For ages 4 and up
Beatmom:
All kids love putting vinegar in baking soda but I have found that they don't really care about the science behind it.
Oh, and another they love is seeing egg whites heat up or get whipped -- but again the talk about changes in protein strings just result in blank stares. Also, simple gravity/inertia experiments with ramps and stuff that rolls. Helium balloons!"
babycosmosmom:
Watch a seed sprout (against a wet paper towel in a plastic sandwich bag).
Grow mold on bread.
Watch how magnets work (opposites attract, like sides push apart). Tape a magnet to a little toy car and push it without touching it by using another magnet.
Use a cd or crystal to cast a prism on the wall to discuss the colors of light. Also use a hose sprayer to make a rainbow outside.
Make slime. Use cornstarch, enough water to make a slime consistency, and food coloring of the kid's choice. Explain how t makes a non-neutonian (sp?) liquid. Compare it next to a bowl of water slap the water and see how it splashes, then slap the slime and see how it hardens.
Play will it float or will it sink? Gather different objects and fill the sink to have your ds guess which ones will sink/float and see if his guess was right.
Get a magnifying glass to inspect tiny objects, or to focus light to generate heat.
sivermistfit13:
Target had a cool candy volcano that my kids loved,also how about rock candy? water/sugar in a cup with a string dangling down..
Also,we buy magic tricks/illusion kits that teach the science of them- probably can find some easy ones on the internet for things around the house...o yeah,'bar tricks' are cool too-lots of science behind those sorts of things...
Clair704:
A simple little science experiment...
Take 2 strips of paper. Hold one strip in each hand so they are parallel. Then blow between them. When you blow, you push the air between the paper out, and the 2 strips will cling together since there is no air occupying the space between them anymore.
amamyhsup:
DH and my four year old tested the saying that 'oil and water don't mix' this week. They used the blender to emulsify and it has been sitting on the counter all week to see if and how long it would take to separate.
showme_girl:
A fun trick we used to do as kids as a function of your nervous system (can't remember the name for it) is to stand in the doorway with the back of your hands pressed hard against the frame for 30 seconds or so. When you let go, your arms will automatically raise. Did anyone do that?
My girls love DH's laser pointer.
This is more nature appreciation, we like to grow host plants for catepillars/butterflies and watch the catepillars eat the plants. Fennel and parslay are easy and attract the catepillar for one of the Swallowtails. I also planted some milkweed this year in the hope of attracting Monarchs.
momof2littleguys:
One really cool thing (still amazes me) is to take a cup of Total cereal (has to be total) and mix it in a clear measuring cup with water until it more or less becomes a slurry then use a really strong, heavy duty kind of magnet against the cup and iron shavings seriously come out and stick to the side of the cup! You can also use another cereal to show how it doesn't happen to show the difference in iron in the cereals.
Kids also usually like the rainbow coffee filter thing. You use a black marker and make a dark dime sized dot in the middle of a coffee filter then scrunch it up so the dot is on the bottom of the filter like a point and dip the black spot in a little water and watch as the colors seperate. You could also just use a dropper and drop a couple drops of water onto the filter - it makes a circular rainbow. Sort of science art.
Sink or float is fun too. Take two tubs of water (like dish tubs) and add a cup of salt to one. Try floating various objects in each to see what sinks and what floats and the differnce between salt and fresh water.
distracteddiva:
Put water in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the surface of the water. Then, put a drop of dish detergent on your fingertip. When you touch your fingertip of detergent to the water's surface, all the salt and pepper will "run away" from the detergent! I used to beg my parents to do this one over and over again because it was so funny to see the salt and pepper "running."