Sometimes thinking of science projects young children can do is hard. Giving your child a chance to start understanding how some simple science works can be extremely fun for them and for you. Here are some fun easy projects you can try at home.
Ice cube melt- Put your infant or toddler in their high chair. Then put a couple of ice cubes on the tray and let them try to pick them up. Watch as the ice cube slips out of their hand and they chase it around the tray. Make sure that their little hands don’t get too cold from the ice.
Ice cube build- For older children put ice cubes on a tray. Encourage them to try to build with the ice. Talk to them about what they are doing and what the ice is doing.
Taste Testing- This is fun with all ages of children and a great picture opportunity. Use the four tastes like: sour- lemon, salty- cracker, bitter-unsweet baker’s chocolate, sweet- candy. Let the child take a bite of one flavor and then take a picture of the face they make. After each flavor talk to them about what they think it tasted like. After they have tasted all the flavors show the child the pictures and see if they can tell what they tasted when they made that face. You can even make a little flip book out of the pictures of their faces and what they said about it.
Saltwater Painting- Make a cup of very salty saltwater. Have the child paint with the mixer on a darker colored paper. As the paper gets wet it will become darker. Then when the paper dries the color will lighten but the salt will make it sparkle. Try this will different color paper to see what happens.
Milky colors- Using a shallow pie pan put enough milk in so that the bottom is covered. Then choose what color of food coloring you want to use. Put a couple drops in the middle of the milk then put a couple of drops of dish soap in the middle of the food coloring and watch what happens. If you want to add to this you can place a white piece of paper on the milk after the experiment and see if the paper will take on the food coloring.
Smelly Volcano’s- Baking soda volcanoes are always fun but you can make them even more fun by giving them color and a smell. Put your baking soda in a small jar or cup. Then add some dry cool-aid mix to the baking soda. When you add the vinegar the volcano will erupt smelling fruity and colorful. It can be even more fun if you use the cool-aid that the powder in one color dry and it changes color when wet.
All of these projects can be a little messy so make sure that you are somewhere it doesn’t matter if you get a little messy. The important part is that you and your child have fun learning about how different things work in the world around them. Science is big part of our world letting children get their hands dirty learning about it helps them understand it better and enjoy it more.
Science Kids “Science Experiments for Kids” and Buzz Feed “24 Kids’ Science Experiments That Adults Can Enjoy Too” has even more great ideas to bring science to live for your young child.