70 Fun Science Experiments for Kids

Check out this massive list of fun science experiments for kids that will surely get them involved and learning.

Science influences everything that happens around us. Always. However, it is difficult for kids to make a clear connection between experiments and the real world. 

To make it easier for them to understand abstract science concepts, you can use fun and simple science experiments that can be performed using ordinary objects.

If you are a teacher looking for ideas or a parent interested in fun indoor activities, this is the place to be!

We will provide you 70 fun science experiments for kids that will make them WOW!

1. Keep it  balanced!

Necessary materials:

  • Two clothespins
  • 1 pipe cleaner
  • 1 popsicle stick
  • Anything you would like to use to customize the popsicle stick (e.g. stickers, highlighters, etc.)

Instructions:

  1. Grab the popsicle stick and centre the pipe cleaner across one of the ends.
  2. Wrap the pipe cleaner around the popsicle stick, making sure it doesn’t slip and that you have the same length on both sides of the stick.  
  3. Attach the clothespins to the pipe cleaner, one at each end.   
  4. Place the popsicle stick on your finger’s tip and … keep it balanced! 

If you wish, you can decorate the popsicle stick. 

What has just happened?

When you attach the clothespins to the pipe cleaner’s ends, you are actually moving the centre of mass of the popsicle stick to its bottom. If you want to spice things up, you can use other objects as weights. 

2. The Balancing Butterfly

This experiment is not only fun to do but will also allow you to introduce kids to the secret of centre of mass, symmetry, and balance. These are the same principles that allow basketball players to spin the basketball on their fingertips.

3. Messy volcano!

Necessary materials: 

  • 1 empty soda bottle
  • 10 ml dish soap
  • 400 ml white vinegar
  • 100 ml warm water
  • ½ cup baking soda
  • Food colouring

Instructions: 

  1. Pour the dish soap, vinegar, warm water, and a couple of drops of food colouring into the soda bottle. 
  2. Pour water into the ½ cup with baking soda until you fill the cup. With a spoon, mix until the baking soda dissolves. 
  3. Time for things to get messy! Pour the cup of baking soda into the soda bottle and…step back as fast as possible!

What has just happened?

When you combine baking soda and vinegar, a chemical reaction takes place, creating carbon dioxide (which is a gas).

The created gas needs to spread out. Since there isn’t enough room for it to expand in the bottle, it will quickly spread through the bottle’s opening. The result: a colourful volcano!

If you want to take the experiment the extra mile, you can change the quantity of the ingredients (for example, use more vinegar) and see what happens!

4. Experience evaporation on your fingertip!

It is not always necessary for a liquid to boil to turn into gas. For this experiment, you only need some water and your fingertip.

All you have to do is to dip the finger in the water and hold it up. Water will slowly evaporate, leaving your finger dry and cold.

This happens because your body’s heat gets transferred to the liquid and it is carried away in the vapour.

5. Can a balloon survive a candle’s flame?

It can if it is filled with water! With this experiment, kids will see how a balloon filled with water and one filled with air react to heat. Will water absorb heat preventing the balloon from popping? Find out here. 

6. Homemade play dough!

Necessary materials: 

  • 2 cups of flour
  • 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
  • 3/4 cup salt
  • 2 cups of water
  • 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 1 pot
  • Plastic recipients

Optional: gel food colouring 

Instructions:

  1. Pour the cream of tartar, salt, and flour into a pot and mix them. Then pour the oil, the water, and the food colouring.  
  2. Cook over medium heat. Make sure to stir constantly until the dough thickens and starts to form into a ball.
  3. Remove the pot from heat and let the mixture cool off.
  4. Knead for a couple of minutes until you obtain the desired texture.
  5. Use the plastic recipient to store your homemade dough!

7. Kids love play dough. Now that we have seen how to make play dough at home, we can put it to good use and refine our kids’ motor skills by creating play dough monsters. You can also relate the concept of force to this activity and see how it influences the results. 

8. Magical milk artwork!

Ingredients:

  • 1 bowl
  • 1 cotton swab
  • Dish soap
  • Food colouring (you can use as many colours as you wish)
  • ½ cup of milk

Instructions: 

  1. Pour the milk into the bowl and wait until the milk stays still. 
  2. Make sure not to move the bowl. Put the food colouring drops in the milk, as separately as possible.
  3. Put a little bit of dish soap on the cotton swab.
  4. Use the cotton swab to touch the colours.
  5. Admire your work of art!

What has just happened?

Milk contains fat. The fatty acid molecules are bonded together. When you add the drops of food colouring, they will float on top of the fat.

What the dish soap does is break the bonds in fat, thus making them separate. When you touch the milk with the soap from the cotton swab, the fat separates and a work of art is born!

9.  Make soap grow!

Ingredients and tools:

  • Large bowl (suitable for microwaves)
  • Ivory soap

Instructions: 

  1. Put the bar of ivory soap in the bowl.  Microwave it for 2 minutes on high power.
  2. Now it’s time to watch it grow!

Just make sure to wait for a couple of minutes before removing the bowl from the microwave. 

What has just happened? 

Ivory soap contains many air bubbles. When you heat the soap in the microwave, the air bubbles get bigger and bigger, making the soap expand. Since soap is a solid, once it expands, it will maintain the new form.  

And it also maintains its properties. That means you will still be able to wash your hands with it!

10. Experimenting with gases and fizzy chemical reactions can be so much fun!

Here is a little experiment you can try out to create amazing bath bombs!

11. Is it possible to make a stream of water bend?

With the help of static electricity, it is. All you have to do is comb your hair and let the positive and negative electrons do the rest. You can find all the instructions here

12. The germinating bean!

Ingredients and tools: 

  • 1 bean
  • 1 paper towel
  • 1 Ziploc bag
  • 1 spray bottle for water

Instructions:

  1. Use the spray bottle to dampen the paper towel and then place it in the Ziploc bag.
  2. Place the bean on the wet paper towel and close the bag.
  3. Find a warm spot and leave the Ziploc bag there.
  4. Make sure to keep adding water when the paper towel dries.
  5. In 3-5 days, your plant will start growing.

What has just happened?

Well, your plant is sprouting its roots! This is called germination.  When a seed is planted under the soil, it is impossible to see its roots sprout.

But, with this experiment, you can observe the whole germination process. Isn’t nature wonderful?

13. How do pinecones keep their seeds dry and warm?

What happens with their scales when it’s raining or humid? All you need is a pinecone and a glass of water to find out. You can find all the details for this experiment here

14. We have already seen that seeds need water to germinate.

But do they need anything else? Will they sprout differently depending on where we place them? Discover what they need with this great experiment

15. Just like humans, plants need to eat.

If you want to show your kids how plants ‘cook’ their food and how photosynthesis works step by step, this experiment is a great starting point. 

16. Make your pennies shine!

Ingredients and tools: 

  • Pennies (the dirtier they are, the better)
  • 1 cup
  • Lemon juice
  • Paper towels

Instructions:

  1. Place the dirty penny in the cup. 
  2. Add lemon juice until the penny is totally covered.
  3. After 5 minutes, remove the penny and use the paper towel to wipe it.

Does the penny shine?

What has just happened? 

Pennies are made of copper. Copper is a metal that mixes with oxygen, causing oxidation.

When this happens, the penny will look dirty. The lemon juice contains acid. The acid will remove oxidation, making the penny regain its shiny look!  

17. Curl Metal With Heat

If you want to experiment a little more with metals and see what happens when they are exposed to heat, the Curl Metal with Heat experiment is an easy and attention-grabbing experiment. 

18. Egg drop

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 raw egg
  • Water
  • 1 drinking glass
  • 1 cardboard toilet paper roll
  • 1 pie pan

Instructions: 

  1. Place the glass on a sturdy surface and fill it with water.
  2. Place the pie pan on top of the drinking glass and centre it.
  3. Place the cardboard roll on the pie pan. Place it vertically, over the water.
  4. Place the raw egg horizontally, on the cardboard tube.
  5. Use your hand to hit the pie pan. Make sure you hit it quickly and swiftly. The movement needs to be horizontal.

You will more than likely fail at first. But don’t get discouraged and keep practicing! Eventually, the egg will fall into the water (without breaking, of course!)

What has just happened?

We have just witnessed  Newton’s First Law of Motion. An object – in our case, the raw egg – stays at rest until an outside force acts upon it (in our case, the hand).

When we hit the pie pan, gravity will pull the egg into the glass. Looks like inertia did its job. 

19. How does inertia affect liquid and solid masses? For this experiment, you will need a hard-boiled egg and a raw one.

If you start spinning the eggs and you suddenly stop their movement, will any of them continue to spin? Find the answer by doing this experiment. 

20. Homemade water cycle

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 glass canning jar
  • 1 ceramic plate
  • 3-4 ice cubes
  • Hot water

Instructions:

  1. Pour hot water into the jar.
  2. Place the ceramic plate (face up) on the jar. 
  3. Patiently wait for 3 minutes before continuing to step 4.
  4. Place the ice cubes on the ceramic plate.

Your homemade water cycle is now complete! Is it raining?

What has just happened?

Inside the jar, you have warm air. The cold ceramic plate will make the moisture in the warm air condense, forming water droplets.

That is exactly what happens in the atmosphere. When the warm, moist air rises high in the atmosphere, it will meet colder air. The vapour condenses, forming precipitation. 

21. Water Cycle

For a better understanding of the water cycle, there are several experiments you can use to tease your kid’s curiosity. With these experiments, kids will understand how evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection work. 

22. Colorful flowers!

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 Coffee filter
  • 1 plate
  • Water
  • Washable markers
  • 1 pipe cleaner

Instructions:

  1. Flatten the coffee filter and place it on the plate.
  2. Start drawing thick circles using the washable markers. You can use one or several colours to draw the circles. Make sure you leave a wide space between the circles. 
  3. Add a spoonful of water right in the centre of the coffee filter…and watch the colours spread out into a beautiful and colourful flower as the water moves through the filter!
  4. Let the flower dry.
  5. Grab the coffee filter in the middle and roll it to form the flower. Use the pipe cleaner to hold it together. 

What has just happened?

This process is called chromatography. What chromatography does is separate a solution into different parts.

In our case, it will separate the pigments in the ink that was used in the washable markers!

23. Candy sprinkles

Chromatography is an amazing process with eye-catching and mind-blowing results.

Apart from markers, you can use other materials (such as oils, food colouring, or candy sprinkles) for your experiments. Here you can find some ideas. 

24. Amazing crystals anyone?

Ingredients and tools:

  • Pipe cleaners
  • Water
  • Borax
  • String/ribbon
  • Popsicle stick
  • Jars
  • Food colouring (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Bend the pipe cleaners into the desired shape (star, circle, triangle, etc.)
  2. Tie one of the string/ribbon’s ends to the pipe cleaner and the other end to the popsicle stick.
  3. Use the popsicle stick to place the pipe cleaner in the jar, dangling freely. Make sure it doesn’t touch the jar’s bottom. 
  4. Use boiling water to dissolve the borax. Pour it into the jar until the pipe cleaner is fully covered. If you wish, you can add food colouring to the mix. 
  5. Now you have to be patient and wait for the crystals to grow. Ideally, you should leave the borax work its magic overnight.

What has just happened?

Alongside salt and sugar, borax is a crystal. Hot water causes the heated water molecules to move apart, thus allowing the borax crystals to dissolve.

As the solution cools off, the water molecules get together again and crystals begin to form.

25. Dissolve Epsom salt in hot water

What do you think it will happen if you dissolve Epsom salt in hot water and then cool it off in the refrigerator? Find out with this easy experiment. 

26. Flash freezing!

Ingredients and tools:

  • Freezer
  • 1 bottle of water
  • 1 ceramic bowl
  • Ice cubes
  • 1 tray (if you don’t want to get messy)

Instructions:

  1. Placethe bottle of water in the freezer and wait for two hours. Make sure to lay it on its side.
  2. When crystals start to form, remove the bottle of water from the freezer. 
  3. Place the ceramic bowl on the tray, upside down.  
  4. Place a couple of ice cubes on top of the bowl.
  5. Start pouring the water on the ice cubes. Just make sure to do it slowly!  And watch how ice forms instantly! 

What has just happened?

When the water reaches the freezing temperature, the molecules freeze and begin to form ice crystals.

And this is where the ice cubes in our experiment come into play. Water molecules turn into ice rapidly when they come in contact with already-formed crystals.

This is why the water you pour on the ice cubes freezes instantly. This process is called nucleation. 

27. What happens to water when it freezes?

Will it change its form? Does its volume change? Here is a little experiment you can make to find an answer to these questions. 

28. It is well-known that water freezes at 0°C or 32°F.

But can we change its freezing temperature by adding other materials (e.g. salt)? With this experiment, it will only take you 30 minutes to find out! 

29. The flying teabag!

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 teabag
  • Matches
  • Scissors
  • 1 plate

Instructions:

  1. Use the scissors to cut the top of the teabag.
  2. Empty the teabag and use your finger to hollow it. 
  3. Place the empty teabag on the plate (in an upright position).
  4. Use the matches to light both sides.
  5. Watch the teabag rise!

What has just happened?

Hot air rises. Since the empty teabag is very light, it will rise along with the hot air inside it. 

30. What are the effects of cold and hot air on a balloon?

For this experiment, you will only need curious kids, 2 containers, 1 balloon, 1 plastic bottle, hot water, ice, and cold water. 

31. A paper spiral, a lamp, a needle, and thread

is all you need to witness hot air rising! Follow these steps to feed your kid’s curiosity! 

32. Empty bottle experiment

This is definitely an uplifting experiment that will demonstrate to kids that an apparently empty bottle is actually full of …AIR! What will happen to the air once heated?

33. Homemade sundial

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 paper plate
  • 1stick
  • 1 marker
  • 1 poster board
  • Playdough
  • Alarm clock

Instructions: 

  1. Use the playdough to make a ball and place the stick in its centre. 
  2. Place the playdough ball and the stick in the centre of the paper plate.
  3. Go outside and find an area that gets full sun. Put the poster board on the ground and put the paper plate in its centre. 
  4. Use the marker to mark the time on the shadow.
  5. Set the alarm clock every hour. When the alarm goes off, go outside and mark the time and the shadow on the poster board. 

Is your homemade sundial accurate?

What has just happened?

This is a great way to teach your kids about the Earth’s rotation. Sundials are the oldest known instruments for telling time by tracking the sun’s position and the shadow it casts.

The sun’s movement across the sky is directly related to Earth’s rotation on its own axis. As Earth rotates, the sun is apparently moving across the sky. But that’s only an illusion… the ones who are actually moving it’s US!

34. Have you ever wondered how long it takes your brain to respond to an external stimulus?

With this experiment, you will be able to test your reaction times. And all you will need is a ruler! 

35. Even if air is everywhere, we can’t really see it.

Does your kid find it difficult to understand that air is a real substance, occupies space, and has weight? Try out this simple experiment

36. Bottled tornado!

Ingredients and tools:

  • 2 empty bottles (2-liter)
  • Water
  • 1 cyclone tube
  • Small objects that can be introduced in the bottles (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Fill one of the bottles with water (3/4 full). If you wish, you can place small items inside the bottle too.
  2. Use the cyclone tube to attach the second bottle to the one filled with water. 
  3. Flip the bottles upside down and give them a circular shape. 

What has just happened?

This is a great experiment to show kids how tornados form their characteristic shape. By introducing small objects in the bottles, kids can see how real tornados whip objects around.

37. Egg in a bottle!

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 peeled, hard-boiled egg 
  • 1 glass bottle (the mouth of the bottle needs to be smaller than the egg)
  • A paper strip (long enough to end below the bottle’s mouth)
  • Matches

Instructions:

  1. Keep the egg on hand. 
  2. Light the paper strip and quickly drop it into the glass bottle.
  3. Quickly place the egg on the bottle’s mouth.
  4. Watch the egg getting sucked into the bottle!

38. You can help your kids get a privileged view of a raw egg’s yolk

by simply leaving the egg rest in a jar filled with vinegar for a few days. Will its shell dissolve? This is what you need to do to find out.

What has just happened?

This is a great experiment to understand how pressure works. Basically, in fixed environments, when the temperature goes up, the pressure will go up too.

When you place the burning paper strip in the bottle, the air expands and makes the pressure go up.

By placing the egg on top of the bottle, you will cause the fire to run out of oxygen and go out. The temperature cools, causing air to contract and suck the egg inside the bottle. 

39. Turning a glass filled with water upside down

usually ends up with a mess. But is there a way to defy gravity and prevent water from spilling? With this experiment, you will show kids how air pressure works. 

40. We have seen how to get an egg sucked into a bottle.

But can eggs float on water? What does the water need to contain to keep the egg floating? To reveal the mystery, you can make this experiment. 

41. The water movement experiment  

Ingredients and tools:

  • Water
  • A couple of clear containers
  • Food colouring
  • Cabbage or celery (stalk included)

Instructions:

  1. Pour water into the containers.
  2. Add food colouring to each container. You can use different shades. 
  3. Slice the cabbage or celery from the stalk and place the pieces into the containers. Make sure you include the stalk. 
  4. Just wait and see what happens! 

What has just happened?

Plants –such as celery or cabbage – have tubes inside them. These tubes allow them to pull the water from the ground and transport it through their leaves.

By adding food colouring to the water, kids will get to see exactly how water moves from the stalk to the leaves. 

42. The walking rainbow!

Ingredients and tools:

  • Water
  • 6 glasses
  • Red, yellow, and blue food colouring
  • Paper towels

Instructions:

  1. Place the glasses in a circle.
  2. Fill up every second glass with water (i.e. glass 1, 3, 5). 
  3. Add 5 drops of red food colouring in glass 1, 5 drops of yellow food colouring in glass 3, and 5 drops of blue food colouring in glass 5. Leave the other glasses empty.
  4. Fold the paper towel and use it to connect all the glasses: one side into one glass, the other side in the next glass. Repeat with all the remaining glasses. 
  5. Watch water travel through!

What has just happened?

This experiment shows a liquid’s ability to flow upward in narrow spaces, defying gravity.

You will see water going up the paper towel and then down in the empty glasses. The colours will combine, making new colours! This experiment shows how water climbs from the roots of the pant up to the leaves.

The water will stop walking when the water reaches the same level in all the glasses. 

43. We have already seen that the capillary action is a gravity-defying phenomenon

that makes liquids flow up. In this experiment, you will be able to test the capillary action using various types of straws. It is a great opportunity to introduce kids to cohesion and adherence. 

44. The leak-proof bag

Ingredients and tools:

  • Water
  • 1 zip-top plastic bag
  • Sharp pencils

Instructions: 

  1. Make sure your pencils are sharpened to the point.
  2. Fill the bag with water (halfway) and seal it.
  3. Use one hand to hold the pencil and the other hand to hold the top of the plastic bag. Push the pencil through the bag, making sure to push it halfway out the other side of the bag. 

What has just happened?

Plastic bags are usually made from LDPE, which is a low-density polyethylene polymer. 

LDPE is durable, lightweight, and extremely flexible. The tips of your pencils push apart the molecules that form the bag.

However, due to their increased flexibility, the molecules seal around the pencil, preventing water from leaking.

However, when pencils are removed, the molecules in the chain will no longer be able to get back together. So the holes will remain, allowing water to leak out. 

45. This is an easy and fun experiment with a WOW factor!

It is an amazing way to introduce kids to polymers using water, Insta-Snow, and food colouring. 

46. Get messy with polymer putty!

Ingredients and tools:

  • Borax
  • Water
  • White glue
  • Food colouring
  • 2 bowls

Instructions: 

  1. Use one of the bowls to mix 1/2 cup of glue and 1/2 cup water. You can add food colouring to obtain coloured slime.
  2. In the second bowl, dissolve borax into 1 cup of water. When the borax no longer dissolves, the solution is saturated. 
  3. Pour the glue mix into the borax solution and stir slowly.
  4. Knead the slime until its texture is no longer sticky. 
  5. Put the slime into a plastic bag and store it in the fridge. This way, it won’t grow mould. You will see that the more you play with your slime, the stiffer it will get. 

What has just happened?

The glue contains a liquid polymer called polyvinyl acetate. When the borax is added, it will link the molecules of the polyvinyl acetate to each other, giving birth to a flexible, large polymer. 

47. The floating marker man!

Ingredients and tools:

  • plate
  • Water
  • Dry-erase marker

Instructions: 

  1. Use the dry-erase marker to draw a picture on the plate’s bottom.  
  2. Wait for the drawing to dry. 5 minutes should be enough. 1-5 min. 
  3. Slowly pour water into the plate.
  4. Watch your drawing move!

What has just happened?

The ink used to make dry-erase markers is minimally adhesive. That’s why they are so easy to wipe away.

The ink is also insoluble, meaning it won’t dissolve in liquids and it is also less dense than water. By pouring water into the plate, your drawing will come off the surface…and float!

48. If you want to keep experiencing the density of liquids,

here you can find all the necessary instructions to build a jaw-dropping 9 Layer Density Tower. 

49. Visually appealing and fun,

this colourful hot and cold water density experiment will allow them to understand how density is affected by heat.  Since you will use food colouring, they will also see how colours mix and form new ones. 

50. The surface tension experiment

Ingredients and tools:

  • 1 sugar cube
  • Water
  • 1 bowl
  • Matchsticks

Instructions: 

  1. Fill the bowl with water.
  2. Using matchsticks, form a circle on top of the water.
  3. Dip the sugar cube in the middle of the circle.

What has just happened?

Since the sugar cube starts absorbing water – thus increasing the surface tension, –  the matchsticks will come closer together. 

51. Surface tension

If you want to keep experimenting with surface tension, this Speedboat Matchstick experiment will show them how soap breaks down the surface tension. 

Links to Fun yet more complex Experiments for kids 

52. Experimenting with dry ice can be so much fun…if you pay attention to all the safety instructions. Here you can find 5 experiments with dry ice. 

53. Soda Can crushing experiment

Have you ever crushed a soda can with your bare hands? Or with your foot? What if we told you that it is possible to crush a soda can without touching it? This experiment will show you, step by step, how to crush a soda can using air pressure. 

54. Nine volt battery and steel wool

Dive into the secrets of chemistry, physics, and electricity using a 9 Volt battery and steel wool. All the instructions can be found here

55. Learn how to turn milk into casein plastic

using common household items such as vinegar and a microwave. Casein plastic can be used to make fountain pens!

56. Making honeycomb

Fancy a chemistry experiment that you can eat? Learn what chemical reactions hide behind making honeycomb!

57. Diaphragm test

Do you know how the diaphragm works when you breathe? You can see exactly what happens with this homemade lung

58. Potato electricity experiment

Can the chemicals in a potato be used to power an alarm clock? Find out by making this experiment!

59. Can color affect heat absorption?

Have you ever burned your feet walking on black pavement? If you want to find out how different colours absorb heat, this is the experiment you need!

60. Soil Erosion test

If you want to teach your kids how important vegetation is to prevent soil erosion, this is the ideal experiment. 

61. Fingerprint detection

Is your kid fascinated with crime investigation and forensics? This Fingerprint detection experiment will make their jaws drop! Make sure to follow the safety instructions. 

62. Magnetic Mud experience

This Magnetic Mud experiment is ideal if you want to teach your kids more about magnetic qualities and metals. 

63. Solar system experiments

From simple solar system experiments for preschoolers to more complex ones for 6th grade, here you can 24 fascinating solar system projects!

64. Control the flow of electricity

Want to learn how to control the flow of electricity by building your own switch? You can find all the instructions here

65. Dough circuits using mini LED bulbs

If you want to explore even further with electrical energy, you can build your own play dough circuits using mini LED bulbs and a battery box. You will need play dough to insulate your circuits. You can find all the instructions here

66. Solar Oven fun kid experiment

Even though this experiment is a little more complex, building your own solar oven is a fun and …yummy experience. 

67. The Da Vinci bridge experiment

Can you put Leonardo Da Vinci’s self-supporting bridge design into practice and build your own bridge using popsicle sticks? We are sure you can if you follow the instructions.  

68. Drinks and teeth

Do your kids know how drinks affect their teeth? This is an awesome experience to show your kids how harmful drinks can be and convince them to brush their teeth daily. 

69. The Cup Tower

Fancy putting your kids’ engineering and physics skills to a test and challenge them to build a cup tower able to support their weight? Check out this experiment

70. Write secret messages

Learn how to write secret messages using invisible ink and use oxidation to reveal them! You can find the instructions here