fruit
Sudsy Lemon Science
Tweet Here’s a fun activity with a dash of ‘science magic’ that children can perform with your help, using basic materials found in the kitchen. You will need: Empty plastic cups Fresh lemons, sliced into quarters 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons washing up liquid Measuring spoon Plastic spoon or straw for stirring Wet and [...]
How Does Acid Keep Apples Fresh?
Tweet Apples and pears are great for snacks or to have as a side dish for dinner. But keeping them looking white and delicious after they have been sliced can be tricky. Try this experiment to see how chemistry can keep your apples and pears fresh even after they have been sliced. You will need: [...]
Floating Oranges
Tweet Does an orange float or sink when placed in water? Seems like a fairly straight forward question, but is it? We are revisiting this concept whilst focusing in particular on the concept of density. After you and your kids have done the experiment you will be able to answer this mystery, while learning a [...]
What would Halloween be without “blood”?
Tweet Fake blood can be expensive to buy, and not exactly edible, much less tasty. If you’re going for the vampire look, you want blood you don’t mind getting in your mouth. By using a little kitchen chemistry, try these recipes for realistic-looking edible (non-toxic) fake blood. Recipe 1 – Cherry Flavour You will need [...]
Smelly Polymers
Tweet Polymers have numerous uses and have made our lives much more comfortable. One perhaps less well known way is to help make your home smell fresh, which you can do by making these scented gel fresheners. (Adult supervision is recommended for this project.) You will need: Unflavoured gelatine Water Fragrance oil Food colouring Table [...]
Bee Training
Tweet Do this experiment to test how well bees recognise patterns – and see if you can fool them! You’ll need about a week (and a bit more fine weather) to do this project, with time to check your homemade bee feeder every day. You will need: 5 index cards, 5 small dishes, 5 ziplock [...]
Make a Butterfly Feeder
Tweet Make a Butterfly Feeder Butterflies are some of the most beautiful creatures you will see in the summertime. You can attract a greater variety of butterflies by making a butterfly feeder. Be sure to keep a field guide handy so you can identify your visitors! Adult supervision is needed. You Will Need Small jar [...]
Instant Lemonade
Tweet Instant Lemonade ‘Oranges and Lemons – Part 2’ There’s a lot of people out there that like drinking fizzy drinks, probably including you! So why not do a fun science experiment that leaves you with your own lemonade to drink afterwards! A bit of lemon here and a bit of baking soda there and [...]
Does an Orange Float or Sink?
Tweet Does an Orange Float or Sink? ‘Oranges and Lemons’ – Part 1 Does an orange float or sink when placed in water? Seems like a fairly straightforward question, but is it? Give this fun density science experiment a try, and answer the question while learning a unique characteristic of oranges. You will need An [...]
The Acid Test
Tweet …or How To Make ‘Red Cabbage pH Paper’ It’s easy, safe, and fun to make your own pH paper test strips using paper coffee filters that have been cut up into strips and dipped in red cabbage juice. The strips can be used to test the pH (or relative acidity) of common household chemicals. This [...]