8 Fun Science Experiments Your kids will Want to do Again and Again!

With Spring in full swing the kids are counting down the days until summer vacation, but all of that learning doesn't have to stop at the classroom door; Here are some science experiments to do with your children during the summer break that are sure to incite the curiosity of your kids, no matter what age!

School is ending soon and I am starting to think about those long summer days and how I am going to occupy my kids. My girls have an eight year age difference, so coming up with activities that they both enjoy can be challenging for me. An afternoon spent outside with a container full of bubbles no longer excites my 10 year old the way it used to, and my 22 month old has zero interest in reading chapter books inside on beautiful days.

When I tell my kids that we are going to do a science experiment, I get cheers all around. Children are naturally curious and thrive in environments where they can let their curiosity lead them. All they know is they can potentially get messy and they have no idea they are actually going to learn something. Here are a few of our favorites experiments to test out with your budding Mad Scientists.

1. The Egg and Vinegar Experiment a.k.a The Naked Egg

This is a very cool experiment, but one that will teach patience as well as scientific concepts. The materials needed are simple and easily found around the house but the concepts it introduces to children are complex. All you need is a raw egg, a glass and vinegar. Place the egg into the glass and cover with vinegar and let sit for 48 hours. Encourage your children to make hypothesis about what they think will happen. When we did this experiment, my daughter noticed right away the bubbles forming on the egg as the calcium carbonate in the egg shell reacted with the acetic acid in the vinegar and this opened up a lengthy conversation about chemical reactions. Want to add a twist? Check your egg after 24 hours and remove it from the acid, if you leave it for a day the shell will re-solidify as it absorbs the CO2 in the air! You can also teach a lesson in osmosis by putting your shell-less egg into a glass of water and adding some food coloring. Your kids will OOH and AAH as they watch the color pass through the semi-permeable egg membrane and change color. You will go down in the history books as one of their favorite science teachers ever and all it cost you was one little egg.

2. Teach your Kids about Plant Xylem with a Dyed Flower Experiment

When I said these experiments would be simple, I meant it and you can't get much simpler than this. Again this one takes a little patience, but it's summer! The days are long, you've got nothing but time! Daisy's work great here, but any white cut flower will do. I like daisy's because they grow wild near my home and we use our trek into the "wilderness" as part of the experiment (sample collection anyone?)

Just place the flowers in some glasses (or beakers if you are a true science connoisseur), fill them with water and drop a few drops of food coloring into the glass. In a few hours the children will notice the color beginning to creep into the petals and you can use this opportunity to talk to them about how plants efficiently absorb nutrients. Plus, you'll have a lovely, colorful addition to your table centerpiece. Easy and FREE.

3. Make a CD Greenhouse.

Want to continue the "Green Thumb" education? Teach your kids about plant structure and growth by helping them grow a seedling in an old CD case. After just a few days, your children will see their little seed start to sprout roots. Encourage them to research and label the correct plant parts.

Materials:

Potting soil

Old CD case

Any seed (beans work well because of their fast germination period)

A sunny window!

Kids love having the responsibility of caring for something that is just 'theirs' and they will race to their little greenhouse everyday to check its progress, I guarantee it.

4. Balloon Powered Vehicle Challenge

This is a great challenge when you have a group full of children and it gives you an excuse to clean out your craft bin! Challenge your kids to build a vehicle powered only by air and encourage them to design it to travel as far as possible. Their engineering skills will ignite and you may be surprised with what designs them come up with. The sky is the limit with the type of materials you could provide; bottle caps, empty plastic bottles, popsicle sticks, paper towel rolls, straws etc. It's a great lesson in science, construction AND recycling. When the kids are all finished, ask them to test their vehicles for speed and distance and encourage them to discuss ways they can improve upon their design in the future.

5.Make your own ROCK CANDY!!!

Let's face it, any baker worth her salt (or sugar) knows what an exact science some of our favorite desserts require to prepare. Baking IS a science experiment proper. You are using math, you're adding heat, changing states of matter and, participating in chemical reactions. Even your great-grandmother was a scientist in her own right, every time she brought dessert to the table. Get your kids involved and help them make their own rock candy. Again, patience is a must here as it takes 3-7 days for the sugar crystals to form, but the end result is so worth it and they will feel so proud of themselves when they get to dig into their very own sweet creation! You can get full instructions on how to make Rock Candy here.

6. Make Slime!

This is a great experiment for young and old alike. It's perfect for younger kids and encourages sensory play. You can use the opportunity to teach older kids about scientific concepts like cross-linking and molecule bonding and the effects of mixing borate ions in starch with polyvinyl-acetate in the glue to create that stretchy consistency. But let's be honest, they will already feel like mad scientists with all of that mixing and hands on fun. There are so many different recipes for slime. Some have borax, some have corn starch and some even require contact solution. This is the recipe I use:

Fluffy Slime

Materials:

ELmers glue- 1 container

1/2 cup warm water

1 tsp borax

1/2 cup foaming hand soap (makes it smell pretty!)

1/2 cup shaving cream

3 tbsp hand lotion

Food Coloring

Method:

Mix borax in the water well until dissolved and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix glue, shaving foam, foaming hand soap, hand lotion and food coloring. Start adding the borax mixture, 1 tsp at a time until it starts to change consistency and you can start handling it with your hands. Once you can pick it up start to knead it until it reaches the slimy consistency you like! Adjust it as needed with more borax solution or conversely with more hand lotion to maintain stretchy consistency. Store in an air tight container!

7. Make OOBLECK

Since you'll already be in a messy frame of mind, you might as well let your kids learn about viscosity by making OOBLECK. A mixture of cornstarch and water (and a little food coloring to make it pretty), that when combined creates a Non-Newtonian Fluid (a fluid that does not follow Newtons Law of Viscosity). Named after a Dr. Seuss book, your kids will get a real kick out of this stuff. It acts like a liquid when held but if acted upon with quick force, will behave like a solid. You need a cornstarch to water ratio of 2:1 to make this work, but the SIZE of the batch you want to make is up to you! You can play with a bowl or OOBLECK and slap it around a little OR I've even seen some people who fill up a kiddie pool with this strange stuff and let their hooligans try to dance fast enough on 'water' without sinking. If you want to go big or go home, you can buy cornstarch in bulk here and here.

8. Build a Track System using Simple Solutions

We've all seen those videos of the elaborate track systems that span the entire house and halfway down the block, where a single marble will travel through an elaborate system to perform a simple action. Challenge your kids to use everyday house-hold items and recyclable materials to build their own track system. This is great for a rainy summer day, when you might be stuck indoors and it will appeal to those kids with an engineer trapped inside of them. For older kids, they are learning about friction and gravity and how those forces act upon the marble, they are using their observation and engineering skills as well as finding new and creative uses for items from the recycle bin. Got little ones? They will work those observation skills and want to watch that marble run the track again and again, their little minds learning and expanding the entire time.

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These are some of my families favorite at-home science experiments, but we have so many more to try. What are some of your favorite experiments to do with your kids? Comment below!