Your young child is a natural scientist, and hidden in your kitchen is everything you need to create a mini-lab for experiments and observations. Here's an idea for getting started that can expand into hours of discovery and fun.
Materials:
- large deep tray or baking pan
- large empty jars
- food coloring
- syrup or molasses
- oil
- vinegar
- water
- baking soda
- baster
- funnels
- eyedropper
- miscellaneous small objects such as pasta pieces, peppercorns, and corks
- mixing and measuring spoons
Setting Up: Together, gather and set out ingredients so they are accessible and easy for your child to handle. Place the jars inside the tray or pan so your "potions" won't splash on other surfaces.
ACTIVITY
Your child can start by pouring some syrup, colored water, and oil in the same jar. Together, observe what happens to the liquids. Why don't they mix? You can even explore the density of the liquids. Which do you think is the heaviest?
Now let your child experiment with dropping some small objects such as a piece of pasta, a peppercorn, and a cork into the potion and see what happens. She can even predict ahead of time whether each will sink or float.
Invite your child to carefully add 1/4 cup of vinegar and two tablespoons of baking soda to her potion. Watch it begin to bubble and brew!
Together, explore the kitchen and see what else you can add to your potion. You can try ice, salt, sugar, flour, seltzer, and so on. Or your child can start new potions in empty jars. Try using the funnel, baster, and eyedropper to move materials in and out of containers. Make sure your child doesn't ingest any potions that might upset her stomach.
Have available a small, blank notebook or several sheets of paper stapled together for keeping a record of your experiments and potions. Write down your child's account of what happened or let her document the process with words and pictures of her own. You might even add a snapshot of your young scientist.
Remember: Be your child's lab assistant. Though you may need to help with some steps of this experiment, let your child direct the activities as much as possible.
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