Three Home Science Experiments with everyday materials

1) BUBBLING RAINBOW 

This experiment is a chemical reaction [when 2 things, an acid and a base, come together and create something new(gas)]. You can explore the bubbles with your eyes, your ears, your fingers, and even your nose! What does a chemical reaction even sound like? Chemical reactions can even change the temperature. This one is an endothermic reaction (taking energy from the environment) and you and your scientist can touch and feel how much colder it feels! 

What you’ll need: 

• Baking sheet

• Food coloring

• Baking soda

• Vinegar

The Experiment!: 

1. Cover the bottom of the tray with baking soda

2. Have fun dropping dots of color all over the baking soda

3. Take a lot of vinegar… start a count down… pour the vinegar all over the tray and watch it bubble!!

Now is your time to OBSERVE! What do you see? What does it sound like? What does it remind you of? What is happening to the colors? What color do all the colors make when they are mixed together? What does the pan feel like? What’s the temperature? 

*Kids will probably want to do this over and over and over so have a lot of baking soda and vinegar at hand :)

2) SUPER SOAP

Another fan favorite endothermic chemical reaction! Take ordinary soap and turn it into an overflowing bubbling reaction. (Could be fun to have your scientist “help clean” some messes off plates!) 

What you’ll need: 

• Baking Soda

• Vinegar

• Dawn Dish Soap (or any dish soap)

The Experiment!: 

1. In a container, pour in vinegar.

2. Drizzle a healthy couple squeezes of soap into the vinegar (The more soap, the more frothy. ALSO! it’s okay that the vinegar and soap don’t mix. Could generate a side bar conversation about density and how the soap has more density (heavier) than the vinegar so it sinks to the bottom and doesn’t mix. *Could also look up density stack experiments online*).

3. When you’re ready, add a spoonful of baking soda and tada!

Time to OBSERVE again! What does it look like? Why are there a million bubbles growing? How long do you think the reaction will last? What does it sound like? How could I use this? What does it smell like? Why do you think the reaction stopped? How could we make the reaction bigger? 

You could pre dirty some plates with things around the kitchen, and try to use this experiment to “clean” them up! 

To extend this experiment, you could have a variety of different powders (baking powder, corn starch, salt, sugar, four, etc)and have your scientist try to figure out which one is a base (like the baking soda) and will set off the experiment! 

3) OOBLECK

This experiment explores one of the most amazing exceptions to the Newton’s laws of physics! With just the right ratio of water to corn starch, you and your scientist will discover a slime that acts as both a liquid and a solid, depending on the forces that act on it! This special slime is called a Non-Newtonian fluid. Your scientist will have so much fun learning about solids and liquids while also playing with one of KSL’s favorite slimy substances! 

What you’ll need: 

• Water

• Corn starch

• A bowl for mixing in and a spoon (or popsicle stick) for mixing

The experiment!: 

1. Grab a bowl and scoop in about a cup of corn starch. Have your scientist explore how this powder feels. Does this powder feel rough like sand? So smooth! Where does this stuff come from?

2. Using a spoon, slowly add water bit by bit, and mix! Parents, just so you know the ratio is about 2 parts corn starch to 1 part water (2:1), but you can challenge your young scientist to try to find it on their own! (Feel free to do some color mixing and add color (food coloring or water color concentrate will work!)

3. When you have found the right combination, your slime should be really hard and solid when you tap super quickly on it, but liquid when you try to poke your finger in slowly!

Some of our favorite ways to interact with oobleck is to start off by observing this crazy stuff. What does it look like? Smell like? Sound like? Feel like? 

What happens if I knock on it like a door? Or what happens if I sink my hand into it and then quickly pick my hand up? What happens when you blow on it? What happens if you roll it in a ball and then let go? You can even challenge you scientist to pick up the bowl the oobleck is in and hold it upside down over another bowl (SLIME STORM)!! 

*This experiment can look very messy, but it super easy to clean with just warm water it should dissolve on countertops and tabletops! 

Making pancakes is science

Our kids love pancakes. From mixing in the bowl to pouring the syrup, they just seem to love eating these delicious creations of breakfast fame. But, what's funny, is that the entire process of making to eating pancakes, is ALL SCIENCE! 

Just think about it. Measuring ingredients and ensuring you get the right amounts, allows you to teach your kids about science. Whether the eggs mix with the cinammon or milk, is science. Even the heating is science as if you turn the skillet up to high, you can burn the exterior of the pancake, while leaving the inside moist and uncooked, which is never good. So let me explain one new word to use in preparation, that is not only fun to say for kids, but is one of the coolest science concepts around. 

VISCOSITY! It represents the thickness of a liquid. Some pancake mixes are very thick (highly viscous) because we put too little milk, water or other liquids in the mixture, while others are quite thin (low viscosity). My kids (ages 2 and 7) like making three bowls of pancakes, with different amounts of milk, and then mixing them and talking about the texture while using the word VISCOSITY. It has helped them to apply a science word to other things in our refrigerator, like Butter (high viscosity), Jam (high viscosity), Fat Free milk (low viscosity), Apple Juice (low viscosity). We take these liquids and pour them into bowls and see that the ones that move very slowly, because of their thickness, have high viscosity. Try this experiment with your kids at home the next time you are making pancakes, whether you use VISCOSITY or not, it is great to actually allow them to make a mixture over a towel, and talk about why one is different than the other. Then cook the mixtures and observe what happens. Kids learn by doing, and this experiment is so simple that even a toddler can get involved. Enjoy!

Dreamy Science : the perfect pillow

If you are like me, you often wonder what you can do to get better sleep. It's crazy, but every other day, my favorite pillow seems to disappear to the other side of the bed. I awoke this am wondering...why do some pillows seem to work so well for allowing me to relax, while others just feel like I'm laying down while someone is jumpkicking me in the back of the head. Well, I thought, a pillow is science. 

So let's talk about it. The science is universal for our kids in that they should have a firm mattress and firm pillows to build strong back and neck support and more importantly when they are small, help avoid suffocation. Adults on the other hand, enjoy a wide range of pillows based on our own sleep position and personal preferences. It is however believed that a pillow should be 4-6 inches in height for optimal neck support. 

A pillow is typically described or rated as being soft, medium or firm. The "firmness" is typically related to three factors: amount of fill, type of fill, and type of pillowcase being used. Believe it or not, but this is ALL SCIENCE.  Scientists explore material selection in just about every product that is made and a pillow is no different, except that there are significant differences in the preferences of consumers. Whether you enjoy soft pillows like me, or more firm pillows to reach your most relaxing state at night, you can investigate which pillow is right for you and have fun discussing the concept of ELASTICITY with your kids, because a pillow is just a cushion by another name. 

Pillows have ELASTICITY, which is a science word that describes a materials ability to return to its original state after being streteched or bent. Firm pillows have a lot of elasticity, as they quickly return to their original state after you move your heead. Soft pillows have a lower degree of elasticity, but a high degree of IMPULSE, which is a science word that describes a materials abiity to absorb impact (like that of your head).  

But you are reading this because love my writing, so what is the science experiment at home with my kids. The fact is that your head weighs between 8 and 10 lbs, and has significant variation in contour from neck to hairstyle. A pillow, one of the engineering marvels, must be able to absorb the impact of our brain (IMPULSE) and not get too deformed (ELASTICITY) so in the morning it still looks like a pillow. At home, lay two pillows, with different characteristics, side by side. Grab a large coconut, pot, or other spherical object, and lay them on the ground. With your kids doing the testing, drop the objects onto the pillow from a low height (1 inch), medium height (5 inches) and high height (10 inches) and observe what happens when they hit the pillow. If your child is 6+, you can even get them to record the results in a table, which helps practice their math and writing skills. Discuss what happens and use the two new science words we introduced today: ELASTICITY and IMPULSE. 

My 7yr old loves to talk about pillows and understands more about her own sleep preferences as a result of this experiment. In my next post, I will discuss the materials used for pillows from those in late night infomercials and how you can make your own pillows at home with your kids.