repels water. When sand is combined with a water-resistant chemical, it becomes hydrophobic. So when it comes into contact with water, the sand will remain dry and reusable. Make your own waterproof sand with this video .

13. Make Elephant's Toothpaste Elephant’s toothpaste is a steaming foamy substance created by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which sort of resembles giant-sized toothpaste. Make your own elephant’s toothpaste with these instructions.

14. Make Crystal Bubbles When the temperature falls below 0 o C (32 o F), it’s possible to freeze bubbles into crystals. No instructions needed here, just some bubble mix and chilly weather.

15. Make Moving Liquid Art Mixing dish soap and milk together causes the surface tension of the milk to break down. Throw in different food colorings and create this trippy chemical reaction.

16. Create Colourful Carnations Flowers absorb water through their stems, and if that water has food coloring in it, the flowers will also absorb that color. Create some wonderfully colored flowers with these wikiHow instructions .

17. "Magically" Turn Water Into Wine Turn water into wine with this  video  by experimenter Dave Hax . Because water has a higher density than wine, they can switch places. Amaze your friends with this fun science trick.

18. Release The Energy In Candy (Without Eating It) Dropping a gummy bear into a test tube with potassium chlorate releases the chemical energy inside in an intense chemical reaction. That’s exactly what's happening when you eat candy, kids.

19. Make Water "Mysteriously" Disappear Sodium polyacrylate is a super-absorbent polymer, capable of absorbing up to 300 times its own weight in water. Found in disposable diapers, you can make water disappear in seconds with this video .

20. Create A Rainbow In A Jar Different liquids have different masses and different densities. For example, oil is less dense than water and will float on top of its surface. By combining liquids of different densities and adding food coloring, you can make an entire rainbow in a jar with this video .

There you have it – 20 experiments for you to explore the incredible world of science!

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8 Fun Science Experiments You Can Easily Do at Home

Looking for a science project to do with kids? These experiments go beyond the trivial and incorporate real-world scientific research.

SciStarter Blog

Around the world, millions of kids are headed back to school in a totally different way. Classes are online. Teachers talk to students in virtual classrooms. And parents are often left looking for new, hands-on science learning opportunities.

We’ve got your back. Here are eight fun and easy science experiments that you can do at home with kids of all ages. What’s more, each of these science projects ties into real-life research efforts through citizen science, where volunteers help experts collect and analyze data.

RELATED: VIRTUAL DISSECTION: ANIMALEARNING FROM HOME

Make Wild Sourdough

It seems like the whole world is baking homemade sourdough bread right now. Sourdough took on broad appeal when the baker’s yeast disappeared from store shelves. Unlike other baking projects, sourdough doesn’t need store bought yeast. Instead, it’s made with sourdough starter.

RELATED: FREE SCIENCE EDUCATION E-BOOKS

If you have flour, you can easily experiment with making your own sourdough starter.  Wild sourdough starters  tap into the abundant yeast in our homes and puts them to work making delicious bread. When it comes to science experiments you can do at home, few could be more delicious and rewarding than this one. You’ll also be helping scientists out along the way.

RELATED: BACK TO SCHOOL WITH CITIZEN SCIENCE

The Wild Sourdough Project is a global science experiment that hopes to discover how sourdough starter communities form over time. The team behind the effort is hoping to unravel how factors like geography and different kinds of flour affect the yeast communities. Best of all, the effort has a step-by-step guide that lets you learn how to make your own sourdough starter.

Take Part: Make Your Own Sourdough for Science

Create a Cloud in a Jar

Clouds are an important and often overlooked driver of Earth’s temperature. They trap sunlight in, but they also reflect it back into space. That role has climate scientists rushing to study our planet’s clouds, and how they’re changing.  NASA’s GLOBE Observer: Clouds  project taps citizen scientists to provide pictures of the sky, plus observations of cloud cover, type, sky conditions and visibility. That data helps info real science research and verify what satellites are seeing from space.

You can get involved with your kids and enrich the experience by adding lessons about clouds. For example, NASA has added a number of fun and easy ways to learn about climate science and clouds, including science experiments. One of the best related projects is to make a cloud in a jar. This simple science experiment is a powerful way to demonstrate how clouds work. You only need water, ice, a jar, and a few minutes of time.

Take Part: Join NASA’s Globe Observer Clouds

Measure Rain and Snow with CoCoRaHS

Fall is approaching fast, which means many of us will soon be at home watching rain and snow out the window. Instead of succumbing to the gloom, why not make that weather into a fun science experiment for your kids?

The CoCoRaHS weather monitoring program, or Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network, is a network of volunteers who measure and report on precipitation. CoCoRaHS emphasizes training and education, and they even have an interactive website rich in educational resources and even National Weather Service lesson plans you can use at home.

RELATED: Getting Creative with Remote Science Learning

As a volunteer, you’ll use the same low-cost weather gauges that meteorologists and cities use. Then, when it rains, snows or hails, you’ll submit your precipitation data to the website where you can compare it to others in real-time. That information also helps out the National Weather Service, as well as researchers, farmers, emergency managers — and curious people everywhere.

Take Part: Join the CoCoRaHS Weather Monitoring Network

Plant a Pollinator Garden

Pollinators play a vital role in Earth’s ecosystems, and yet they’re threatened by pesticides, disease, habitat loss and even climate change. That has many people searching for  ways to help save bees and other pollinators .

There are many options to chip in, but one of the most impactful things you and your kids can do at home is  plant a pollinator garden .

Not only will this serve to help struggling pollinators, it can also serve as a long-term science laboratory at home. SciStarter, the citizen-science group behind this blog post, has compiled an entire group of at-home science projects that can be done from your pollinator garden. You can watch moths, butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and more, then help scientists track their migration across the country.

Take Part: Plant a Pollinator Garden

Build a Bee Condo

If you already have a bumper garden at home, or it’s getting too cold to think about planting just yet, you can still stay indoors and help pollinators. The group behind National Pollinator Week has put together instructions for how you can build a home for native bees, called a bee condo. Unlike domesticated honey bees that live in apiaries, most native, wild bees you find in your backyard actually burrow their homes into the soil or a tree.

By building a bee condo, you can encourage bees to live nearby and also get a fun, DIY science experiment to do at home. Once it’s up, you can watch what kinds of critters take up residence there and report back on the results for science.

Take Part: Build a Bee Condo

Scan the Night Sky

Around the world, light pollution from buildings and street lamps is blocking our view of the night sky. Most people who live in cities have never seen a truly dark sky, or the Milky Way. That’s not just bad for humans, it’s also bad for the plants, animals and insects who are disrupted by light pollution.

If you have a budding astronomy-lover in the house, you can participate in a science project called  Globe at Night  that aims to create a world-wide measure of light pollution in our night sky.

For this science experiment, you can start making observations using only a smartphone. You’ll mark the sky’s darkness by how many stars you can see. And you can get a sky quality meter through the project to help record even better data.

Take Part: Measure Light Pollution in Your Community

Measure Water Quality

More than 1.5 million volunteers from across the planet are already taking part in a science experiment to track — and protect — Earth’s waterways. The citizen science effort is called the  EarthEcho Water Challenge , and it has users buy a water test kit for about $25, then start collecting basic water data.

Volunteers record things like water clarity, temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen. That data gets plugged into a large database, where it’s used for real science research and to help protect waterways.

Take Part: Join the Earth Echo Water Challenge

Study the Vitamin C in Your Juice

Back in the golden age of sailing, sailors worried that they’d get scurvy. A lack of vitamin C during long voyages can cause a host of health problems. Scurvy leaves you weak, causes skin problems and gum disease, and makes it harder to heal. Scurvy can even kill you. This isn’t just an old-timey concern, either. Future space explorers will have to worry about vitamin C as they head off to explore the solar system. And that’s the angle utilized by a fun citizen science project called  Space Scurvy .

The project asks students to use household items to test the vitamin C content of juices from their schools and homes. The necessary tools for this science experiment should be easy to come by, and the site has fun and simple directions for you to follow.

Take Part: Measure Vitamin C for the Space Scurvy Project

Note: Some of these projects are SciStarter Affiliates. You can use your SciStarter account email to join and earn credit for your participation in your SciStarter dashboard.

Citizen Science Lessons During the Pandemic

About the Author

Eric Betz is a science and tech writer for Discover Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, and others. He is a lover of #darkskies and pale blue dots.

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Easy Science Experiments To Do At Home

Science experiments at home are a fun way to engage the kiddos in easy-to-understand science concepts. They’ll want to do them over, over, and over again! One of the fascinating things about science activities for kids has to be the ease with which you can set up so many fun science experiments, even at home! The one thing that all of these experiments have in common is that they use everyday household supplies. How easy is that?

What Science Experiments Can I Do At Home?

Can you do terrific science experiments at home? You bet! Is it hard? Nope!

What do you need to get started?

Simply get up, walk into the kitchen, and start rummaging through cupboards. You will surely find some or all the supplies you need for all the easy home science experiments below.

These experiments at home work well with multiple age groups from preschool to elementary and beyond. Our activities have also been readily used with special needs groups in high school and young adult programs! More or less adult supervision depends on your kids’ abilities!

Read on to find out our favorite science experiments you can do at home that are do-able and make sense!

Using The Scientific Method With Kids

The scientific method is a process or method of research. A problem is identified, information about the problem is gathered, a hypothesis or question is formulated from the information, and the hypothesis is tested with an experiment to prove or disprove its validity.

Sounds heavy… What in the world does that mean?!? It means you don’t need to try and solve the world’s biggest science questions! The scientific method is all about studying and learning things right around you.

As children develop practices that involve creating, gathering data evaluating, analyzing, and communicating, they can apply these critical thinking skills to any situation.

Learn more here:

• Using The Scientific Method with Young Kids
• Variables In Science
• Observation In Science

Note: The use of the best Science and Engineering Practices is also relevant to the topic of using the scientific method. Read more here and see if it fits your science planning needs.

Helpful Science Resources To Get You Started

Here are a few resources that will help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.

• Best Science Practices (as it relates to the scientific method)
• Science Vocabulary
• 8 Science Books for Kids
• All About Scientists
• Science Supplies List
• Science Tools for Kids
• Join us in the Club

Click here to get your free Home Science Guide

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The following kids’ science activities can work for preschoolers through middle schoolers allowing multiple ages to work together while still learning great science concepts. Older kiddos can easily apply the scientific method, fill out science journal pages, and use science vocabulary to extend their learning.

Blow Up A Balloon 

Of course, you know you can blow up balloons with your breath! What do you exhale? Carbon dioxide! But did you know you can also blow up a balloon with two common household ingredients, vinegar and baking soda?

Set up your experiment and test the difference between a balloon blown up with your breath and one blown up with the chemical reaction. Notice any differences?

LOOK : Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment

Catapult Physics

Explore potential and kinetic energy with a simple to make catapult. Our Popsicle stick catapult tutorial is perfect for testing physics in the living room.

Explore the weights of different objects and how far they fly. Play with the lever arm and fulcrum to test force. Run through Newton’s laws! Why not invent your own catapult? Craft sticks and rubber bands are the base for this project. A bottle cap to hold items helps too!

LOOK: Popsicle Stick Catapult

Erupting Volcano

This is a classic science project the kids will have a blast creating at home. Although it’s a multi-step project which involves homemade salt dough, and decorating a volcano to get started, the eruptions are awesome!

You’ll need a batch of salt dough (or old playdough), paint (optional), baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, and dish soap

LOOK: Volcano Experiment

Goopy Oobleck

Prepare to get a little messy with this science experiment! You might even want to take this one outside. All you need is cornstarch and water and food coloring (optional).

Have you ever heard of a Non-Newtonian fluid? Part solid and part liquid, oobleck is more than just water and cornstarch mixed together! It also demonstrates the properties of Non-Newtonian fluids. Pick it up like a solid and let it ooze back as a liquid. 

LOOK : Oobleck Recipe

Grow Crystals

Growing crystals is a great way to explore saturated solutions and crystal formation with kids of all ages. If you don’t want to get into using borax powder to grow crystals (although very cool results), salt is another great option and really gets the kids involved.

Plan for the experiment to take a few days as the water has to evaporate. All you need is table salt, water. and paper!

• Grow Salt  Crystals
• Grow Crystals With Borax
• Grow Sugar Crystals

DIY milk fireworks! A fun way to explore chemistry and reactions with kitchen ingredients. What happens when the fat in the milk meets the dish soap?

No low-fat, fat-free options here. Full fat milk is the best choice for this home science experiment. You’ll also need food coloring, dish soap. cotton swabs, and a shallow dish.

LOOK: Magic Milk Science Experiment

Melting Ice

This science activity features three different challenges that will keep the kiddos busy for hours and use items from around the house. Explore how ice melts, try to prevent ice from melting, and more. Simple science information included!

LOOK: What makes ice melt faster?

Can you really make an egg bounce or a rubber egg? What happens to egg shell when you have an egg in vinegar? So many fun ideas to test out with a few simple supplies. All you need is some uncooked eggs and vinegar.

LOOK: Rubber Egg Experiment

Slime Science

We love making and playing with all types of cool slime. From super fluffy slime, galaxy slime, butter slime, glow-in-the-dark slime, and more. But did you know that slime can also be a fun science experiment? 

Explore what happens when you vary the key ingredients in one of our most popular slime recipes. You only need PVA glue, slime activators , and baking soda for tons of slimy fun.

• The Best Slime Recipes
• Super Fluffy Slime Recipe 

Walking Water

Explore capillary action , the process that moves water up through the stem of a plant in order for photosynthesis to work!

You can demonstrate this in several ways, including a walking water rainbow, color-changing flowers, and even with celery and lettuce leaves. All you need is food coloring, water, and something to move the water!

• Coloring Changing Flowers
• How Water Travels Through Leaves
• Walking Water Experiment

Balloon Rocket

How far can your balloon rocket fly? There’s an equal and opposite reaction for every action—exciting physics with straws, a balloon, and two anchor points.

LOOK: Balloon Rocket Experiment

More Fun Science Experiments To Try

Are you looking for more cool science experiments to do at home? Here’s even more to try- kid approved! Little scientists, through big scientists, will love the selection of mixtures, models, and mess!

Colorful Candy Experiments

Fantastic candy science experiments that you can actually do with all of your favorite candy! Of course, you might have to allow for taste testing too!

Chemical Reactions

Who doesn’t love fizzing, erupting and even exploding chemical reaction experiments ? Even better you can do these science experiments at home safely with everyday ingredients.

Grow Your Science

Experiment with plants with one or more of these hands-on activities for kids. Set up a seed germination jar, mini-greenhouse, learn how plants breath, make food and more.

Science You Can Eat

Can you eat science? You bet! Kids love tasty food science experiments  and adults love inexpensive and easy to set up science experiments at home!

Science In A Jar

Simple science jar experiments you can actually do in a single Mason jar! Totally doable and fun for kids to work on science at-home!

What’s The Weather Like

Dive into fun and easy weather science with simple weather STEM activities, demonstrations, engineering projects, and free weather worksheets.

Water Experiments

Water has to the easiest thing you can use to do science at home! You wouldn’t believe how many different water experiments you can do with the kids.

Science Experiments By Age Group

We’ve put together a few separate resources for different age groups, but remember that many experiments will cross over and can be re-tried at several different age levels. Younger kiddos can enjoy the simplicity and hands-on fun. At the same time, you can talk back and forth about what is happening.

As kiddos get older, they can bring more complexity to the experiments, including using the scientific method , developing hypotheses, exploring variables , creating different tests, and writing conclusions from analyzing data.

• Science for Toddlers
• Science for Preschoolers
• Science for Kindergarten
• Science for Early Elementary Grades
• Science for 3rd Grade
• Science for Middle School

More Fun Things To Do At Home

• 25 Things To Do Outside
• 100 Indoor Activities For Kids
• 75 Fun Activities For Preschoolers
• Virtual Field Trip Ideas To Go On An Adventure
• Fantastic Math Worksheets For Kids
• Fun Printable Activities For Kids

Printable Science Projects For Kids

If you’re looking to grab all of our printable science projects in one convenient place plus exclusive worksheets and bonuses like a STEAM Project pack, our Science Project Pack is what you need! Over 300+ Pages!

• 90+ classic science activities  with journal pages, supply lists, set up and process, and science information.  NEW! Activity-specific observation pages!
• Best science practices posters  and our original science method process folders for extra alternatives!
• Be a Collector activities pack  introduces kids to the world of making collections through the eyes of a scientist. What will they collect first?
• Know the Words Science vocabulary pack  includes flashcards, crosswords, and word searches that illuminate keywords in the experiments!
• My science journal writing prompts  explore what it means to be a scientist!!
• Bonus STEAM Project Pack:  Art meets science with doable projects!
• Bonus Quick Grab Packs for Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, and Physics

Subscribe to receive a free 5-Day STEM Challenge Guide

~ projects to try now ~.

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Easy Science Experiments For Every Classroom: DIYs, Observations, Discussions, And Exploration

January 13, 2024 //  by  Suzanne Bucknam

Are you searching for the perfect way to engage your students in the world of science? Look no further! We’re excited to share a collection of the easiest science experiments that are proven to be classroom favorites. These hands-on and visually captivating activities, ranging from candy making to creating lava lamps, transforming eggs into gems, and even making balloons that don’t pop, will revolutionize your lessons. Read on and see which experiments will grab your kiddos’ attention!

1. Making a Magnifying Glass with Ice

Have your kiddos make their very own magnifying glass out of ice! Help them to shape frozen water into handmade lenses that can focus sunlight and let them start a fire with ice. If starting a fire isn’t right for your kiddos, then their homemade magnifying glasses will still work to enlarge tiny details, so there’s still lots of fun to be had.

Learn More: Steamsational

2. Floating Eggs

Shatter your kiddies’ expectations by revealing salt’s hidden talents! Have your young scientists hypothesize whether eggs will sink or float when placed in salty water. They’ll be amazed as the eggs bob to the surface as they add salt to the water, illustrating concepts of density and liquid properties through a classic hands-on experiment.

Learn More: Science Kids

3. Frozen Vegetable Oil Prints

Fuse art and science in this creative experiment! Begin by having your students freeze oil with a drop of food coloring in it overnight. They can then use the semi-solid result to print a colorful masterpiece! Watch how combining STEM and art makes challenging concepts like states of matter beautifully clear.

Learn More: Mini Monets and Mommies

4. Making a Better Bubble

Set the challenge – who can create the best bubble?! You won’t need to give your kiddos much encouragement before they’re researching and tweaking bubble recipes for this idea. Once they’ve found the ultimate formula, challenge them to demonstrate it in action by seeing who can produce the biggest bubble.

Learn More: Red Tricycle

5. Making Rock Candy

Satisfy your kids’ cravings for knowledge by growing sweet crystalline treats! Set them up with water, sugar, and food dye to make rock candy, and let them see crystallization unfold firsthand! Making their own sugary snacks illuminates the scientific process deliciously.

Learn More: Play Learn Grow

6. Capillary Action Experiment

Recreate tiny blood vessels using simple materials from home! Your learners will be amazed as they watch colored water climb through paper towels, visualizing capillary forces firsthand. Needing just paper towels, water, and food dye, you probably already have everything you need for this cool experiment!

Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me

7. Making a Non-Newtonian Fluid (Oobleck)

Defy intuition with oobleck, an otherworldly goop that’s somehow both solid and liquid! By combining cornstarch and water, your kiddos will be able to explore this non-Newtonian physics phenomenon. They’ll be delighted and baffled as the goo oozes and then stiffens at the slightest force.

Learn more: The Montessori-Minded Mom

8. Making a Leak-Proof Bag

Unlock your students’ ingenuity by challenging them to engineer waterproof bags! Give them simple materials to use and then let their creativity unfold through designing, testing, and refining the ultimate dry bag. Watch perseverance and problem-solving blossom through this hands-on engineering project.

Learn more: Steve Spangler Science

9. Tornado in a Bottle

Summon mesmerizing vortexes and model forces of nature! Have your kiddies layer liquids in bottles, then encourage them to swirl their homemade tornadoes and watch as they come to life! As they observe the dramatic forces in action, concepts of centripetal motion will whirl to life.

Learn More: Cool Science Experiments

10. What Do Sugary Drinks Do To Your Teeth?

Convey the destructive effects of sugary drinks with a simple egg! Have your kiddos place an egg in a beaker and add a sugary soda. They’ll be astounded to observe that over time, the egg becomes bendy and malleable. This shocking demonstration is the perfect way to spotlight the health impacts of sugary drinks on your little learners.

Learn More: Feels Like Home Blog

11. Static Detectives with Homemade Electroscope

Turn your students into static detectives with this homemade electroscope activity. Have your learners use a clear jar, paperclips, aluminum foil, and a balloon to create this simple homemade electroscope, and they’ll embark on a fascinating quest to investigate static electricity and learn about scientific instrumentation.

Learn More: The Homeschool Scientist

12. Making Gummy Bears Grow

The science of diffusion becomes a teddy bear picnic! Captivate your students by having them place gummy bears in a bowl and add water. Let them watch diffusion in action as the gummy bears soak up the water and expand to gigantic sizes!

Learn more: Mama Smiles

13. Inertia Demonstration

Introduce the abstract concept of inertia using simple coins and cards! Have your learners place a piece of card over a glass, then place a coin on the card. Once in place, have them quickly pull the card away and they’ll be amazed as the items fall into the glass, revealing inertia in action!

Learn More: The After School Life

14. Build a Hydraulic Elevator

Guide young engineers by having them build hydraulic elevators! Provide syringes, straws, and plastic bottles, and let your class engage in some creative problem-solving as they create a water-powered elevator. As their prototypes rise, so will your students’ persistence, collaboration, and STEM skills.

Learn More: Teach Beside Me

15. Walking on Eggs

Hatch an improbable feat by having your students walk on fragile eggshells! Set up some trays of eggs on the ground, then ask a young volunteer to test the theory by gently standing on the eggs. When the delicate shells unexpectedly support their weight, the concepts of physics and engineering will crack wide open!

Learn More: Steve Spangler Science

16. Magic Milk Experiment

Use simple household ingredients to guide your kiddies through incredible colorful chemical reactions. Set up bowls of milk, then encourage your students to dip cotton swabs in food coloring and dish soap before dipping them into the milk; vivid colors will come alive as the soap reacts with the proteins of the milk

Learn More: Crafts by Amanda

17. Making Fizzing Lemonade

Turn lemons into hands-on learning opportunities by having your kiddos mix up some fizzy lemonade! Have them combine lemon juice and baking soda to create this fun chemical reaction they can see and taste for themselves.

Learn More: Learn with Play at Home

18. Reflecting on Mirror Experiments

Enter a world where light meets mirrors! Using mirrors, you can guide your students to explore the interesting science of light reflection, opening their eyes to how light interacts with different surfaces.

Learn More: Hands On As We Grow

19. Oil and Water Discovery Bottles

Bring the concept of density to life inside these fun discovery bottles! Have your learners layer colorful oils, water, beads, and glue inside a bottle, and then observe the contents separate and shift. This colorful experiment is a super way for them to visualize this intriguing scientific concept.

Learn More: Play Trains

20. Ballooning with Vinegar and Baking Soda

Prepare for liftoff! In this hands-on activity, challenge your kids to inflate a balloon using a classic kitchen chemistry reaction using baking soda and vinegar! As the chemicals react, the gad created will fill the balloons, allowing you to provide an engaging and dynamic lesson on this cool scientific process!

Learn More: Kids Academy

21. Separate Salt and Pepper

Challenge assumptions and defy expectations by having your kiddos attempt the seemingly impossible – separating combined salt and pepper! Give them simple materials like a plastic comb and let them use the power of static electricity to magically capture the pepper.

Learn More: YouTube

22. Standing on a Pile of Paper Cups

Reveal the surprising strength hiding in everyday items like paper cups! Have your kids stack some paper cups in a pyramid, then invite them to climb on top without crushing them. This demonstration lets them jump feet-first into the world of logic-defying physics principles!

Learn More: Science Sparks

23. Making Ice Grow

Reveal water’s hidden powers by guiding your students in creating their very own icy landscapes! Start by super cooling some bottles of water in the freezer then let them pour to create icy towers before their eyes. Once agitated by the pouring, the supercooled water will freeze, crystallizing concepts about the freezing properties of liquids.

Learn More: Teach Pre-school

24. DIY Cabbage PH Indicator

Empower your young chemists by having them use cabbage to reveal markers of acidity! Show them how to extract the indicator pigments from cabbage, then watch as these change color at different pH levels as you allow them to add drops of lemon. What a flavorful introduction to everyday kitchen chemistry.

25. Making a Monster Popcorn From Soap

Sculpt slippery hot monsters from soap to model Charles’ Law! As your kiddos heat and mold melting soap into wild creatures, they’ll observe expansion from heat firsthand. Their artistic designs are sure to bring these key physics concepts to life in a super creative way.

Learn More: Techno Eager

26. Turn a Penny Green

Teach your learners patience as they make observations over time in this next idea. Have them submerge pennies in vinegar and salt, then track the gradual chemical reactions, as their pennies turn green. Reactions are the main attraction of this lesson!

Learn More: Mess for Less

27. Make Gummy Worm Dance

Bring chemistry to life by having your students make gummy worms wiggle! Let your learners add worms to baking soda and vinegar and watch as the bubbles created by the chemical reaction make the candy worm dance. The dancing worm is sure to make this challenging science concept simply unforgettable!

Learn More: Playdough to Plato

28. Growing a CD Garden

Repurpose old CD cases into planters overflowing with life! Have your students plant sprouted seeds into soil-filled plastic CD cases and observe growth going on under the soil through the clear sides of the case. As plants flourish, the scientific process unfolds sustainably through reuse and repair.

Learn More: Rookie Parenting Science

29. Egg in a Bottle

Captivate your littles with magic that you can prove! In this experiment, you’ll harness air pressure to magically shove an egg into a bottle! Start by lighting some paper on fire and dropping it into a bottle, then quickly sealing it with the egg on top. The shrinking oxygen inside the bottle forces the egg through the top, showing atmospheric forces at work.

30. Sticky Ice Experiment

Reveal salt’s magical effect on freezing with a sticky ice experiment! Have your kiddos immerse string in icy saltwater then find ice sticking when pulled out. This super practical experiment demonstrates how salt lowers water’s freezing point in a simple, hands-on way for learners.

31. DIY Solar Oven

Empower your young engineers by having them harness the sun’s heat to build solar ovens! Guide them in angling mirrors to generate and trap heat in a box to cook food using only sunlight. Let trial and error pave the way for their learning about renewable energy and its uses.

Learn More: I Can Teach My Child

32. Build Your Own Barometer

Unlock air pressure mysteries by having your kiddies construct their own barometers! Let them use everyday materials like a tin can, balloons, a rubber band, a paper clip, and a straw to assemble their own device, and discover how scientific instruments channel the invisible forces shaping our natural world.

Learn More: Edventures with Kids

33. DIY Kinetic Sand

Let your kids get their hands dirty making magical kinetic sand! Encourage them to follow the simple instructions for combining oil and cornstarch to create sand that oozes and bounces unlike anything else. This super sensory activity is a fun way to demonstrate and play with non-Newtonian fluids.

Learn More: Artsy Fartsy Mama

34. Float/Sink Experiment

Spark hands-on predictions by testing classroom items to see if they’ll float or sink! Set up a bucket of water and have your students hypothesize buoyancy outcomes, then put their predictions to the test. This fun exploration is sure to make a splash and will set the stage for deeper scientific understanding.

Learn More: Paper Scissors Crafts

35. No Bursting Balloon

Shatter expectations by having your kiddos pierce balloons with no pops! Have them place tape on the balloon then insert sharpened sticks through the tape without bursting it! This astounding demonstration is sure to leave your learners speechless and will encourage them to be more flexible in their thinking.

Learn More: Crazy Science Show for Kids

36. Making Rain

Create your very own miniature storms to model the science of rain! Have your learners chill metal containers to collect water condensation, then add some heat underneath. As the air in the container heats and begins to circulate, the water evaporates and then condenses into rain, demonstrating this meteorological process beautifully.

37. Egg Shell Geode Crystal

Grow dazzling crystals that reveal the hidden powers of chemistry! Have your kids fill cleaned-out egg shells with solutions of water, food dye, rock salt or borax then watch on as the liquid evaporates and shimmering crystals begin to form inside the hollow shells. What a stunning way to demonstrate the principles of super-saturated solutions and evaporation!

Learn More: Science Bob

38. Liquid Layers Density Experiment

Open young eyes to density by filling jars with brilliantly colored liquid layers! Have your learners add liquids of varying densities and observe the colorful bands that form. The concept of density comes to life in this colorful, visual experiment!

Learn More: Coffee Cups and Crayons

39. Making Butter in a Jar

Explore the science of our food with this next experiment. Let your students get hands-on experience in separating solids and liquids by churning their own butter. Pour heavy cream into a jar and let them shake until it separates, to form butter and buttermilk. After all their hard work, your kids can then use their butter to make themselves a well-earned snack!

Learn More: Little Bins for Little Hands

40. Soda Geyser with Mentos

It’s explosion time! Have your kiddos bring science to life as they place a few Mentos into a bottle of soda and back away before it erupts. The exciting experiment is a classic and unforgettable hands-on way to show a chemical reaction in action!

Learn More: Know Your Meme

41. Skittles Experiment

Roll out the rainbow and let your kids explore diffusion using Skittles. Have them place a few Skittles on a plate and cover them with water before stepping back to watch the reaction that takes place. This colorful experiment will certainly intrigue your pupils and make them eager to learn more about this amazing process!

42. Baking Soda Volcano

Build excitement for chemical reactions by having your students construct fizzy baking soda volcanoes! Allow your students to create playdough or paper mache volcanos with a cup of baking soda and food dye in the center. Add vinegar to the cup and watch as the volcanoes erupt and spring to life! Who knew chemical reactions could be so much fun!?

43. Will it Dissolve?

Grab your learners’ attention with this fantastic inquiry-based learning idea. Have them make hypotheses about the solubility of different items or substances and then set them loose on investigating! As they test their theories, this exploratory learning opportunity fosters their inquisitive spirit and scientific thinking skills.

Learn More: The Picky Apple

44. Colored Celery Experiment

Reveal plants’ hidden highways by creating different colors of celery! Have your kiddos place crisp white celery stalks in cups of dyed water and get ready to observe the excitement as they watch the plants drawing up the pigments in the water. This demonstration creatively showcases plants’ natural capillaries in action!

Learn More: Tinker Lab

45. The Dance of Pepper and Soap

Get your kiddies ready for a captivating performance as they make pepper dance in this next activity! Watch as the wonders of surface tension are put on show as the pepper shoots across the water’s surface as it’s repelled by the soap. It’s a simple yet powerful way to visualize an otherwise invisible concept.

Learn More: Big Bang Education

46. Sprouting Seeds in a Sandwich Bag

Join us on a journey into the world of plant biology! Unleash your learners’ scientific curiosity by encouraging them to sprout seeds in a simple sandwich bag. As they witness the miracle of life, you can start some stimulating discussions about the process of germination and plant growth. 

Learn More: Mom Brite

47. DIY Lava Lamp

Together with your eager kiddos, you can create a lava lamp to demonstrate the concept of liquid density. Let them add oil, water, and food coloring into a plastic bottle, before adding an Alka-Seltzer tablet. The chemical reaction of the tablet dissolving will create a cool lava lamp effect. They’ll marvel at the beautiful interplay of colors and bubbles while hypothesizing and learning.

Learn More: Experience Camps

48. Paperclip Pontoons

Welcome to a magical world of science where a simple paperclip defies gravity and floats on water! Use this activity to engage your kiddos in hands-on learning about surface tension, turning an everyday phenomenon into a captivating science experiment.

Learn More: Science Wonder How To

49. Magnetic Labyrinth

Venture into the thrilling world of magnetism with this cool maze idea. Challenge your kids to design their own maze and then use magnets to navigate it! They’ll not only be putting their creativity to the test but also delving deeper into the principles and science behind this force.

50. Thermometer from Trash

Turn your classroom into a mini weather station and engage your students in understanding how temperature changes can be recorded and measured. The exciting part of this experiment is that they can make it all happen using recycled items – a plastic water bottle, rubbing alcohol and a straw is all you need to bring this science experiment to life. 

Learn More: What Do We Do All Day

51. Delicious DNA

Transform your classroom into a vibrant genetics lab! Use colored marshmallows and licorice to replicate a DNA helix. It’s a fun, engaging, and flavorful way to introduce your young scientists to the complex world of genetics. You’ll have them eating out the palm of your hand! 

Learn More: Science Project Ideas

52. Vanishing Color Wheel

Have your youngsters dive into an intriguing mix of art and science with the Vanishing Color Wheel! Encourage them to construct their own color wheel, and let them watch in wonder as the colors blend to become white when spun. This activity offers them a firsthand experience of color theory in action.

53. Hydroponic Wonders

Welcome to the future of farming – right in your classroom! Guide your students to grow plants without soil, introducing them to the intriguing world of hydroponics. This project will allow them to research, build, and record: scientific skills that they will use for years to come.

54. Purification Through Filtration

Transform your classroom into a mini water purification station with this filtration experiment. In this hands-on activity, your kiddies will make a homemade water filter using a plastic bottle, gravel, and charcoal. What a super way to explore the importance of clean water and the science behind how it’s achieved.

Learn More: Generation Genius

55. Catapulting Marshmallows

Take your class on a fun-filled leap into physics! By setting the challenge of constructing a marshmallow catapult, your kids will investigate the principles of energy and motion, all while enjoying the fun of launching marshmallows across the room.

Learn More: The Gazette  

56. Secret Messages with Invisible Ink

Let your kiddos play spies for the day with this cool chemical reaction activity. Using just lemon juice, they can write invisible messages, which reveal themselves under heat. This fun-filled experiment is the perfect introduction to basic chemistry and heat reactions.

Learn More: Popular Science

57. DIY Weather Vane

Welcome your students to the world of meteorology and have them create their own weather vane. Using simple materials they can create their weather vanes, and then use them to monitor and record the direction of the wind. What an engaging and hands-on way to learn about weather patterns and observation.

58. Crystal Suncatcher Creations

Bring some magic to your classroom with this beautiful crystal-growing activity! Your learners will use simple materials like pipe cleaners and string to grow borax crystals overnight! Creating these sparkling decorations provides your students with a kaleidoscopic lesson about supersaturated solutions and their products.

Learn More: Steve Spangler

59. The Simple Straw Flute

Turn your classroom into a symphony of science with this simple straw flute experiment. By encouraging your kiddos to construct and play their own straw flutes, your class will gain a deeper understanding of sound waves and pitch, all while creating unique melodies. A symphony of science- what’s not to love?

Learn More: Sask Science Centre

60. Plastic Bag Paratroopers

Your class will be eager to launch into this thrilling exploration of gravity and air resistance with this next activity. As they create and test their own parachutes using plastic bags, they’ll gain hands-on experience with these two fundamental forces of physics. Look out below!

Learn More: wikiHow

61. Cartesian Diver Exploration

Pressure and buoyancy come to life in this exceptional experiment. Have your kiddies create a Cartesian diver and submerge them into the fascinating study of physics with pressure and gas. As they put pressure on the outside of the bottle they’ll be amazed that the divers move in response, like magic!

Learn More: Ronyes Tech

62. DIY Compass

Chart a course through the mysteries of Earth’s magnetism with this DIY Compass activity. As your kiddos build their own compasses, they’ll learn about the incredible magnetic forces that shape our world and help us navigate.

63. Slime Science

Allow your littles to get gooey and hands-on with slimy science! Have them create their own batch of slime using one of these simple recipes and let them dive into the world of polymers in a most entertaining and memorable way. Learning about viscosity has never been so sensory! 

Learn More: Mini Science

64. Leafy Laboratory

Encourage your learners to step into the vibrant world of plant pigments with this amazing chromatography experiment! Start by collecting and crushing up leaves, before adding some rubbing alcohol. Then add the chromatography paper to the solution and watch as the leaf pigments separate on the paper to give a colorful insight into both botany and chemistry.

Learn More: Playdough To Plato

65. Moldy Sandwich Science

Turn your classroom into a mini biology lab! Encourage your class to grow mold on bread under different conditions, teaching them about fungi, bacteria, and decomposition, and also the importance of washing our hands! What a brilliant way to transform a mundane phenomenon into a captivating learning experience.

Learn More: Mad About Science

66. Yeast Inflation

Blow up your students’ interest in biology next! By using the gas produced by yeast to inflate a balloon, your keen scientists will observe the process of fermentation firsthand, enhancing their understanding of microbiology.

67. Static Tricks with Balloon and Can

Get your learners ready for a hair-raising exploration of static electricity! They’ll be delighted to observe how a balloon and a can magically attract each other, or roll a can without even touching it! What a fantastic way to illustrate the invisible but powerful force of static electricity. 

Learn More: Instructables

68. Cloud in a Bottle

Welcome to the atmospheric science lab! Bring the wonders of weather into your classroom using a plastic bottle, some rubbing alcohol, and a bicycle pump. By creating a cloud inside a jar, your kiddies will gain an up-close understanding of the process of condensation.

Learn More: National Geographic Kids

69. Sponge Soak-up

Dive into the concept of absorption! Through a simple hands-on activity using everyday items like a sponge, paper towels, and plastic bags, your kiddos can investigate absorption. They’ll discover how absorption works by testing different materials, bringing this everyday phenomenon to life.

70. Prismatic Rainbow Creation

Step into the vibrant world of light and color! Have your learners explore the concept of light refraction by encouraging them to create their own rainbow with a prism and sunlight, turning your classroom into a mini rainbow factory. Who knew science could be so colorful?

As you can see, there are tons of science experiments for kids you can do with items you have in your home right now. What fun science activities does your child enjoy?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best science experiments.

The best science experiments are the ones that answer a question your child has. When choosing science experiments for kids, always follow your child’s interests.

How do you do a simple science experiment at home?

When setting up a science experiment to do at home, it’s a good idea to set aside a time wherein there are no distractions. This will ensure that your child gets the most out of the experiments.

It’s also a great idea for parents to read about and practice the experiment ahead of time. This way, you know what’s going to happen and are ready to answer any questions.

What are some fun science experiments?

Fun science activities for kids are in no short supply. The list above is a great resource for kids’ science activities. Pinterest is a great resource, as well!

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Travel and Activities

50 fun things to do before summer ends.

Rachel Kor August 27, 2024

Summer always seems to fly by, and before you know it, it’s time to pack up the swimsuits and sunscreen. But before you dive into back-to-school mode, there’s still time to make the most of the warm days and create lasting memories with your family. Here’s a list of 50 fun and unique things to do before summer ends, including some local hidden gems and creative at-home activities.

All of these ideas were recommended by either Kosher.com staff members, or our Instagram followers. Thank you to everyone who sent in awesome ideas! If you have any ideas that are not on this list, feel free to put them in the comment section below!

1. Visit a Local Park’s Splash Pad:

Head to a local park with a splash pad for a refreshing and playful day out. Don’t forget lots of towels!

2. Swan Boats:

Rent swan boats and paddle around the lake. It’s a unique and relaxing way to spend a summer afternoon.

3. Drive-In Movie Theater:

Experience the nostalgia and fun of a drive-in movie theater. Pack the car with cozy blankets and pillows, bring along some snacks and drinks, and enjoy a family-friendly film under the stars. 

4. Pick-Your-Own Farms:

Visit a local farm and let the kids pick their own fruits or veggies. Continue the fun at home with a cooking or baking session.

5. Hiking Adventures:

Explore the great outdoors with a family hike. Whether it’s a simple trail or something more challenging, hiking is a wonderful way to connect with nature.

6. Frisbee in the Park:

Enjoy some free fun by playing frisbee in a beautiful field. Sometimes the simplest activities are the most memorable.

7. Sparklers with Neighbors:

Gather with neighbors in the backyard or a local park, and light up sparklers for a magical display of light and color. It’s a simple, yet joyful activity that brings people together and creates lasting memories.

8. Make S’mores Around a Fire Pit:

Gather around a fire pit for a classic summer treat—s’mores! 

9. Explore a New Playground:

Find a playground you haven’t visited before and spend the day exploring the new equipment.

10. Order Pizza Delivery to the Pool for Dinner:

Enjoy a fun and relaxed evening by ordering pizza delivery straight to the pool. 

11. Tubing Down the River:

Embrace the thrill of tubing down a gentle river with your family or friends. It’s a fantastic way to enjoy nature, cool off, and have some fun on the water. 

12. Grocery Store Date:

Take the kids to a grocery store and let them pick out snacks or ingredients for a meal. Once home, cook together and enjoy your creations.

13. DIY Summer Photoshoot:

Capture the last rays of summer with a fun DIY photoshoot. Use props, play with different outfits, and let the kids be the stars of their own photo session.

14. Create a Summer Photo Book:

Collect all your favorite summer memories in a photo book. It’s a great way to remember the season, and something the kids will love flipping through.

15. Learn a New Kitchen Skill:

Spend a day learning how to make something new, like homemade pasta or boba tea. It’s a fun way to bond and pick up a new skill.

16. Amazon Surprise Unboxing:

Have you heard of Amazon’s Mystery Boxes? You don’t know what you’ll unbox, but it sure is a thrill!

17. Backyard Camping:

Set up a tent in your backyard for a night under the stars. If it’s not safe to camp outside, create an indoor camping experience with blankets and pillows.

18. Host a Lemonade Stand:

Teach your kids some basic entrepreneurial skills by setting up a lemonade stand. They’ll love making the drinks and selling them to neighbors.

19. Stargazing Night:

Grab a blanket, some snacks, and find a spot away from city lights to gaze at the stars. Download a stargazing app to identify constellations.

20. Ice Cream Sundae Bar:

Set up an at-home ice cream sundae bar with various toppings. Let everyone create their dream sundae.

21. Visit a Local Zoo or Aquarium:

Spend a day learning about animals. Many zoos and aquariums offer summer programs and special events.

22. Chalk Art on the Driveway:

Let the kids unleash their creativity with some sidewalk chalk. You can even have a family contest for the best artwork.

23. Bike Ride Around the Neighborhood:

Explore your local area on bikes. It’s a great way to get some exercise and discover new spots in your neighborhood.

24. DIY Tie-Dye Shirts:

Get colorful with a tie-dye project . Each family member can design their own shirt to remember the summer by.

25. Visit a Farmers’ Market:

Take the kids to a local farmers’ market and let them pick out fresh produce.

26. Visit a Butterfly Garden:

Find a local butterfly garden and watch these beautiful insects in their natural habitat.

27. Mini Golf:

Head to a local mini-golf course for some friendly family competition.

28. Visit a Beach:

Spend a day at the beach collecting seashells and splashing in the waves.

29. Have a Picnic in the Park:

Pack a lunch and head to a nearby park for a relaxing picnic. Bring along a ball or frisbee for some after-lunch fun.

30. Visit a Science Center or Children’s Museum:

These are great places for hands-on learning and can be both fun and educational.

31. Take a Scenic Drive:

Find a scenic route near you and go for a drive. Stop at interesting spots along the way and enjoy the views.

32. Host a Water Balloon Fight:

Cool off with a water balloon fight in the backyard. It’s a fun way to beat the heat and get everyone laughing.

33. Build a Sandcastle:

If you’re at the beach or a sandbox, challenge your family to a sandcastle-building contest.

34. Outdoor Yoga:

Try a family yoga session in the backyard or a local park. It’s a calming way to start or end the day.

35. Visit an Animal Sanctuary:

Spend a day at an animal sanctuary learning about rescued animals and how to care for them.

36. Visit a Historic Site:

Explore a local historic site or landmark. It’s a great way to learn more about your area’s history.

37. Volunteer as a Family:

Give back to your community by volunteering together. It could be at a local shelter, food bank, or community garden.

38. Go on a Scavenger Hunt:

Create a scavenger hunt for the kids, either in your backyard or at a local park.

39. Visit a Waterfall:

Find a nearby waterfall and spend the day hiking and enjoying the natural beauty.

40. DIY Slip ‘N Slide:

Create your own Slip ‘N Slide in the backyard using a tarp and hose. Hours of fun guaranteed!

41. Attend a Fireworks Show:

End your summer with a bang by attending a fireworks show.

42. Host a Summer BBQ:

Invite friends and family over for one last summer BBQ. Grill your favorite foods and enjoy the warm evening together.

43. Make Homemade Ice Cream:

Try making your own ice cream or popsicles at home with your favorite summer flavors.

44. DIY Kite Flying:

Build and decorate your own kite, then head to an open field to see how high it can fly.

45. Backyard Science Experiments:

Try some fun and easy science experiments with your kids, like making a baking soda volcano or homemade slime.

46. Plan a Themed Dinner Night:

Choose a theme (like Italian, Mexican, or tropical) and create a dinner menu and decorations to match.

47. Visit a Petting Zoo or Farm:

Spend a day at a petting zoo or farm where kids can interact with animals and learn about farming.

48. Go on a Train Ride:

Take a scenic train ride through beautiful landscapes, forests, or along the coast. 

49. Outdoor Bagel and Lox Brunch:

Enjoy a brunch with bagels, lox, cream cheese, and all the fixings in a picturesque outdoor setting early in the day before it gets too hot out.

50. Painting Shells on the Beach:

Collect a variety of shells, bring some paints and brushes, and let everyone create their own unique designs. This fun and artistic activity will provide keepsakes to remember the summer by.

Summer may be winding down, but there’s still plenty of time to make memories. Whether you’re looking for big adventures or simple pleasures, these ideas will help you squeeze every last drop of fun out of the season.

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