Let’s get one thing straight: Science is fun. It may seem like dark magic that humans have been able to survive for hundreds of years on Earth, but it's just a lot of fun. Kids are going to be kids, and they will want to play with whatever they want. Science is one way they can do this.

Many people learn about science in school, but the truth is kids don’t know best by just listening to their teachers and reading their books. Kids are repelled by things that are difficult and require a lot of studying and work. However, if you had fun experiments to do at home, you might have a better time at home, and your kids could enjoy the science more. Do you want to give your kids an advantage over other students? We’ve listed cool experiments to do at home with household items! 

Let’s begin!

1. Uncracking Naked Egg

Well, first off, we’re not going to do any cracking here. What we’re going to do is to make an eggshell disappear from the egg, leaving it wholly naked and intact!

A mildly strong acid like your kitchenSupposeinegar could completely eat up the shell of an egg. An eggshell is primarily made up of calcium carbonate, which is nothing compared to the acetic acid found in your vinegar. Don’t worry. In that case, acetic acid in your vinegar is food-grade and is still safe to ingest.

 

Let’s crack this list with some chemistry! (see what we did there?)

Materials and instructions

This experiment is probably the easiest one in here. Here’s what you’ll need:

• A fresh raw egg
• Vinegar
• And a mason jar (any jar will do, you could even do this in a glass)

And here’s how to dissolve the shell from the egg!

• Fill the jar halfway with vinegar.
• Then, gently drop the egg inside.
• If the egg isn’t completely submerged in vinegar, just add more until it is.

And here’s the boring part: you have a wait for about two days.

After you’ve set the jar aside somewhere safe and two days have already passed, it’s time to check it out!

You’ll notice a foam has formed on top of the vinegar - that’s the eggshell! Call your kid and let them fish the egg out from the jar gently. Let them rinse it off with water, and voila! You now have a naked egg!

It’s squishy, and you could let your kid bounce it on the table by dropping it for about an inch or so. Super fun!

Final Result

“Where did the eggshell go?” That’s a great question your curious kid might ask. Tell them that it has been dissolved by the vinegar and the foam that formed on top of the jar is the eggshell broken down by the acidic vinegar. What’s holding the egg together now is a thin membrane that’s found under the shell! You’ll notice this when you crack an egg open.

Time for some clean-up. Before you dump the vinegar into the drain, make sure to dilute it first with some water. This is a safety measure just so the acid wouldn’t react violently with whatever’s in the pipes.

On to the next one!

2. Friction Experiment for Young Learners

Time to teach your kids about physics with friction!

Physics might be the most effortless science you can explain to your kid! It’s the science that your kid can immediately notice once they know what’s going on about every little thing we do. One of them is friction! 

Friction lets us walk on the floor instead of sliding on it. It enables the wheel to roll instead of just spinning and rotating on your kid’s bike. And a lot more!

But let’s stick to the experiment here. Because of friction, you can pick up a heavy bottle filled with rice by just sticking a pencil into it. It will seem like a magic trick to your kid!

Are you excited?

Materials and instructions

Here’s what you’re going to need:

• A pencil (doesn’t matter if it’s sharpened or not)
• An empty 500ml water bottle
• And at least 2 cups of raw rice

This experiment is super straightforward. You’re going to love it!

• Fill the bottle with rice (pro tip: tap the bottle as you fill it so the rice can settle snuggly)
• Stick the pencil down the rice through the mouth of the bottle
• Then, gently lift the pencil up
• Just repeat it up and down until the pencil is eventually stuck inside, letting you pick up the bottle too!

You’ll be as shocked as your kid!

Final Result 

Time to figure out what’s happening. When you filled the bottle with rice, there are still a few empty spaces or air pockets between each rice grain. The moment you pushed the pencil in, the rice grains move together to make room for the pencil. This means that the air pockets are getting smaller and smaller, making each rice grain closely rub to the grain next to them.

This makes space so tight that the rice grains push against the pencil, making it stuck inside. And now you can lift the pencil along with the bottle of rice too!

Now, everyone might not have rice available in their pantry. You might want to do a quick run to the grocery to grab a bag before you can perform this experiment. But, don’t worry, the rice isn’t wasted. Assuming the pencil and the bottle you used are clean, the rice can still be cooked and eaten safely. After all, you’re going to boil the rice simultaneously. In that case, Supposewhich pretty much kills a lot of bacteria. That’s biology in action there!

Speaking of

3. Discovering the Xylem of Celery 

Biology is also a fun science to teach your kid. It can easily be observed from the food your kid eats and the plants around your backyard.

For this science experiment with your kid, we’ll turn a Celery blue! This is an excellent home experiment to show your kid how unique the structure of a plant is, how it carries water to its leaves through capillary action and the xylem, just like how your blood travels through your body!

This experiment has got to be the one with a lot of exploration involved here. Your kid’s going to be super “wowed”!

Materials and instructions

Grab these:

• A fresh celery
• A jar
• Water
• Blue food coloring
• A pair of scissors

Is everything ready? Okay, let’s experiment!

Pour a cup of water into the jar, and add three drops of the blue food coloring. Next, cut about an inch from the bottom of the celery’s stalk. Now, immerse the base of the stalk into that jar. Finally, we leave it overnight.

After you’ve eaten your hearty breakfast, call your kid and check the celery together. Be prepared to see a blue Celery!

Final Result 

With this experiment, your kid can fully understand how a plant works and be able to share it with their friends and be forever in love with learning science! So, what’s happening here? 

From the roots of a plant, water is carried through what’s called capillary action. You can check this out yourself by cutting the middle part of the stalk. You’ll find dyed water inside and around the cross-section of the stalk! This pulls the water up from the soil but is not enough to get to the leaves. 

And here’s where the unique structure of a plant gets introduced - the xylem! It‘s a network of tiny tubes that effortlessly carries water to the farthest leaf. You’ll observe that the leaves have some highlights or tints of blue.

 

You can even spice this experiment up with a portable microscope! Your kid zoom in and see everything in detail! What an experiment, huh?

 

Cleaning the experiment afterward, you might find that there are spilled drops of dyed water on the kitchen counter. You could just wipe it off with a rag. If it left a stain, then just put some dishwashing liquid on it then rub it down.

 

Hands-on learning for kids has never been this fun!

Takeaways

It can be difficult for parents to teach their kids about science without seeming like a boring class or something that you are trying to force upon your children. The 3 cool experiments to do at home with household items should work well! It's fun and an easy way to educate your kids.

 

And because playing is a great way for kids to learn, it's best to keep them engaged with science toys. TheSTEMKids portable microscope is the best selling stem gadget in the market. Give your child the best of the best!