How to interest a child in learning new substances and properties various items and liquids? At home, you can set up an impromptu chemical laboratory and carry out simple chemical experiments for children at home.
The transformations will be original and appropriate in honor of some festive event or in the most ordinary conditions to familiarize the child with the properties different materials. Here are some simple tricks that are easy to repeat at home.
Chemical experiments using ink
Take a small container of water, preferably one with transparent walls.
Dissolve a drop of ink or ink in it - the water will turn blue.
Add one pre-crushed activated carbon tablet to the solution.
Then shake the container well and you will see that it will gradually become light, without a tint of paint. Coal powder has an absorbent property, and the water returns to its original color.
https://galaset.ru/holidays/contests/tests.htmlTrying to create clouds at home
Take a tall jar and pour some hot water into it (about 3 cm). Prepare ice cubes in the freezer and place them on a flat baking sheet that you place on top of the jar.
The hot air in the jar will cool, forming water vapor. The condensate molecules will begin to gather together in the form of a cloud. This transformation demonstrates the origin of clouds in nature when it cools warm air. Why is it raining?
Drops of water on the ground heat up and rise upward. There they cool and meet each other to form clouds. Then the clouds also combine into heavy formations and fall to the ground as precipitation. Watch a video of chemical experiments for children at home.
How your hands feel at different water temperatures
You will need three deep bowls of water - cold, hot and room temperature.
The child should touch cold water with one hand and hot water with the other.
After a couple of minutes, both hands are placed in a vessel with water at room temperature. How does water feel to him? Is there a difference in perception temperature?
Water can be absorbed and stain the plant.
For this beautiful transformation you will need living plant or flower stem.
Place it in a glass of water colored any bright color(red, blue, yellow).
Gradually you will notice that the plant takes on the same color.
This happens because the stem absorbs water and takes on its color. In the language of chemical phenomena, such a process is usually called osmosis or one-way diffusion.
You can make your own fire extinguisher at home
Necessary actions:
- Let's take a candle.
- It is necessary to light it and place it in the jar so that it stands straight and the flame does not reach its edges.
- Carefully place a teaspoon of baking powder into the jar.
- Then pour a little vinegar into it.
Next we look at the transformation - White powder baking powder will hiss, forming foam, and the candle will go out. This interaction of two substances produces carbon dioxide. It sinks to the bottom of the jar because it is heavy compared to other atmospheric gases.
The fire does not receive oxygen and goes out. This is the principle behind the fire extinguisher. They all contain carbon dioxide, which extinguishes the flames of fire.
What else you should definitely read:
Oranges have the ability to float on water
If you put an orange in a bowl of water, it will not sink. Clean it and dip it in water again - you will see it at the bottom. How did this happen?
The orange peel has air bubbles that keep it floating on the water, almost like an air mattress.
Testing eggs for their ability to float on water
We use jars of water again. Place a couple of tablespoons of salt in one of them and stir until dissolved. Dip an egg into each jar. In salt water it will be on the surface, and in normal water it will sink to the bottom.
We bring to your attention 10 amazing magic experiments, or science shows, that you can do with your own hands at home.
Whether it's your child's birthday party, the weekend or the holidays, have a good time and become the center of attention of many eyes! 🙂
An experienced organizer of scientific shows helped us in preparing this post - Professor Nicolas. He explained the principles that are inherent in this or that focus.
1 - Lava lamp
1. Surely many of you have seen a lamp with a liquid inside that imitates hot lava. Looks magical.
2. B sunflower oil water is poured and food coloring (red or blue) is added.
3. After this, add effervescent aspirin to the vessel and observe an amazing effect.
4. During the reaction, the colored water rises and falls through the oil without mixing with it. And if you turn off the light and turn on the flashlight, the “real magic” will begin.
: “Water and oil have different densities, and they also have the property of not mixing, no matter how much we shake the bottle. When we add effervescent tablets inside the bottle, they dissolve in water and begin to release carbon dioxide and set the liquid in motion.”
Do you want to put on a real science show? More experiments can be found in the book.
2 - Soda experience
5. Surely there are several cans of soda at home or in a nearby store for the holiday. Before you drink them, ask the kids a question: “What happens if you immerse soda cans in water?”
Will they drown? Will they float? Depends on the soda.
Invite the children to guess in advance what will happen to a particular jar and conduct an experiment.
6. Take the jars and carefully lower them into the water.
7. It turns out that despite the same volume, they have different weights. This is why some banks sink and others don't.
Professor Nicolas's comment: “All our cans have the same volume, but the mass of each can is different, which means that the density is different. What is density? This is the mass divided by the volume. Since the volume of all cans is the same, the density will be higher for the one whose mass is greater.
Whether a jar will float or sink in a container depends on the ratio of its density to the density of water. If the density of the jar is less, then it will be on the surface, otherwise the jar will sink to the bottom.
But what makes a can of regular cola denser (heavier) than a can of diet drink?
It's all about the sugar! Unlike regular cola, where granulated sugar is used as a sweetener, a special sweetener is added to diet cola, which weighs much less. So how much sugar is in a regular can of soda? The difference in mass between regular soda and its diet counterpart will give us the answer!”
3 - Paper cover
Ask those present: “What happens if you turn a glass of water over?” Of course it will pour out! What if you press the paper against the glass and turn it over? Will the paper fall and water will still spill on the floor? Let's check.
10. Carefully cut out the paper.
11. Place on top of the glass.
12. And carefully turn the glass over. The paper stuck to the glass as if magnetized, and the water did not spill out. Miracles!
Professor Nicolas's comment: “Although this is not so obvious, in fact we are in a real ocean, only in this ocean there is not water, but air, which presses on all objects, including you and me, we are just so used to it to this pressure that we don’t notice it at all. When we cover a glass of water with a piece of paper and turn it over, water presses on the sheet on one side, and air on the other side (from the very bottom)! The air pressure turned out to be greater than the water pressure in the glass, so the leaf does not fall.”
4 - Soap Volcano
How to make a small volcano erupt at home?
14. You will need baking soda, vinegar, some dishwashing chemicals and cardboard.
16. Dilute vinegar in water, add washing liquid and tint everything with iodine.
17. We wrap everything in dark cardboard - this will be the “body” of the volcano. A pinch of soda falls into the glass and the volcano begins to erupt.
Professor Nicolas's comment: “As a result of the interaction of vinegar with soda, a real chemical reaction occurs with the release of carbon dioxide. A liquid soap and the dye, interacting with carbon dioxide, form a colored soap suds- here comes the eruption.”
5 - Spark plug pump
Can a candle change the laws of gravity and lift water up?
19. Place the candle on the saucer and light it.
20. Pour colored water onto a saucer.
21. Cover the candle with a glass. After some time, the water will be drawn inside the glass, contrary to the laws of gravity.
Professor Nicolas's comment: “What does the pump do? Changes the pressure: increases (then water or air begins to “escape”) or, conversely, decreases (then gas or liquid begins to “arrive”). When we covered the burning candle with a glass, the candle went out, the air inside the glass cooled, and therefore the pressure decreased, so the water from the bowl began to be sucked in.”
Games and experiments with water and fire are in the book "Professor Nicolas' Experiments".
6 - Water in a sieve
We continue to study magical properties water and surrounding objects. Ask someone present to pull the bandage and pour water through it. As we can see, it passes through the holes in the bandage without any difficulty.
Bet with those around you that you can make sure that water does not pass through the bandage without any additional techniques.
22. Cut a piece of bandage.
23. Wrap a bandage around a glass or champagne flute.
24. Turn the glass over - the water doesn’t spill out!
Professor Nicolas's comment: “Thanks to this property of water, surface tension, water molecules want to be together all the time and are not so easy to separate (they are such wonderful girlfriends!). And if the size of the holes is small (as in our case), then the film does not tear even under the weight of water!”
7 - Diving bell
And to secure for you honorary title Waterbender and Lord of the Elements, promise that you can deliver paper to the bottom of any ocean (or bathtub or even basin) without getting it wet.
25. Have those present write their names on a piece of paper.
26. Fold the piece of paper and put it in the glass so that it rests against its walls and does not slide down. We immerse the leaf in an inverted glass to the bottom of the tank.
27. The paper remains dry - water cannot reach it! After you pull out the leaf, let the audience make sure that it is really dry.
Did you know that May 29 is Chemist's Day? Who among us in childhood did not dream of creating unique magic, amazing chemical experiments? It's time to make your dreams come true! Read on quickly and we will tell you how to have fun on Chemist Day 2017, as well as what chemical experiments for children can be easily done at home.
Home volcano
If you are not already attracted, then... Do you want to see a volcanic eruption? Try it at home! To arrange a chemical experiment “volcano” you will need soda, vinegar, food coloring, a plastic glass, a glass warm water.
Pour 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda into a plastic cup, add ¼ cup of warm water and a little food coloring, preferably red. Then add ¼ vinegar and watch the volcano “erupt”.
Rose and ammonia
A very interesting and original chemical experiment with plants can be seen in the video from YouTube:
Self-inflating balloon
Do you want to conduct safe chemical experiments for children? Then you will definitely like the balloon experiment. Prepare in advance: a plastic bottle, baking soda, a balloon and vinegar.
Pour 1 teaspoon of baking soda inside the ball. Pour ½ cup of vinegar into the bottle, then put a ball on the neck of the bottle and make sure that the soda gets into the vinegar. As a result of a violent chemical reaction, which is accompanied by the active release of carbon dioxide, the balloon will begin to inflate.
Pharaoh snake
For the experiment you will need: calcium gluconate tablets, dry fuel, matches or a gas burner. Watch the algorithm of actions on YouTube video:
Colorful magic
Do you want to surprise your child? Hurry up and conduct chemical experiments with color! You will need the following available ingredients: starch, iodine, transparent container.
Mix snow-white starch and brown iodine in a container. The result is an amazing mixture of blue.
Raising a snake
The most interesting home chemical experiments can be carried out using available ingredients. To create a snake you will need: a plate, river sand, powdered sugar, ethyl alcohol, a lighter or burner, baking soda.
Place a pile of sand on a plate and soak it in alcohol. Make a depression in the top of the slide, where you carefully add powdered sugar and soda. Now we set fire to the sand slide and watch. After a couple of minutes, a dark wriggling ribbon that resembles a snake will begin to grow from the top of the slide.
How to conduct chemical experiments with an explosion, see the following video from Youtube:
More than 160 experiments that clearly demonstrate the laws of physics and chemistry were filmed, edited and posted online on the scientific and educational video channel “Simple Science”. Many of the experiments are so simple that they can be easily repeated at home - they do not require special reagents or equipment. Letidor was told by Denis Mokhov, author and Chief Editor scientific and educational video channel “Simple Science”.
– How did your project begin?
– Since childhood, I have loved various experiences. For as long as I can remember, I have been collecting various ideas for experiments, in books, TV shows, so that I can then repeat them myself. When I became a father myself (my son Mark is now 10 years old), it was always important for me to maintain my son’s curiosity and, of course, to be able to answer his questions. After all, like any child, he looks at the world completely differently than adults. And at a certain point, his favorite word became the word “why?” It is from these “why?” home experiments began. After all, telling is one thing, but showing is something completely different. We can say that my child’s curiosity was the impetus for creating the “Simple Science” project.
– How old was your son when you started practicing experiments at home?
– We have been doing experiments at home since the moment our son went to school. kindergarten, somewhere after two years. At first these were completely simple experiments with water and balance. For example, jet pack , paper flowers on the water , two forks on a match head. My son immediately liked these funny “tricks.” Moreover, like me, it is always interesting for him not so much to observe as to repeat them himself.
–
You can conduct interesting experiments in the bathroom with young children: with a boat and liquid soap, paper boat and hot air balloon,
tennis ball and water jet. From birth, a child strives to learn everything new; he will definitely enjoy these spectacular and colorful experiences.
When we are dealing with schoolchildren, even first-graders, then we can go all out. At this age, children are interested in relationships, they will observe the experiment more carefully, and then look for an explanation of why it happens this way and not otherwise. Here it is possible to explain the essence of the phenomenon, the reasons for the interactions, even if not in entirely scientific terms. And when a child encounters similar phenomena during school lessons (including in high school), the teacher’s explanations will be clear to him, because he already knows this from childhood, he has personal experience in this area.
Interesting experiments for younger students
**Package pierced with pencils**
**Egg in a bottle**
Rubber egg
**– Denis, what do you advise parents in terms of the safety of home experiments?** – I would conditionally divide the experiments into three groups: harmless, experiments that require care and experiments, and the last **–** experiments that require compliance with safety precautions. If you are demonstrating how two forks rest on the end of a toothpick, then this is the first case. If you are doing an experiment with atmospheric pressure, when a glass of water is covered with a paper sheet and then turned over, then you need to be careful not to spill water on electrical appliances **–** do the experiment over the sink. When experiments involve fire, keep a container of water just in case. And if you use any reagents or chemicals (even ordinary vinegar), it is better to go out into the fresh air or into a well-ventilated area (for example, a balcony) and be sure to put on safety glasses on the child (you can use ski, construction or sunglasses).
**– Where can I get reagents and equipment?** **– ** At home, when conducting experiments with children under 10 years of age, it is best to use publicly available reagents and equipment. This is what each of us has in the kitchen: soda, salt, chicken egg, forks, glasses, liquid soap. Safety is paramount in our business. Especially if your “young chemist,” after successful experiments with you, tries to repeat the experiments on his own. Just don’t need to prohibit anything, all children are inquisitive, and the prohibition will act as an additional incentive! It is better to explain to the child why some experiments cannot be done without adults, what is certain rules, somewhere you need an open area to conduct the experiment, somewhere you need rubber gloves or goggles. **– Have there been any cases in your practice when an experiment turned into an emergency?** **– ** Well, nothing like that happened at home. But in the editorial office of “Simple Science”, incidents often happen. Once, while doing an experiment with acetone and chromium oxide, we slightly miscalculated the proportions, and the experiment almost got out of control.
And recently, while filming for the Science 2.0 channel, we had to do a spectacular experiment when 2000 table tennis balls fly out of a barrel and fall beautifully to the floor. So, the barrel turned out to be quite fragile and instead of a beautiful flight of balls, there was an explosion with a deafening roar. **– Where do you get ideas for experiments?** **–** We find ideas on the Internet, in popular science books, in the news about some interesting discoveries or unusual phenomena. The main criteria are **–** entertainment and simplicity. We try to choose experiments that are easy to repeat at home. True, sometimes we produce “delicacies” **–** experiments that require unusual devices and special ingredients, but this does not happen too often. Sometimes we consult with professionals from certain fields, for example, when we do experiments on superconductivity at low temperatures or in chemical experiments when rare reagents are required. Our viewers (whose number this month has exceeded 3 million) also help us in finding ideas, for which we, of course, thank them.
Paper, scissors, heat source.
This experiment always surprises kids, but to make it more interesting for two-year-olds, combine it with creativity. Cut out a spiral from paper, color it together with your child so that it looks like a snake, and then start “revitalizing” it. This is done very simply: place a heat source below, for example, a burning candle, an electric stove (or hob), an iron with the sole up, an incandescent lamp, a heated dry frying pan. Place a coiled snake on a string or wire above the heat source. After a few seconds, it will “come to life”: it will begin to rotate under the influence of warm air.
For children 3 years old:rain in a jar 
Three-liter jar, hot water, plate, ice.
Using this experience, it is easy to explain to a three-year-old “scientist” the simplest phenomena of nature. Fill the jar about 1/3 full hot water, better hot. Place a plate of ice on the neck of the jar. And then - everything is as in nature - the water evaporates, rises upward in the form of steam, at the top the water cools and a cloud forms, from which real rain comes. IN three-liter jar It will rain for one and a half to two minutes.
For children 4 years old:balls and rings
Alcohol, water, vegetable oil, syringe.
Four-year-old children are already wondering how everything works in nature. Show them beautiful and exciting experiment about weightlessness. On preparatory stage mix alcohol with water, you should not involve your child in this, just explain that this liquid is similar in weight to oil. After all, it is the oil that will be poured into the prepared mixture. You can take any vegetable oil, but pour it very carefully from a syringe. As a result, the oil appears to be in weightlessness and takes its natural shape - the shape of a ball. The child will be surprised to observe a round transparent ball in the water. With a four-year-old child, you can already talk about the force of gravity, which causes liquids to spill and spread, and about weightlessness, because all liquids in space look like balls. As a bonus, show your child one more trick: if you insert a rod into the ball and rotate it quickly, an oil ring will separate from the ball.
For children 5 years old:invisible ink
Milk or lemon juice, brush or feather, hot iron.
At five years old, the child probably already owns a brush. Even if he doesn't know how to write yet, he can draw a secret letter. Then the message will also be encrypted. Modern children did not read the story about Lenin and the inkwell with milk in school, but observing the properties of milk and lemon juice will be no less interesting for them than for their parents in childhood. The experience is very simple. Dip the brush in milk or lemon juice (or better yet, use both liquids, then the quality of the “ink” can be compared) and write something on a piece of paper. Then dry the writing until the paper looks clean and heat the sheet. The most convenient way to develop recordings is with an iron. Onion or apple juice is suitable as ink.
For children 6 years old:rainbow in a glass
Sugar, food coloring, several clear glasses.
The experiment may seem too simple for a six-year-old, but in fact it is worth the painstaking work for a patient “scientist.” The good thing about it is that the young scientist can do most of the manipulations himself. Three tablespoons of water and dyes are poured into four glasses; different colors are poured into different glasses. Then add a spoonful of sugar to the first glass, two spoons to the second, three to the third, and four to the fourth. The fifth glass remains empty. 3 tablespoons of water are poured into glasses placed in order and mixed thoroughly. Then a few drops of one paint are added to each glass and mixed. Remains in the fifth glass pure water without sugar and dye. Carefully pour along the blade of a knife into a glass with clean water the contents of “colored” glasses as the “sweetness” increases, that is, scientifically, the saturation of the solution. And if you did everything correctly, then there will be a small sweet rainbow in the glass. If you want to talk science, tell your child about the difference in the density of liquids, due to which the layers do not mix.
For children 7 years old:egg in a bottle
A chicken egg, a bottle of pomegranate juice, hot water or paper with matches.
The experiment is practically safe and very simple, but quite effective. The child will be able to carry out most of it himself; an adult should only help with hot water or fire.
The first step is to boil the egg and peel it. And then there are two options. The first is to pour hot water into a bottle, put an egg on top, then put the bottle in cold water(into ice) or just wait until the water cools down. The second way is to throw burning paper into the bottle and put an egg on top. The result will not be long in coming: as soon as the air or water inside the bottle cools, it will begin to shrink, and before the novice “physicist” has time to blink, the egg will be inside the bottle.
Be careful and do not trust your child to pour hot water or work with fire himself.
For children 8 years old:"Pharaoh's Snake"
Calcium gluconate, dry fuel, matches or lighter.
There are many ways to get “pharaoh snakes”. We will tell you about one that an eight-year-old child can do. The smallest and safest, but quite spectacular “snakes” are obtained from ordinary calcium gluconate tablets; they are sold in pharmacies. To make them turn into snakes, set the pills on fire. The simplest and safe way to do this is to put a few cups of calcium gluconate on a “dry fuel” tablet, which is sold in tourist stores. When burning, the tablets will begin to expand sharply and move like living reptiles due to the release of carbon dioxide, so from a scientific point of view, the experiment can be explained quite simply.
By the way, if “snakes” made from gluconate do not seem very scary to you, try making them from sugar and soda. In this version, a mound of sifted river sand is soaked in alcohol, and sugar and soda are placed in a recess on its top, then the sand is set on fire.
It would not be amiss to remind you that all manipulations with fire are carried out away from flammable objects, strictly under the supervision of an adult and very carefully.
For children 9 years old:non-Newtonian fluid
Starch, water.
This is an amazing experiment, which is easy to do, especially if the scientist is already 9. The research is serious. The goal is to obtain and study a non-Newtonian fluid. This is a substance that, when exposed to a soft influence, behaves like a liquid, and when exposed to a strong influence, exhibits the properties of a solid. In nature, quicksand behaves in a similar way. At home - a mixture of water and starch. In a bowl, combine water with corn or potato starch in a 1:2 ratio and mix well. You will see how the mixture resists when stirred quickly, and stirs when stirred gently. Throw a ball into a bowl with the mixture, lower the toy into it, and then try to pull it out sharply, take the mixture in your hands and let it calmly flow back into the bowl. You yourself can come up with many games with this amazing composition. And this is an excellent opportunity to work out with your child how molecules in different substances are connected to each other.
For children 10 years old:water desalination
Salt, water, polyethylene film, glass, pebbles, basin.
This study is best suited for those who love travel and adventure books and films. After all, while traveling, a situation may occur when the hero finds himself on the open sea without drinking water. If the traveler is already 10 and learns how to do this trick, he will not be lost. To experiment, first prepare salt water, that is, simply pour water into a deep basin and salt it “by eye” (the salt should completely dissolve). Now place a glass in our “sea”, so that the edges of the glass are slightly above the surface of the salt water, but lower than the edges of the basin, and put a clean pebble or glass ball in the glass, which will prevent the glass from floating. Cover the basin with cling film or greenhouse film and tie its edges around the basin. It should not be pulled too tightly so that it is possible to make a depression (this depression is also fixed with a stone or a glass ball). It should be just above the glass. Now all that remains is to place the basin in the sun. The water will evaporate, settle on the film and flow down the slope into the glass - this will be an ordinary drinking water, all the salt will remain in the basin. The beauty of this experience is that the child can do it completely independently.
For children 11 years old:litmus cabbage
Red cabbage, filter paper, vinegar, lemon, soda, Coca-Cola, ammonia etc.
Here the child will have the opportunity to get acquainted with real chemical terms. Any parent remembers such a thing as litmus paper from chemistry course, and will be able to explain that this is an indicator - a substance that reacts differently to the level of acidity in other substances. A child can easily make such indicator papers at home and, of course, test them by checking the acidity in various household liquids.
The easiest way to make an indicator is from regular red cabbage. Grate the cabbage and squeeze out the juice, then soak filter paper with it (available at a pharmacy or wine shop). The cabbage indicator is ready. Now cut the pieces of paper smaller and place them in different liquids that you can find at home. All that remains is to remember which color corresponds to which acidity level. In an acidic environment the paper will turn red, in a neutral environment it will turn green, and in an alkaline environment it will turn blue or purple. As a bonus, try making “alien” scrambled eggs by adding red cabbage juice to the egg white before frying. At the same time, you will find out what level of acidity is in a chicken egg.