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45 Best Science Experiments for Kids to Do at Home or In School

Imagine blowing the biggest bubbles imaginable — or even making bubbles within bubbles. Or sending vessels — rockets, tea bags, airplanes — soaring through the sky for impossible distances. Now imagine making things explode, or change colors, or reveal hidden messages with just a few simple mixtures.

None of this is magic. It's all science that you can do at home, most likely with ingredients you already have in your house. So, next time you need a boredom-busting indoor activity on a rainy day or a DIY project to get their minds humming, try one of these best at-home science experiments for kids, which cover topics like cover magnetism, surface tension, astronomy, chemistry, physics and more.

First off, it's good to start them off with the scientific method. Give them a journal to record their observations, questions, hypotheses, experiments, results and conclusions. As always, safety counts: wear goggles and coats or aprons if need be (sometimes kids get a kick out of how scientific the protective gear makes them look), and always make sure that the kids are supervised when doing them. (Warning: Some of these are messy!)

These experiments are mostly designed for preschoolers through elementary schoolers — with a couple that are either demonstrations or better for older kids — but if you have a younger one, you can check out these 1-year-old learning activities, toddler learning activities and preschool/kindergarten learning activities, some of which also cover STEM subjects.

Floating Fish

Philip Friedman

Here's another one that deals with solubility and density.

1. Draw the outline of a fish on the bottom of a glass plate or tray in dry-erase marker. Retrace your drawing to make sure all the lines are connected. Let dry for a minute or two.
2. Fill the measuring cup with tap water. Place the pour spout just inside the corner of the dish and add water very slowly until it just covers the bottom. Be careful not to pour water directly onto your drawing or make splashes near it. The water will move toward your drawing, eventually surrounding it. Observe what happens. If the water splashes or it doesn’t work on your first try, empty the dish, erase the drawing with a paper towel, dry off the dish, and try again.
3. Tilt the dish slightly from side to side. What happens? Jot it down.

The ink in dry erase markers is engineered to be slippery. It’s made with a chemical that causes it to easily release from surfaces. (Permanent markers are made with a chemical that makes the ink stick to surfaces, so be sure not to use these in your experiment!)

The easy-release ink lets go from a surface, but why does it float? There are two reasons. First, dry erase ink isn’t soluble, which means it won’t dissolve in water. Second, dry erase ink is less dense than the water, so it becomes buoyant, meaning it can float. When you tilt the dish, the fish moves around on the water’s surface.

From Good Housekeeping Amazing Science: 83 Hands-on S.T.E.A.M Experiments for Curious Kids! See more in the book »

Brush, Brush!

Philip Friedman

This one will really get them into brushing their teeth once they scientifically prove all the good things that toothpaste can do.

1. Write on sticky notes: Soda 1, Soda 2, Juice 1, and Juice 2. Place them in a row on a counter.
2. Fill two glasses halfway with brown soda and place behind the Soda 1 and Soda 2 sticky notes. Fill two glasses halfway with lemon juice and place behind the Juice 1 and Juice 2 sticky notes.
3. Carefully place one egg in the bowl. Squeeze a big dollop — about one tablespoon — of toothpaste on top of the egg and gently rub the toothpaste all around with your hands until the egg is completely covered in a thick layer of toothpaste. Repeat with a second egg.
4. Gently submerge the toothpaste-covered eggs into the liquids: one egg in the glass labeled Soda 1 and the other egg in the glass labeled Juice 1. Wash and dry your hands.
5. Gently submerge the remaining eggs, without toothpaste on them, in the remaining glasses: one in the glass labeled Soda 2 and the other in the glass of juice labeled Juice 2. Wash and dry your hands. Leave the eggs in the glasses for 12 hours.
6. After 12 hours, remove the eggs from the glasses of soda one at a time. Rinse them in cool water and pat them dry with the towel. Place each egg by the sticky note of the glass it was in. Are the eggs the same or different colors?
7. Remove the eggs from the glasses of juice one at a time. Rinse them under the faucet and pat them dry. Place each egg by the sticky note of the glass it was in. Feel the eggs gently. Does one feel stronger or weaker than the other?
8. Write down your observations in your science notebook.

The eggshells in this experiment represent the enamel (outer coating) on your teeth. Toothpaste cleans your teeth and prevents stains: it removes food and drink particles that are stuck on your teeth. Teeth can be stained easily by dark-colored liquids like cola, coffee or tea. The egg without toothpaste will be brown and discolored. The egg covered in toothpaste was protected from turning brown.

Toothpaste also protects your pearly whites from decay (breaking down). The egg without toothpaste left in the lemon juice was worn down and soft to the touch, while the egg that was protected with toothpaste is stronger. The lemon juice is acidic, and those acids broke down the shell just as acidic drinks can wear away your tooth enamel. When a tooth is worn down, a cavity can form more easily. But the fluoride in toothpaste mixes with your saliva to create a protective coating around your tooth enamel. It helps keep your teeth strong and cavity-free.

From Good Housekeeping Amazing Science: 83 Hands-on S.T.E.A.M Experiments for Curious Kids! See more in the book »

Grow an Avocado Tree

IngridHSGetty Images

For an easy lesson in Earth Science, your family can grow an avocado tree from a pit. You can buy an AvoSeedo kit, or just peel the seed and suspend it over water with toothpicks.

Get the tutorial »

Milk Bottle Xylophone

Dave King

No for an experiment in sound!

1. Arrange six glass jars or bottles, all the same size with no lids, in a line. What will each jar sound like when you tap it with a spoon? Make a prediction, then tap each jar. Record your observations.
2. Next, put water in each of the jars. Pour 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) of water into the first jar. Add 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) of water to the second jar. Continue in 1⁄4-cup increments, adding 3⁄4 cup (180 ml) of water to the third jar, 1 cup (240 ml) of water to the fourth jar, 11⁄4 cups (300 ml) of water to the fifth jar, and 11⁄2 cups (360 ml) to the sixth jar. Add a couple of drops of food coloring to each jar.
3. What will each jar sound like? Will they sound the same or different than when the container was empty? Will they sound the same or different from one another? Record your predictions.
4. Tap each jar with a metal spoon. Write down your observations about each jar’s pitch (how high or low a sound is) in your notebook.

Sound waves are created by vibrations, which are back-and-forth movements that are repeated again and again. Pitch depends on the frequency of the waves — how many are created each second. A high pitch is created by high-frequency sound waves, and can sound squeaky. A low pitch is created by low-frequency sound waves, and sounds deep and booming.

When you tapped the jar, it vibrated. The vibrations traveled from the jar to the water to the air and eventually to your ears. The jars with more water had a low pitch. The sound waves vibrated more slowly because they had more water to travel through. The jars with less water had higher pitches. The sound waves vibrated faster because they had less water to travel through. A jar with no water in it makes the highest pitch because it has the least substance to travel through.

From Good Housekeeping Amazing Science: 83 Hands-on S.T.E.A.M Experiments for Curious Kids! See more in the book »

"Elephant Toothpaste"

Babble Dabble Do

Okay, elephants don't really brush with this stuff, which is made from a chemical reaction between hydrogen peroxide, yeast, dish soap and a few other simple ingredients. But this experiment has a big "wow" factor since, when the substances are mixed, the "toothpaste" foams out of the bottle. You can use it to teach kids about catalysts and exothermic reactions.

Get the tutorial at Babble Dabble Do »

DIY Compass

STEAM Powered Family

Explore the way magnetism works, and how it affects everyday objects, by magnetizing a needle and making a DIY compass. You can even spin the compass in the water, and it'll end up pointing the right way again.

Get the tutorial at STEAM Powered Family »

Craft Stick Chain Reaction

Science Sparks

Kids can learn about the differences between potential and kinetic energy with this chain reaction. It makes a big impact: Once the tension is released, the pom poms go flying through the air!

Get the the tutorial at Science Sparks »

Color-Changing Invisible Ink

Research Parent

Kids will feel like super-spies when they use this heatless method to reveal pictures or colors written with "invisible ink. " You can try different acid/base combinations to see which one makes the most dramatic result.

Get the tutorial at Research Parent »

Paper Bridge

KidsActivities.com

Get the engineering back into STEM with this activity, which challenges kids to create a paper bridge that's strong enough to hold as many pennies as possible. How can they manipulate the paper to make it sturdier? (Hint: Fold it!)

See the paper bridge tutorial at KidsActivities.com »

Sticky Ice

Playdough to Plato

Challenge your little scientist to lift up an ice cube with just a piece of string. It's possible ... with a little salt to help. Salt melts the ice and lowers the freezing point of the ice cube, which absorbs the heat from the water around it, making the water cold enough to re-freeze around the string.

Get the tutorial at Playdough to Plato »

Marshmallow Catapult

Hello, Wonderful

Another lesson in potential and kinetic energy, kids will love sending mini marshmallows flying in the name of science. Change some of the variables and see how that affects the marshmallow's trajectory.

Get the tutorial at Hello, Wonderful »

Leaf Breathing

KC EDventures

It's hard for kids to picture how plants and trees "breathe" through their leaves — until they see the bubbles appear on a leaf that's submerged in water. You can also teach them about photosynthesis by putting different leaves in different spots with varying levels of sunlight.

Get the tutorial at KC EDventures »

Hoop-and-Straw Airplane

Mombrite

We all remember how to fold those classic, triangular paper airplanes, but these hoop-and-straw airplanes fly way better (and straighter). Experiment by changing the length of the straw and the size of the hoops and see how it affects the flight.

Get the tutorial at Mombrite »

Film Canister Rocket

Raising Lifelong Learners

Blast off! You don't need jet fuel to make these rockets go, just Alka-Seltzer tablets and baking soda, but they'll be amazed when they achieve lift-off! (Note: If you can't find old film canisters, tubes of Airborne work, too. )

Get the tutorial at Raising Lifelong Learners »

Coin Inertia

Engineering Emily

Stack up about five or so coins on a piece of cardboard and place it over a glass of water. Then, flick the cardboard out from on top of the glass. Do the coins drop into the water, or ride with the cardboard? Due to inertia, they drop into the water — a very visual (and fun!) demonstration of Newton's First Law of Motion.

Get the tutorial at Engineering Emily »

Apple Oxidation

Amy Stults/Jennifer Findley

What works best for keeping an apple from turning brown? Test to find out! Slice up an apple, and let each slice soak in a different liquid. Then take them out, lay them on a tray, and check the brownness after three minutes, six minutes and so on. Not only does this test the properties of different liquids, it also helps students practice the scientific method if they create hypotheses about which liquids would be most effective.

Get the tutorial at Jennifer Findley »

RELATED: 50 Fun Activities for Kids Will Keep Them Entertained for Hours

Coffee Ground Fossils

Crafts By Amanda

By making a salt dough with coffee grounds and pressing various shapes into it (toy dinosaur feet, seashells), kids can get a better understanding of how fossils are made. If you poke a hole in the top before it dries, the kids can hang their "fossils" up in their rooms.

Get the tutorial at Crafts by Amanda »

Chromatography Flowers

Steam Powered Family

Chromatography is the process of separating a solution into different parts — like the pigments in the ink used in markers. If you draw stripes around a coffee filter, then fold it up and dip the tip in water, the water will travel up the filter and separate the marker ink into its different pigments (in cool patterns that you can display as a craft project). This family made the end-result even brighter by adding an LED circuit to the center.

Get the tutorial at Steam Powered Family »

Water Walking

Fun Learning for Kids

You'll need six containers of water for this one: three with clear water, one with red food coloring, one with blue coloring, and one with yellow coloring. Arrange them in a circle, alternating colored and clear containers, and make bridges between the containers with folded paper towels. Your kids will be amazed to see the colored water "walk" over the bridges and into the clear containers, mixing colors, and giving them a first-hand look at the magic of capillarity.

Get the tutorial at Fun Learning for Kids »

Sunscreen Test

Tonya Staab

This experiment puts the A (art) in STEAM: Paint different designs on construction paper with different sunscreens, leave the papers out in the sun and compare the results. Then, hang your "conclusions" on your fridge.

Get the tutorial at Tonya Staab »

Magic Milk

Living Life and Learning

Put a few drops of food coloring in a shallow bowl of milk, and they'll stay that way — as self-contained blobs. But add a little dish soap to a toothpick or a Q-tip and touch the food coloring, and the colors will swirl around on their own like magic. It all has to do with surface tension: At first, the food coloring stays on the surface, but the soap causes a chemical reaction that breaks the surface tension.

Get the tutorial at Live Life and Learning »

RELATED: Fun Learning Activities for Kids to Enjoy at Home

Grow Crystals

One Little Project

Bend pipe cleaners into fun shapes, and watch them grow crystals when left overnight in a Borax solution. (Words of warning: Borax should be handled by adults, and kids need to understand that the end result is not candy even though it looks like it could be. )

Get the tutorial at One Little Project »

Solar Oven

The Craft Train

Use a DIY backyard solar oven to teach kids about solar power and sustainability. Note: While a solar oven can cook (and gets very hot!), for food safety reasons you might want to stay away from solar oven-baked treats and use it for something else instead, like melting crayon ends into rainbow crayons.

Get the tutorial at The Craft Train »

Gravity-Defying Magnets

Buggy and Buddy

Hang paperclips from a ruler or dowel, and they dangle, as they should, because of gravity. But you can show kids how other forces can overcome gravity by putting strong magnets on a ruler and using them to get the paperclips to stand straight up.

Get the tutorial at Buggy and Buddy »

Pencils Through a Bag of Water

Fun With Mama

Kids might guess that if you pierce a bag of water with a sharpened pencil, the water would all leak out. In fact, if you do it right, the polymers of the bag's plastic will re-seal around the pencil, and your counters will stay dry (and your kids will be amazed). You can get them thinking about the chemical compositions that make up everyday items.

Get the tutorial at Fun With Mama »

Bubble Experiments

Hello, Wonderful

The secret to giant bubbles, bubbles-within-bubbles and other trick bubbles? It's all about surface tension. The more kids know how that works, the cooler their bubbles can get.

Get the tutorial at Hello, Wonderful »

Mold Science

Life With Moore Babies

Mold experiments are always grossly fascinating, and you can see how different additives (salt, vinegar, etc.) affect the growing of mold on bread. For a twist on this experiment that might lead to more hygienic habits, you can also see how mold grows on bread that's been touched by hands that have been washed with soap and water, cleansed with hand sanitizer or not washed at all. That'll get them scrubbing for 20 seconds.

Get the tutorial at Life With Moore Babies »

Instant Ice

Only Passionate Curiosity

Give your little scientists the powers of Elsa! Water can turn into ice as it's being poured. The secret is to chill water in the freezer until it's almost frozen, then pour it over ice placed on an overturned ceramic bowl. Kids can see the transformation between the states of matter, and also how ice crystals are formed.

Get the tutorial at Only Passionate Curiosity »

Tea Bag Rocket

Paging Fun Mums

Want a memorable way to teach kids that hot air rises? Take the tea out of a tea bag, hollow it out and stand it up, and (carefully) take a match to it. The hollowed-out bag is so light, it rises along with the hot air, and becomes a flying, flaming tea bag.

Get the tutorial at Paging Fun Mums »

Self-Inflating Balloon

Mess for Less

A twist on a vinegar-and-baking-soda experiment, if you put baking soda in an empty bottle and vinegar in a balloon, when you attach the ballon over the mouth of the bottle and let the vinegar pour in, the resulting gas will be enough to inflate the balloon on its own. Bonus: This experiment is less messy than a vinegar-baking-soda volcano.

Get the tutorial at Mess for Less »

Glitter Germ Hands

TheSoccerMomBlog.com

Glitter can be used as a good way to visually represent germs and how they spread. Mix glitter with hand sanitizer, rub the mixture on one set of hands, then do experiments like shaking hands to see what happens, or seeing how long it takes to wash off with soap.

Get the tutorial at The Soccer Mom Blog »

Lava Lamp

Rookie Parenting

Oil and water with food coloring don't mix, teaching kids about density. For fun, add an antacid tablet, and bubbles start to flow all around like a groovy lava lamp.

Get the tutorial at Rookie Parenting »

Sundial

Happy Brown House

Making a homemade sundial is one of the lowest-prep science experiments you can do: You just need a dowel or a good stick, a paper plate and a marker. Mark the position of the dowel's shadow every hour, and you've got an easy opening into talking about the Earth's rotation. The next day, see if your sundial tells accurate time while playing outside.

Get the tutorial at Happy Brown House »

Sink or Float?

Fun With Mama

Having kids figure out what makes certain objects sink and what makes them float is a good way to teach them about density — and an even better way to get them practicing the scientific method, if they make a hypothesis first about what will sink and float and then measure the results.

Get the tutorial at Fun with Mama »

Tornado in a Bottle

Gift of Curiosity

Secure two two-liter bottles together with water inside, flip upside down, give a shake, and watch a tornado form its distinctive funnel shape. You can also put glitter or small items in the bottle to show how a tornado's winds would whip objects around in the real world.

Get the tutorial at Gift of Curiosity »

Egg Drop

No Time for Flash Cards

If you want to raise a scientist, first you have to break a few eggs. For this classic experiment, use what you have on-hand in your house to see if you can construct a protective pod for a raw egg. Make some predictions, throw it off a porch or down some steps and see what happens.

Get the tutorial at No Time for Flash Cards »

Ice Cream in a Bag

Delish

Finally! An experiment you can actually eat. Toss the ingredients in a bag, seal it up and have your kids shake it vigorously for 10 minutes. Will they absorb the lesson about how energy transforms states of matter? Maybe, but, either way, you get to have a treat.

Get the tutorial from Delish »

Skittles Patterns

Coffee Cups and Crayons

For another experiment you can do with food, set Skittles into a shallow bowl of water, and see how the colors swirl. Skittles are basically pure sugar and dissolve in water, so you can use this as in intro to solvents, solutes and solutions.

Get the tutorial at Coffee Cups and Crayons »

Floating Ms

Coffee Cups and Crayons

Another way you can introduce kids to solvents, solutes and solutions is by "lifting" the Ms off of M&Ms. All it takes is water!

Get the tutorial at Coffee Cups and Crayons Delish »

Egg in a Bottle

Left Brain Craft Brain

A peeled hard-boiled egg can't fit into a bottle without smushing into a big mess, can it? It can — if you put a burning piece of paper in the bottle first. The burning paper in the bottle causes the air to expand and the pressure to go up. When the fire runs out of oxygen, the temperature cools and the air contracts, sucking the egg through the bottle opening. The fire and the sucking of the egg makes this an extra-dramatic experiment.

Get the tutorial at Left Brain Craft Brain »

Make a Model Eardrum

Make and Takes

The eardrum makes it possible for us to hear by sending vibrations into the bones in the inner ear — but that's so hard to visualize. With his experiment, a sheet of plastic wrap acts like an eardrum. Spread grains of rice on top, then make a lot of noise — you'll see the plastic wrap vibrate and the rice move.

Get the tutorial at Make and Takes »

Balloon-Powered Car

Raising Whasians

This project focuses mostly on the engineering side of STEM. You need some household items (toothpicks, bottle caps, coins) and an empty juicebox to construct the car — and then you can inflate the balloon through the straw and watch it go!

Get the tutorial at Raising Whasians »

Shaving Cream Water Cycle

Alice and Lois

Give students a brush-up on the water cycle by setting shaving-cream clouds on top of a glass of water. Use a dropper to add in blue water, and when the clouds get saturated — blue rain.

Get the tutorial at Alice and Lois »

RELATED: Amazing Indoor Activities for Kids' Rainy-Day Fun

Color Cabbage

Itsy Sparks

You can show them how plants get water from their roots to their leaves — literally — by putting cabbage (or celery, but cabbage is more colorful) in food coloring. You can also use this as an an example of capillary action, like the water-walking experiment,

Get the tutorial at Itsy Sparks »

DIY iPhone Speaker

The Craft Train

Can you amplify the sound of an iPhone without adjusting the volume? Kids can learn about how sound travels with this homemade amplifier, which is made from a cardboard tube and paper cup.

Get the tutorial at The Craft Train »

For More Hands-On Stem

Good Housekeeping

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Marisa LaScala Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother.

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