May 4, 2023

At-Home Science Experiments to Do With Your Grandkids

About Nicole Pajer

Nicole Pajer is a Los Angeles-based freelance published in The New York Times, Woman's Day, AARP, Parade, Wired, Glamour, People and more.

Your grandkids are coming to spend the day with you. You’ll inevitably have a lot of snacks and time for snuggles in front of the TV. But how else will you keep them occupied? Kids have curious minds and lots of energy. Channeling that into something fun and educational (which will earn you bonus points with their parents) can be a great way to keep them engaged – not to mention to have some fun together. Remember how much you loved doing science experiments as a kid? Here are 6 to try with your own family members.

1. Make it Rain

This is a super cute science experiment that Stephanie Ryan, CEO and owner of Ryan Education Consulting, did with her son on Good Day Sacramento. The idea is to teach kids how clouds are made of water droplets and that when the droplets condense into each other and get too heavy, they fall to the Earth as rain.

What you’ll need:

1 glass
1 can of shaving cream
Various food coloring squeeze bottles

Directions:

Start out by pouring some warm water into the glass. This represents the Earth.
Spray shaving cream onto the top of the water. The shaving cream represents the clouds in the sky.
Have your grandchild pick up one tube of food coloring and squirt a drop onto the shaving cream cloud.
Do this repeatedly until the food coloring starts to seep through into the water. This means the clouds are now releasing raindrops onto the Earth.
Repeat with different colors of dye.

For an extra art project after this is done, you can take the shaving cream cloud with the dye in it and use it to make art on pieces of paper. "But beware your hands will be stained with it for a few days," says Ryan.

2. Mini Volcano

“Work together as a team to create your own DIY miniature volcano that will actually erupt!” says DIY lifestyle expert, Samantha Hoff, owner of Pottery with a Purpose.

What you’ll need:

1 glass
1 can of shaving cream
Various food coloring squeeze bottles
2 Small disposable cups
Paper plate
Masking tape
Clay
1 Tbsp warm water
Liquid dishwashing soap
Food coloring
1 tablespoon of baking soda
Vinegar

Directions:

Attach one of the disposable cups to the center of the paper plate with the masking tape.
Use clay to form a mountain on the plate around the cup. Your mountain should completely cover the side of the cup. The hole in the top of the cup will be the crater where the lava comes out, so be careful to not get any clay in it.
You may want to let the clay dry, but it's not necessary.
Once your mountain is ready, prepare for your eruption. First, measure the water into your volcano crater (the disposable cup).
Add 3 to 4 drops of dish washing soap and 3 to 4 drops of food coloring to the crater.
Stir in the baking soda.
Pour some vinegar into the other small disposable cup so the cup is about 1/3 full.
Quickly pour the vinegar into your volcano crater, step back, and watch your volcano's bubbly eruption!

3. Breathless Balloon

Make your own balloon soar through the sky in this experiment by Amy C. Oliver, a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador who also works full-time in public education and outreach for some of the world's biggest observatories.

What you’ll need:

1 Tbsp baking soda
White vinegar
An unused balloon
A funnel
An empty and clean soda or water bottle

Directions:

Pour white vinegar into an empty clean bottle to a depth of roughly one inch.
Using a funnel, add one tablespoon of baking soda to the balloon.
Stretch the open end of the balloon over the mouth of the bottle.
Finally, lift the balloon to dump the baking soda into the vinegar but leave the balloon in place around the mouth of bottle.
Stand back and watch multiple science processes happen at once.

“White vinegar is also known as acetic acid and baking soda is known as sodium bicarbonate,” says Oliver. “When these two kitchen ingredients are mixed together, they go through what's called an acid-base reaction.” When the vinegar and baking soda come together, they immediately start to react, and you'll see two amazing things happen, Oliver adds.

Because the experiment is happening in a clear bottle, you'll see the acid-base reaction between the white vinegar and the baking soda result in a furious eruption of bubbles as they tear each other apart. “In fact, the reaction is so significant that you can hear the bubbles as they rumble through the liquid,” Oliver says. At the same time, the balloon will begin to inflate. While store-bought balloons are inflated using Helium gas, your “Breathless Balloon” is being inflated by a by-product of the chemical reaction happening between the white vinegar and the baking soda: carbon dioxide. “We often take gasses for granted because we can't see them. By leaving the balloon in place over the mouth of the bottle, you're trapping carbon dioxide and as it tries desperately to escape, it fills the balloon, causing it to expand,” says Oliver.

4. Oobleck

Combine cornstarch and water, then dip your hands into this fluid that will act as both a solid and liquid at the same time!

What you’ll need:

Cornstarch
Water
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:

Mix a couple of drops of food coloring with one cup of water (optional).
Then mix the cup of water with 2 cups of corn starch until it is dissolved.
If your substance is a bit too runny or liquidy, you can add some additional cornstarch.
In a separate bowl, place just two cups of water with nothing else. When you look in the bowl of water and cornstarch, “[w]hat you'll see with your eyes looks like nothing more than cloudy-colored water. But it's what happens when you start to touch this liquid that really matters,” says Oliver.
First, swish your fingers slowly in the bowl of plain water. Get a good feel for how easy it is for you to push your fingers through the liquid. Try to make a ball out of the water; you won't be able to do it because the liquid will simply run between your fingers and out of your hand.
Now, do the same with your Oobleck (the bowl of water and cornstarch). You will quickly find that your fingers run through just like with the water. Now use your hands to pick up and turn your Oobleck into a ball in your closed fist. Magically, it works, and you'll feel a firm ball in your hand. But, when you open your hand, that ball will instantly turn back into liquid and run through your fingers into the bowl.

“Your Oobleck is also known in science as a non-Newtonian fluid,” Oliver explains. "These fluids aren't liquid in the way that water and oil are liquid." Water, for example, can be changed by applying temperature. If you boil water and make it very hot, it becomes steam. If you cool it enough, it turns to ice. Non-Newtonian fluids, however, says Oliver, experience changes like this when pressure is applied. When you squeeze the Oobleck, that pressure changes its viscosity, making it thicker and more solid. When you release the pressure by opening your hand, it immediately changes state back into a liquid. This, she says, is called a dilatant, or shear-thickening fluid, which is how scientists label those non-Newtonian fluids that tend to become thicker when pressure is applied. “You might recognize other similar non-Newtonian fluids in your kitchen, like chocolate syrup,” Oliver adds. "Some non-Newtonian fluids are the opposite; called pseudoplastic of shear-thinning fluids, they become less viscous, or "more liquid" when pressure is applies, just like ketchup!"

5. Blizzards in a Glass

In the mood for a White Christmas? Or want to look at a little snow to help you feel cool on a hot summer’s day? This is the perfect experiment for you!

What you’ll need:

White, washable paint
Water
A tall clear glass

Directions:

Mix white paint with water and pour into the bottom of a tall glass, filling up maybe 1/8 of the glass.
Pour in some baby oil, then silver or white glitter for snowflakes.
Add a small Alka-Seltzer tablet and watch your glass turn into a winter wonderland with snow coming down.

6. STEM Ice Cream

Tell your grandkids you’re treating them to some ice cream, and they will be more than excited. Tell them they’re helping you to make their own, along with the assistance of science, and their minds will be blown!

What you’ll need:

Ice
Table salt
1 large Ziploc bag
I cup chocolate milk
1 small Ziploc bag
1 kitchen towel

Directions:

Add some ice to the large Ziploc bag.
Add some table salt to the ice.
Pour 1 cup of chocolate milk into the small Ziploc bag and seal it.
Place the small, sealed bag with the chocolate milk into the large, sealed bag with the ice and salt. Seal the large bag around the small bag.
Wrap a kitchen towel around the large zipper bag.
Shake for about 5 minutes.
Watch the chocolate milk begin to freeze and solidify.
Open the small Ziploc bag, stick a spoon in it and enjoy this frozen treats.