30 Exciting Science Experiments to Educate Kids at Home

If you have a little kid at home, you must be bombarded with questions all day. Kids have an incredibly curious mind, and they are always looking for answers. As a parent, it is your responsibility to fuel their curiosity and turn it into a wonderful lesson for life.

Whether your kid dreams of becoming a scientist or enjoy the fun of doing little experiments, we have curated a list of easy and fun science experiments for kids that will spark their imagination and nurture their curiosity. Designed specifically to be done easily at home without any complex ingredients, these experiments are not only educational but are incredibly fun to do.

So, let’s begin our journey of fun and adventure along with the little ones to unlock the secrets of science.

A simple experiment to get your kids excited about science. All you need is a large spoon. A brand-new spoon would be better for this science trick. Just ask your kid to look at his reflection in the spoon.

The reflection would be upside down. This happens because, in a normal mirror, the reflection is sent straight back to your eyes, while in a curved (Concave) surface, the light ray bounces at different angles; the top part of the spoon reflects the light downwards while the bottom part reflects it upwards which is why your reflection appears upside down.

2. Lava Lamp

It is an exciting and visually appealing science experiment that is so easy and yet so intriguing. For this experiment, you will need a glass jar, baking soda, food coloring, and vegetable oil. Take the glass jar and add baking soda to its bottom, and add vegetable oil to it until the jar is almost full. In another container, mix about 1/4th cup of vinegar and food coloring.

Now pour this food coloring solution into the glass jar filled with vegetable oil and soda. Your lava lamp is ready! To make it more beautiful, you can pass a flashlight through it and watch the beautiful lamp.

3. Pepper and Water Experiment

Just by using a few simple ingredients such as water, black pepper, liquid soap, and a bowl to carry on the experiment, you can teach an important scientific concept to your kids. The pepper and water experiment is helpful in teaching your kids the basics of surface tension. Just fill the bowl with water; an inch deep water is enough.

Now sprinkle pepper on it, and cover the entire surface of the water. Now dip your finger in the liquid soap and touch the black pepper; you will see that the black pepper moves from its place. It happens because the dishwashing liquid tends to reduce the surface tension present in water, due to which water moves from its place.

4. Easy and Fun Slime Making

Kids love playing with squishy slime. They would definitely like it if they could make slime at home. Slime can be easily made at home with a few ingredients. You will need water, white school glue, food coloring, borax, and two bowls.

Start with mixing ¼ cup of water and ¼ cup of white school glue, and add a few drops of food color to it to make the slime colorful. Make another mixture by adding ½ tablespoon of borax and the same amount of water. Stir it till the borax dissolves. Now, add the borax mixture with the glue and water mix. Your own fun and easy slime is ready! You can also add glitter to it to make it more beautiful.

5. Will It Sink or Float?

This is quite a fun, easy, and inexpensive science activity that can be done with kids as little as pre-schoolers to teach them the concept of density. For doing this activity, you can ask kids to gather a few items from home; it could be toys, paper, pencils, bits of cloth, clips, pins, etc. Now take a big bowl of water and ask your kids to predict if the object will sink or float.

For a more comprehensive test, you can make a note of all the objects and write the result in front of it. The objects that have a higher density than water will sink, while those that have a lower density than water will float. It’s a great idea to get your kids interested in the science of daily life.

6. Capillary Action/color-Changing Celery

There are so many intriguing activities in science that will get your kids hooked up on this interesting subject. One such activity is this celery activity. For doing this experiment, you will need celery, glasses filled with water, and different food colorings. First of all, fill the glasses till they are half full. You can take as many glasses as you want.

Take those glasses filled with water and add different food colors to each of them. Now cut the stalks of celery and put them in colorful water. Wait for a few hours; you will see the color of celery changing. You can teach the kids that this is how water travels through the plant all the way up to the leaves.

7. Fun with Tie and Dye

Probably the most basic yet interesting activity for kids to do on their own. For doing this experiment, you will need an old t-shirt or a new one, a few rubber bands, a bucket, and dye. Roll up the T-shirt and tie a bunch of rubber bands to create a design. It’s fine if you don’t have a design in mind; you can randomly add a few rubber bands in places at distances.

Now begin dipping the tied area into different dyes. Put it to dry for a few hours, and Voila! Your very own designer T-shirt is ready! This is quite a brilliant activity to teach your kids the process of absorption.

8. Make a Mini Volcano with Soda and Vinegar

You can make your kids excited about this mini volcano, which can be made with only a few basic ingredients that are easily found at home. It involves a glass, baking soda, water, food coloring, dish soap, and vinegar.

Take the glass and fill ⅔ of it with water. Now add dish soap, baking soda, and a little food coloring to it, and stir all the ingredients together. Now add the vinegar to this solution, you will see it starts foaming, and soon it starts coming out of the cup. It’s a little messy, but your kids are definitely going to love it.

9. Explore Your Smell Sense

A pretty easy yet fun experiment to be done with your kids to get them excited about different smells and explore their sense of smell. You will need a blindfold, containers which are not transparent, and a few things that particularly smell, such as oranges, bananas, coffee, a cotton ball with a few sprinkles of perfume, vinegar, vanilla, ginger, and anything else you want.

Put a blindfold on your kid and ask him to smell a particular container and see if they get it right. You can add prizes for guessing things right.

10. Guess the Object

Just like the sense of smell, you can do an activity to explore their touch sense. In this experiment, the kids will use their touch sense to feel and then guess the name of the item. First of all, collect a few items such as wood, wool, cotton, vegetables, toy, metallic objects, and leather.

It could be any object. With the blindfold on, ask your kid to touch and feel the item and tell what it is. See if they can guess it correctly. You can make a list of their answers and check their responses. You can also categorize into various categories, such as soft, hard, rough, bumpy, and smooth, and ask them to check how a particular item feels. This is super affordable and easy.

11. Learning Metals and Non-Metals with a Magnet

Kids love magnets! This experiment is great for making your kids understand the concept of metallic and non-metallic objects. You will need a horseshoe magnet and a few objects such as nails, safety pins, wood, a candle, a spoon, a paper clip, and a comb.

Now ask your kid to take the magnet close to every object one by one. Check which objects are attracted to the magnet and which are not. Introduce the concept of metals being attracted to magnets. You can also dump a lot of small metallic objects, such as nails, with a few non-metallic objects and ask your kid to separate metal from non-metals.

12. Traveling Rainbow

This experiment is also quite popular among kids. To introduce this activity to your kids, you will need 6 glasses or jars, some paper towels, and food coloring. Put these glasses in a row and fill the alternate glasses with water, and add food colorings to them.

Now fold the paper towel lengthwise and put in the glasses in such a way that is through the entire length of the towel. You can teach your kid the process of capillary action through this experiment.

13. Making a Parachute Toy

A parachute toy is definitely a favorite among kids. It is easily made and requires very few items. All you need is tissue paper, string, a ruler, tape, an action figure, and scissors. Cut the tissue paper into a square shape, reinforce the corner with tape, and now cut 4 strings in equal lengths. Pass these strings through the corners of the tissue paper.

Tie all these strings with the action figure toy. Launch your parachute into the air. It will fly up to some distance. Try using different materials to make the parachute and record how it affects its flying.

14. Milk and Dish Soap Experiment

Another exciting experiment that your kids are going to love is this milk and dish soap experiment. You will need milk, food coloring, dish soap, and a cotton swab to perform this experiment. Pour the milk into a shallow baking dish, and add a few drops of food coloring to it. Use different food coloring to get good results.

Now dip your cotton swab into a bowl filled with dishwashing liquid. Then, touch the cotton swab to the milk and watch. It will create a beautiful, moving pattern. It happens because soap molecules come in coordination with the fat molecules in the milk.

15. Secret Message Delivery (invisible Ink with Lemon)

This is perfect for kids between the age of 7 to 12 years, as kids are getting enthusiastic about writing and learning new things during this age. This doesn’t require a lot of ingredients, either.

All you need is a lemon, paper, cotton swab, and lamp to do this experiment. Firstly, squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl, dip the cotton swab in it, and with the cotton swab, write a message, or make a picture on plain white paper. After it dries out, run the paper close to the lamp, you will see your message clearly in the light of the lamp.

16. Viscosity Experiment with Corn Syrup

It’s a simple experiment to teach viscosity to preschoolers. To perform this experiment, you will need 2 glass containers (1 large and 1 small), corn syrup, 3 small bowls, a dropper, and food coloring. First of all, half-fill the larger container with corn syrup, and add the smaller glass to it. Now use the 3 small bowls and take a small amount of corn syrup in each and add food coloring to it.

Take the dropper and fill it with the colored corn syrup one by one, and put these drops into the bowl of clear corn syrup. Now turn the smaller glass container, and you will see that the colored syrup is starting to spread. Put the small jar back in its original position; you will see that the colored syrup dots return to their original position.

17. Bubbly Orange with Baking Soda

It is a fun activity that will become quite a hit among your kids. It teaches acid and base to the kids. All you need is orange juice, a glass, and a little bit of baking soda. For this experiment, just take half a glass of orange juice and add a tablespoon of baking soda to it.

You will see that orange juice forms bubbles and starts to rise from the glass. What happens here is that the citric acid present in the orange reacts with the base of baking soda and forms carbon dioxide, which causes bubbles.

18. Making Play Dough at Home

Kids love to play with play dough. The play doughs present in the market are not necessarily good for your children. But you can always make it at home with a few ingredients. Involve your kids in this wonderful DIY project and watch them beam with joy. You will need flour, salt, oil, and water to perform this activity.

In a big bowl, mix 1 full cup of flour, ½ a cup of salt, and add ½ a cup of water. Keep stirring the mixture. You need to make a dough out of it that is just like the consistency of play dough. Now divide an equal amount of dough and add different food coloring to it. Knead it with a hand to make a ball out of the dough. Your play dough is ready. You can take a few drops of oil to shape it and make it non-sticky.

19. Melting Snowballs

one of the most fun and exciting science experiments for kids to teach the concept of acid and base. Materials required in this are baking soda, water, and vinegar. Form round-shaped snowballs with the help of water and baking soda. Put them in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes to make them solid.

Now pour some vinegar on the balls, and you will see them melting with sizzle. You can make different shapes, too, with the help of a cookie mold. It’s a fun activity for kids of all ages.

20. Pop the Ping Pong Above the Hair Dryer and See It Fly

It’s more of a trick than an experiment and is so simple yet so intriguing for kids. Get a ping pong ball and a hair dryer. Firstly, while doing this trick, make sure the hair dryer is on the cool setting.

Now hold the ping pong right above the dryer; leave the ping pong when you switch on the hair dryer. The ping pong will float above the hair dryer. Little kids will find it magical. Keep on trying it with different settings on the dryer. This experiment should be performed by the parents themselves, as kids may get hurt by the hairdryer if they are not careful enough.

21. The Magic of Light Refraction

To do this amazing experiment, you will need a paper, marker, and a glass filled with water. Now what you need to do is draw a big, bold arrow on the paper, one on the top and the other on the bottom.

Make sure they are pointing in the same direction. Half-fill the glass with water and put it in front of the arrow; what do you see? You will see that the direction of the arrow that can be seen through the water is changed. This experiment is helpful in teaching the concept of refraction of light to children.

22. Making a Paper Bridge to Hold Things

This is an awesome activity to teach the basics of structural engineering to little kids. You will need two plastic glasses, a piece of paper, and a few pennies to perform this activity. First of all, ask your kids to put the glass inverted and place the paper on it. On this paper, place a few pennies, and you will see that it falls off just when you put only 2-3 pennies on it.

Now fold the paper on the horizontal side and then put it on glasses and start keeping pennies on it. You will see that now it can hold a lot more pennies.

23. Making Sticky Ice

You can make your child jump with joy with this simple yet fascinating science experiment. Just grab some ice cubes, a string, and salt, and you are ready to perform this cute magical trick.

All you need to do is, place your string on top of the ice and sprinkle a bit of salt on it. Wait for a minute and now slowly take out the ice with the string; you will see that the ice is now firmly attached to the string. It’s a cheap yet interesting activity for kids in pre-schools.

24. Grow Crystals with Borax

You can grow your own crystals with this fascinating science experiment. To do this experiment, you will need borax, warm water, string, 2 pencils, pipe cleaners, a tablespoon, and 2 jars. First of all, take the pipe cleaners and create the shapes in which you want to grow the crystals.

Dissolve 2-3 tablespoons of borax solution into the jars; make sure it gets dissolved completely by stirring it. Now use the strings on the pencil to suspend the pipe cleaner shapes into the solution. Leave it overnight or up to 24-48 hours. You will see that beautiful crystals have grown into pipe cleaner shapes. You can try various shapes according to your wish and use them for necklaces and other jewelry items.

25. Jumping Pepper

This exciting experiment is helpful in teaching young kids the concept of static electricity. You will just need pepper, a balloon, and a plate to do this experiment. To do this activity, you will need to sprinkle a little pepper on a plate. Now run the balloon through your hair.

Take this balloon above the sprinkled pepper; you will see that peppers start jumping and getting attached to the balloon. This happens because on rubbing the balloon with hair, the balloon acquires a negative charge, and on coming in contact with positively charged pepper, it attracts it.

26. Pencil and a Bag of Water

Ask your kids what will happen if you pass a sharp pencil through a bag of water. Suppose they haven’t come across this experiment before, they will definitely say that the bag will start leaking. Now that you have built up your curiosity ask them to see this experiment. Take a zip lock bag, water, and a few sharp pencils.

Fill the zip lock bag with water till it’s half-filled. Poke pencil all the way from one side to the other side of the zip lock bag. You will see that the water is still intact, and the bag is not leaking. It happens because the molecules of the bag have formed a seal around the pencil.

27. Tea Bag Rocket

Another exciting experiment that your kids are going to enjoy a lot! You will need teabags, a matchbox, a bowl, and scissors to perform this experiment. First of all, take the teabag and cut its top part containing thread.

After cutting it, pour all the tea that was inside it into the bowl. We don’t need it for this activity. Now take this tea bag and blow inside it to create a proper round shape. Put the teabag on the table and use the matchbox to light its top part. What do you see? You will see that the tea bag starts flying.

28. Balloon that Doesn’t Pop with a Pin

What would happen if you poke a pin through a balloon? It will burst, right? Not in all cases. You will need a balloon, a needle, and scotch tape to do this experiment.

To do this activity, first of all, blow your balloon. Make an X with scotch tape in your balloon. Now pass a needle through the middle of the X. The balloon does not burst. You can leave the needle in between to check how long it takes to burst the balloon finally.

29. Floating Eggs

To perform this experiment, you will need 2 eggs, 2 glasses, and salt. This experiment will teach the kids how the difference in the salinity of water affects floatation. To do the experiment, fill both glasses with water.

In the glasses, a tablespoon of salt. Now put the eggs in both glasses. What do you see? You will see that the freshwater egg is on the bottom of the glass while the saltwater egg floats. It happens because after adding the salt to the water, its density increases, due to which the egg starts floating.

30. Self-Inflating Balloon

A balloon that inflates by itself, isn’t it magical? Another gripping science experiment for kids to show them the magic of science is this self-inflating balloon experiment. To do this experiment, you will need a bottle, white vinegar, a funnel, a balloon, baking soda, and a spoon.

Firstly, pour the vinegar into the bottle; now, with the help of a funnel, fill the balloon with 2 tablespoons of baking soda. Close the mouth of the bottle with the balloon. Pour the baking soda inside the bottle by straightening the balloon. Leave it and watch. You will see that the balloon starts expanding.

Final Thoughts

We hope you loved our suggestions for these exciting science experiments. These science experiments for kids will enlighten the minds of your budding scientists and instill a sense of curiosity in them. Performing a science experiment is an easy way to teach your child decision-making skills, analytical reasoning, and endurance. These experiments are also an excellent opportunity to foster a love for science in kids.

These easy and interesting science experiments can all be performed at home with minimal ingredients and supervision. Some of these experiments are so easy that kids can do them even by themselves. So, bring out the scientist inside your kid with this list of intriguing science experiments.