Fun Science Experiments to Do at Home with Kids

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24 Aug 2023

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Science can be extremely exciting and fascinating for kids to explore and learn! There are tons of fun, simple science experiments and activities that can be done at home using everyday materials. Doing science experiments together is a great way to bond with your children and encourage their natural curiosity and love for discovery.

Let's dive in to the wonderful world of exploring science at home!

Science Experiments for Preschoolers (Ages 3-5 years)

Preschool age is an ideal time to start introducing basic science concepts in a safe, engaging hands-on way. Here are some great kindergarten level science experiments to try:

Rainbow Skittles Water

This colorful experiment demonstrates how water dissolves different foods and candies to form a solution.

Gather a bowl of water and a pack of Skittles candies in different colors.
Have your child select one Skittle candy at a time and predict what will happen when it is placed in water.
Drop each colored Skittle into the water one by one and observe as the coloring diffuses out but the letter on the candy remains.
Talk about how the Skittles change the color of the water as it dissolves and mixes together.

Lava Lamp Bottle

Create a simple homemade lava lamp to observe density differences.

Fill a plastic bottle one-quarter full with vegetable oil.
Add 5-6 drops of food coloring to the oil.
Top off the rest of the bottle with fizzy water.
Watch as the colored oil blobs rise and fall through the water creating lava lamp-like effects!

Rainbow Milk

Make colorful rainbow milk to see how dish soap interacts with fats in milk.

Pour enough milk in a plate to cover the bottom.
Add a few drops of food coloring around the milk.
Have kids predict what will occur before placing a drop of dish soap in the center.
Watch as the colors burst out into the milk in a tie-dye pattern.

Magic Marbling Milk

Another colorful milk experiment using shaving cream.

Fill a plate with a thin layer of milk.
Drop some food coloring dots around the milk.
Using a cotton swab, have kids gently swirl the food coloring dots to create marbleized patterns.
Then spray a layer of shaving cream on top and watch the colors stream up to create a magical marbled masterpiece!

Cornstarch Oobleck

Make this strange goo that acts like a liquid when stirred but solid when held still.

Mix 1 part water to every 1.5-2 parts cornstarch in a bowl.
Stir it continuously until it takes on an oozy, slimy texture.
Allow kids to grab handfuls and observe how it runs through fingers like water, then thickens up when stationary.
Talk about properties of solids and liquids as they play with this cornstarch slime!

DIY Bubbles

Whip up homemade bubble solution and wands to create gigantic, strong bubbles.

Mix together 1 cup water, 1/3 cup dish soap, and 2 tablespoons corn syrup or sugar.
Provide plastic wands, spoons, pipe cleaners to dip and blow bubbles.
See who can make the largest, most bubbles without popping.
Notice how the solution creates a thin soapy film for forming bubbles.

Magic Celery Science

Observe how water helps celery stalks become crispy as leaves change color.

Cut the bottom off a head of celery and place it in a bowl or vase of water mixed with a few drops of food coloring.
Watch over the next day as the leaves curl and change color while the stalks become crispy.
Explain how the water travels up the xylem to the leaves providing nutrients and hydration.

Mentos Soda Eruption

Drop mentos mints into soda to see an explosive fizzy reaction.

Head outside and put a bottle of diet soda on a flat surface.
Let kids guess what will happen before dropping in several mentos mints quickly.
Watch out for the sudden soda eruption! The combination of carbon dioxide gas, caffeine and mentos causes rapid bubbling.
Talk about reactions and explain how the rough surface of mentos provides nucleation sites for gas bubbles to form.

Make a Windsock

Simple engineering design project to observe wind direction.

Take a long piece of tissue paper, coffee filter or other lightweight paper.
Decorate it with crayons, stickers, markers to make a colorful windsock.
Attach string through the top and hang it up outside.
Watch it wave and move to see which direction wind is blowing from.

Rainbow Walking Water

Wicked colored water that appears to walk up paper towel strips.

Fold paper towel strips in half and stand them in glasses of water mixed with food coloring.
As the paper towels soak up and diffuse the colored water, it will appear to move up the towels.
Talk about capillary action and how liquid moves through absorbent materials.

Skittles Rainbow

See a rainbow of colors emerge as Skittles dissolve in water.

Get a plate of water and a pack of Skittles of varied colors.
Have kids organize Skittles on plate by color.
Take turns placing each color in water one at a time.
Watch inner rainbow appear as colors dissolve off the candies.
Notice how some colors diffuse faster than others.

Magic Color Changing Milk

Add soap to milk and see it change from white to vibrant colors.

Pour milk into a shallow bowl. Add a drop of food coloring on one side.
Have kids predict what will occur when you add a drop of soap in the center.
When soap is added, watch colors burst and swirl through the milk.
Soap changes the surface tension of milk allowing colors to spread.

Dancing Rice

Make rice dance and jump with static electricity magic.

Fill a plate with uncooked rice. Rub a balloon on hair or sweater to build static charge.
Hold balloon over rice and watch the pieces jump up and cling due to static attraction!
Explain how oppositely charged objects are electrically attracted to each other.

Coin Spinning Race

Push pennies with your thumb to race them across the floor.

Gather several pennies and line them up evenly spaced.
Take turns spinning them as hard as you can using your thumb and index finger.
Rush to see whose penny spins the fastest and farthest distance across the floor.

Talk about friction, force and inertia.

Science Activities for Elementary School Kids (Ages 6-9 years)

Elementary school years are perfect for fostering a love of science through engaging hands-on activities across scientific fields. Here are some fun science experiments to try:

Balloon-Powered Car

Build a toy car propelled by the air from a balloon.

Use cardboard to make a car with wheels that can roll easily.
Attach a plastic straw through the back and thread a string through.
Blow up a balloon and pinch the end to seal the air inside. Hold the balloon end over the straw.
Let the balloon go and watch your car take off as the air rushes out the straw!
Talk about Newton's laws of motion and how the air provides an action force to propel the car.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano

Recreate an erupting volcano using chemical reactions.

Form a volcano shape using clay or dough.
Fill it halfway with vinegar then add a few drops of food coloring.
Add teaspoons of baking soda until it fizzes and bubbles over the sides like lava.
Explain how the acid in vinegar reacts with baking soda to produce carbon dioxide gas.

Magic Floating Egg

Make an egg float in a jar of water by dissolving salt.

Fill a jar with water and drop in an egg. The egg sinks.
Now add lots of salt and stir to dissolve it. Carefully lower the egg into the salty water.
Watch the egg amazingly float in the middle of the jar!
Talk about density and how dissolved salt makes the water denser than the egg.

Instant Ice Cream

Make tasty ice cream in a plastic bag using ice and salt.

Pour cream, milk, sugar and flavors in a small sealed plastic bag.
Place this inside a larger bag filled with ice cubes and salt.
Shake and smoosh the bags together for 5-10 minutes.
The ice + salt lowers the temperature so the insides freeze into ice cream!

Slime Time

Whip up homemade slime using borax, glue and water.

Mix together 1 tsp borax powder and 1/2 cup warm water until dissolved.
In a larger bowl, combine 1 cup glue and 1/4 cup warm water.
Slowly mix the borax solution into the glue. Stir continuously until it develops into stretchy slime!
Discuss states of matter as kids play with the stretchy semi-solid slime.

Magic Crystal Tree

Grow beautiful colored crystal branches on a pinecone.

Tie a string to a pinecone to hang it in a jar of hot water mixed with borax powder.
Over the next day, crystals will gradually grow on the pinecone, creating a sparkly crystal tree effect!

Make a Compass

Craft a simple compass to find directions using magnetism.

Magnetize a sewing needle by stroking it against a magnet.
Tape or float the needle on water in a bowl. The needle will align to the Earth's magnetic field, pointing north.
Mark N, S, E, W on the bowl. Use the improvised compass to identify directions!

Cartesian Diver

Build a soda bottle submarine that sinks and floats based on water pressure.

Cut a straw an inch below the bendy part. Seal the short end with a blob of clay.
Drop the straw vertically into a soda bottle filled 3/4 with water.
Squeeze the bottle to increase pressure. This causes the straw to sink.
When released, the straw floats back up! Discuss how pressure affects matter.

Magic Genie in a Bottle

Create colorful bubbly genie smoke effects in bottles using baking soda and vinegar.

Fill plastic bottles 1/4 with water. Add a spoonful of baking soda, then a few drops of food coloring.
When ready to perform magic, have kids pour in vinegar and quickly cap the bottle.
As the vinegar and baking soda react, the bottle fills with bubbly colored foam that overflows like smoke!

Make a Telescope

Construct a simple functioning telescope to view distant objects.

Obtain 2 magnifying glasses of varying magnification.
Tape one magnifying glass at the end of a cardboard tube.
Look through other end of tube using the second magnifying glass.
Adjust focus by sliding lenses back and forth until image becomes clear.
Use telescope to view trees, buildings, signs from a distance.

Potato Clock

Harness chemical energy in potatoes to power an LED clock.

Stick a copper penny and zinc nail into a potato half connected by wires to a digital clock.
The clock lights up powered by the potato battery's electric current!

Milk Rainbow

Separate milk into its component parts using dish soap.

Pour a thin layer of milk into a pie dish. Add drops of food coloring.
Place one drop of dish soap in the center. Watch rainbow colors stream outward.
Soap breaks up fats, allowing them to spread and carry the food coloring.

Middle School Level Science Experiments (Ages 10-13 years)

Science exploration for middle schoolers can be taken to the next level by testing more advanced scientific principles. These experiments are fun as well as educational:

Mentos Fountain

Create an impressive soda fountain shooting meters into the air.

Tape Mentos vertically inside an empty soda bottle.
Quickly fill bottle with diet soda, cap it and flip upside down.
The Mentos causes soda to rapidly foam upwards creating a tall fountain effect.
Examine how roughness of Mentos provides nucleation sites for gas bubbles.

Make a Battery from Fruit

Harness fruit acids and metals to generate electricity.

Stick a galvanized nail and copper penny into an orange, lemon or potato.
Connect wire between the nails to make a circuit. The fruit battery powers an LED light!
Acid in fruit interacts with metals to produce an electrical voltage.

Elephant Toothpaste

Perform an exothermic reaction shooting soap foam 20 feet high!

Pour warm water into a bottle. Add liquid dish soap.
In another bottle, mix yeast, peroxide, and food coloring.
Quickly pour the yeast mixture into soap bottle, stir and watch the colorful foam erupt out!
The peroxide breaks down releasing oxygen which gets trapped by soap.

Static Electricity Balloon Tricks

Have fun with static charge buildup on balloons.

Blow up a balloon and tie it closed. Rub balloon vigorously on hair to build up static charge.
Bring the charged balloon close to small pieces of paper and watch them jump onto the balloon!
Sprinkle salt on a table and hover the charged balloon over it. The salt jumps up trying to stick to the balloon.
Explain how the balloon's negative charge electrostatically attracts the paper and salt.

Maglev Train

Construct a miniature train that floats on a magnetic track.

Align several small neodymium magnets on a piece of wood as a track.
Build a train out of paperclips with magnets on top. Place on the magnetic track.
Observe the hovering train floated in place by magnetic repulsion! Use a flicked finger to propel it along the track.

Make a Pinhole Camera

Build a simple camera obscura that projects images using pinhole light refraction.

Tape foil over one end of a shoebox, piercing a small pinhole in the center.
Cut a viewing hole on the opposite end.
Point pinhole opening towards bright outdoor scenery. View upside down projected images inside box!
Discuss how light travels in straight paths and flips when passing through the pinhole aperture.

CO2 Rocket Car

Harness the power of pressurized gas to propel a toy car.

Fix a plastic bottle horizontally to a toy car. Fill it 1/3 with water and add an Alka Seltzer tablet to produce CO2.
Cap the bottle tightly. The pressurized gas propels the car forward at high speeds!

Make Slime with Cornstarch

Create an odd goo that acts like liquid or solid depending on whether you squeeze it.

Mix 1 cup cornstarch with 1/2 cup water. Knead it until it forms into slimy putty.
Observe how the slime oozes like liquid through fingers but turns solid when squeezed tightly.
Discuss the properties of non-Newtonian fluids in contrast to liquids and solids.

Bottle Rockets

Design mini rocket ships propelled upwards by water pressure.

Make rocket fins and noses out of paper and tape them to empty soda bottles.
Fill bottles 1/3 with water and pump them full of air.
Flip upside down and watch them launch into the sky powered by the compressed air!
See whose design flies highest and adjust fin shapes to improve flight.

Bridge Building

Have an engineering challenge building miniature bridges from toothpicks or popsicle sticks.

Using limited materials, construct small beam bridges spanning a gap between two stacks of books.
Test bridge strength by loading pennies on top until it eventually buckles and collapses.
Examine failure points and rebuild new improved bridge designs.

Advanced Science Experiments for High School (Ages 14-18 years)

By high school, teens can step up to more sophisticated science experiments demonstrating deeper scientific concepts across physics, chemistry and biology:

Modeling Friction with Books

Explore the physics of friction and normal force using stacks of books.

Place a book flat on a table and try sliding it. Friction prevents sliding with even small forces.
Now stack multiple books on top of the slide book. The normal force multiplied allows it to slide with same push.
Discuss how friction is directly proportional to the normal force between surfaces. Add math calculations.

Detecting Radioactivity

Use a cloud chamber to visualize and detect radioactive particles.

Construct a sealed plexiglass chamber containing alcohol vapor.
Ion trails caused by ambient radioactive decays in the air form visible streaks along alcohol droplets.
Alpha and beta particles produce distinct trail patterns that can be photographed.

Newton's Cradle

Demonstrate conservation of momentum and energy using swinging spheres.

Suspend a row of identical metal balls by strings so they just touch at rest.
Pull back one end ball and release to strike the row. Momentum transfers through each ball.
The last ball on the opposite end swings out, demonstrating conserved kinetic energy.