by Rachel Wells

School is officially over, and summertime is upon us. Summer is a great time for science because you can take advantage of sunny days and bring the mess outside.

These experiments are all simple to do, only require a few household supplies, and are guaranteed to engage and excite your young scientist.

 

Mentos Geyser

Supplies Needed:

• Mint Mentos candies
• Two-liter bottles of diet cola
• Index cards or construction paper to be rolled up into a tube
• Wide open space outside

Instructions:

1. Find a flat area outside to place your two-liter bottle.
2. Roll up an index card or piece of construction paper into a tube shape (add tape to keep the tube together).
3. When you’re ready, place 2 Mentos candies into the tube, and place your finger at the bottom so they don’t slide out.
4. Open the cola and quickly drop the Mentos through the tube and into the bottle.
5. Run back as quickly as you can to enjoy the reaction!

 

Ice Chalk

You may know this substance as Oobleck, a unique non-Newtonian fluid. It doesn’t behave like a “normal” liquid, and has properties of both a solid and a liquid depending on the amount of stress applied. When stress is applied, the cornstarch and water mixture acts like a solid, however when constant stress is not applied, the mixture acts like a liquid.

Supplies Needed:

• Cornstarch
• Water
• Food coloring
• Ice cube trays

Instructions:

1. Combine equal parts cornstarch and water in a bowl.
2. Add lots of food coloring!
3. Pour your liquid chalk mixture into ice cube trays.
4. Let freeze before bringing your ice chalk outside to color with and watch melt.

*Note: play clothes are a must for this activity and be prepared for some stained hands. Nothing a little soap and water can’t fix.

 

Alka-Seltzer Rockets

Perfect for the 4^th of July!

Supplies Needed:

• Film canisters
• Corn starch
• Water
• Alka seltzer
• Stir stick
• Red or Blue food coloring

Instructions:

1. Put a little bit of corn starch into a canister and fill it 1/3 of the way with water. Stir well. If you choose to add food coloring you can do this now.
2. Take a piece of Alka seltzer and break it into thirds.
3. Head outside. Please note that these take off quickly so you will only want to set off one rocket at a time!
4. Quickly drop the pieces of Alka seltzer into the canister, put the lid on, flip the rocket over, set it down, and stand back. These will fly really high!
5. Have fun experimenting with different amounts of cornstarch and Alka-Seltzer to see what combination blasts off the highest.

 

Unpoppable Bouncing Bubbles

Supplies Needed:

• 3 cups Water
• 1 cup Dish soap
• ½ cup Corn syrup
• Scissors
• Microfiber gloves (optional)
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Plastic pipette

Instructions:

1. Pour water into the bowl and add dish soap.
2. Add corn syrup to the bowl next and mix well.
3. Cut off the end of the pipette (the big end).
4. Dip the cut end of the pipette into the bubble solution and blow from the other end. Wearing a microfiber glove, you can actually bounce the bubbles in your hand!

**The bubbles aren’t actually ‘unpoppable,’ of course. They are just much harder to pop. Even if you don’t have the microfiber glove to bounce the bubbles with, the bubbles will still be stronger/last longer than regular bubbles because of the corn syrup.  The microfiber is just a lot of fun!

 

Chalk a Shadow

Supplies Needed:

• Blacktop
• Chalk
• Plenty of sunshine
• Helpers with fun poses

Instructions:

Have your child make funny poses on a large area of blacktop, making sure they create a shadow. Use chalk to trace the outline of their body, before letting them go back and add faces/details/etc. Use the angle of the sun to your advantage to make shadow outlines with super long legs, squished bodies, or other funny shapes.

 

Make Sun Prints

Supplies Needed:

• Construction paper
• Small toys or pieces of nature (leaves, flowers, branches, etc.)
• A sunny day
• Rocks or tape

Instructions:

1. Place pieces of construction paper down on a table or flat surface outside in the bright sunlight.
2. Lay flower petal, leaves, sticks, or small toys, on top of the paper.
3. Place rocks or tape on the corners of the paper to hold it down so it doesn’t blow away and let it sit in the sun for a few hours.
4. Come back and check the prints you made.

 

Make Your Own Rock Candy

Supplies Needed:

• 2 cups of water
• 4 cups of sugar
• Thick cotton thread
• Pencil
• 2 drops of red and blue food coloring
• Glass jars
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Start preparing your jars by cutting the cotton thread so that it is a few inches longer than the jar and tape the thread to a pencil.
2. Place the pencil on the top of the jar so that the string hangs down into the jar about an inch from the bottom.
3. Wet the thread with water, dip in sugar, and set aside to dry.
4. Pour the 2 cups of water into a pan and bring it to a boil. Add sugar one cup at a time until it is all dissolved.
5. Add red or blue food coloring to the boiling sugar water. You can also add 1 tsp of flavoring extract if you would like flavored rock candy.
6. Let the sugar water cool for about 10 minutes, pour enough of the sugar water into the jars so they are almost full, and then place the dried sugared thread into the jars.
7. Store the jars in a cool place with a paper towel on top until the crystals grow to whatever size you want (at least 4 hours)
8. Enjoy!