Spring Break Science

Last week was our spring break.  Since our weather is still very cold we had to create some indoor fun.  Between watching movies, arts and crafts, and playing games we kept pretty busy.  One of our afternoons we filled doing science experiments.  Not all the experiments worked out perfectly but we still had fun.

Yellow + Blue = Green

This is a good one to start with since it takes several hours to see the results.  Fill one cup with yellow water and another with blue.  Place a paper towel going from the colored cups into an empty one.  It's fun to see the water creep up the paper towel and change into green in the empty cup.  The results are much better than what I have shown.  I just never got around to taking a final picture.  Eventually the water level in all three cups will become even.

Balloon Rocket

My kids loved this one.  String a straw onto a long piece of yarn.  Tie the yarn between two chairs.  Blow up a balloon and hold the end closed.  Tape the balloon to the straw and then let it go.  It's fun to predict how far the balloon will fly with different amounts of air in it.

Glitter Volcano

Add 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda into a tall vase along with a few drops of red food coloring and some glitter.  Pour some vinegar into the vase and watch what happens.  Try it again with something besides glitter.  Predict what you think will happen.

Density Rainbow

Add sugar and food dye to four cups as indicated below.  Pour three tablespoons of water into each cup.  Stir until dissolved.

In an empty cup use a spoon to carefully layer the water.  Start with blue, then green, yellow, and finally red.  If you layer carefully enough the colors should remain separated.  Why does this happen?  By using different amounts of sugar in each glass the concentration was different for each color.  The most dense solution sinks to the bottom and the least dense sits on top. Ours didn't turn out nearly as good as this one, but we got the idea.

Baking Soda Bombs

Place 1.5 tablespoons of baking soda into a paper towel and wrap up.  In a ziploc bag add 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup water.  Place the paper towel bundle into the bag, zip, and shake.  Stand back and watch the bag inflate.  The bag is supposed to pop, but ours never did.

Inflating Balloons

In a water bottle or jar add 1/2-1 cup of vinegar.  Use a funnel to pour 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda into a balloon.  Stretch the balloon end over the bottle, being careful to not let any of the baking soda get into the bottle.  Lift the balloon up and shake the baking soda into the jar.  Watch as the balloon fills with gas and inflates.  This experiment is a popular one at our house.  I never get tired of the look on my kids faces as they watch the balloons fill up on their own.

Have you done any science experiments with your kids that were successful?  Please share!