The Best DIY Science Experiments for Kids
Want to turn your home into a kid-friendly scientific laboratory? You don’t need bubbling beakers and centrifuges to produce cool at-home science experiments for kids. In fact, everything you need to help them feel like a tiny Nikolai Tesla or miniature Marie Curie is likely sitting in your home already. And we’re not just talking about the make-things-fizz genre of experiments. With a few simple ingredients, your kids can make everything from fake snot to invisible ink and actual lightning. They’re simple, educational, and a lot of fun. The best part? You don’t need a Ph.D. or particle accelerator.
Make Fake Snot
Similar to slime, fake snot is a great tool to have around the house for the purposes of … well, having fake snot around the house. Concocting your own nasty goo is a great way to get into some chemistry fundamentals with kitchen items. What you’ll need:
A cupA teaspoonA forkBoiling waterGelatinCorn syrup
Instructions: Tip: For some particularly fun goo, add green food coloring to the mixture along with the corn syrup.
Turn Pennies Green
This experiment finally gives pennies a new, useful role. Pennies are susceptible to oxidation, just like other metals. But because they’re made mostly of copper, pennies, rather than simply rusting, can produce a blue-green substance known as malachite! What You’ll Need:
Pennies, duhSaltVinegarSmall trayPaper towels
Instructions:
Create Your Own Lightning
The lightning you see during storms is essentially just massive amounts of static electricity. You can safely replicate a similar effect at home by producing smaller amounts of charge, which is still pretty cool. What You’ll Need:
Inflated balloonMetal spoon (or any metal utensil)
Instructions:
Make an Eggshell Disappear
Dissolving an eggshell is another easy activity with a longer wait but huge payoff: a rubbery, translucent egg! What You’ll Need:
EggWhite vinegarJar with lid
Instructions:
Invisible Ink
Turn your kid into a secret agent with this simple recipe to concoct invisible ink that only they know the trick to revealing. What You’ll Need
Half a lemonWaterA spoonBowlCotton Q-tipWhite paperLamp, or similar lightbulb
Instructions:
Rock Candy
Kids learn about solutions, saturation, and evaporation with this sweet experiment. What You’ll Need:
WaterFour cups of sugarA few lollipop or popsicle sticks (or even plastic spoons)A few clothespinsA few cups or jarsA paper towelFood coloring (optional)
Instructions:
The Best Science Experiments to Copy From YouTube
For parents who prefer video instruction, there’s an entire rabbit hole of kid-friendly science experiments on YouTube. Showing your kid the end product in the video can help spark their enthusiasm and keep their attention when it comes to explaining the science.
Shaving Cream Clouds
This super simple experiment helps kids visualize why it rains. When enough food coloring is dropped onto shaving cream “clouds,” they become saturated, depositing some dye into the water so that colorful streaks run down the cup. The video explains how water evaporation turns to condensation, and eventually, precipitation.
Walking Water
In this simple experiment, which requires only water, cups, food coloring, and paper towels, kids learn about capillary action, which explains how trees draw water from their roots, and color theory, or why you start with four colors and end up with seven.
Oobleck
Oobleck is a substance made of cornstarch and water that acts like both a solid and a liquid. Pick it up and it will fall through your fingers like honey, but try and press into it and it solidifies like dough. Younger kids will have fun playing with oobleck and observing how it shapeshifts, while older kids can get a more in-depth explanation of types of matter with this video. The recipe for oobleck is 2:46 minutes into the video.
Flubber
Flubber is a gel-like, playdough-adjacent substance made from glue and a type of laundry detergent called Borax. When you mix warm water, borax, and glue, the American Chemistry Society, explains, polymers form, creating a stretchy substance.
The Best Ready-Made Science Kits for Kids
For parents who prefer the kind of science experiments that don’t require any prep, there are plenty of ready-made kits for purchase. Whether your kid is interested in making slime, learning about the science behind baking, or mixing things in authentic beakers, for-purchase kits can facilitate learning and fun. These kits contain multiple experiments that require few additional materials and come with easy-to-follow directions. Every product on Fatherly is independently selected by our editors, writers, and experts. If you click a link on our site and buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
