30 science experiments with kitchen supplies
Every experiment here uses things from a kitchen or a supply closet: baking soda, vinegar, salt, food coloring, paper towels, cups. Each one says what to do, what students should notice and the question to ask. An adult does anything hot or sharp, students wear goggles wherever a liquid could splash, and food stays out of mouths unless your school allows it and you have checked allergies.
Fizz and bubbles
1. Baking soda fizz
Put a spoonful of baking soda in the cup and pour in a little vinegar. Ask students what they see and hear, and what they think the bubbles are filled with. (A gas: carbon dioxide.)
Grades K–5You need Baking soda, vinegar, a clear cup on a tray, goggles
2. Fizz fills a balloon
Pour vinegar into the bottle and use the funnel to put baking soda in the balloon. Stretch the balloon over the neck, then lift it so the soda drops in. Ask where the gas that fills the balloon came from.
Grades 2–5You need A latex-free balloon, a small bottle, baking soda, vinegar, a funnel
3. Dancing raisins
Drop a few raisins into the sparkling water and watch them sink, rise and sink again as bubbles gather on them and pop at the top. Raisins are for watching, not eating.
Grades K–3You need Raisins, a clear cup of plain sparkling water
4. Cabbage color test
An adult chops the cabbage and pours hot water over it, then strains the purple liquid once it cools. Students add a little to cups of vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda water, and record the color each one turns.
Grades 3–8You need Red cabbage, hot water, cups, vinegar, baking soda water, lemon juice, goggles
5. Secret lemon message
Students write a message in lemon juice and let it dry until it disappears. An adult warms the paper with a hair dryer on hot until the writing turns brown. Ask why the lemon juice changes and the paper doesn't.
Grades 2–5You need Lemon juice, a cotton swab, white paper, a hair dryer
6. Oil and water won't mix
Fill the jar with water and oil, add a drop of food coloring and screw on the lid. Shake it, then watch the two layers separate. Ask which liquid floats and why it might.
Grades K–5You need A clear jar with a lid, water, cooking oil, food coloring
7. Salt lava lamp
Fill the cup two-thirds with colored water and top it with oil. Sprinkle salt on top and watch blobs of oil sink with the salt, then float back up as the salt dissolves.
Grades 2–5You need A tall clear cup, water, oil, food coloring, salt
Water
8. Sink or float
Students predict whether each object will sink or float, write or draw the prediction, then test it. Sort the objects afterward and ask what the floaters have in common.
Grades K–2You need A tub of water and ten classroom objects
9. The floating egg
Put an egg in plain water and watch it sink. Stir lots of salt into the second cup, then add the other egg, which floats. Ask what the salt changed. Check for egg allergies, and wash hands afterward.
Grades 3–8You need Two tall cups, warm water, salt, raw eggs
10. Walking water
Put red water in one cup, blue in another and an empty cup between them, then bridge them with folded paper towel strips. Over a few hours the colors climb the paper and mix to purple in the middle cup.
Grades K–5You need Three clear cups, paper towels, red and blue food coloring
11. Drops on a coin
Students predict how many drops of water fit on a coin before it spills, then count. They will see the water dome up above the coin's edge and can talk about why it holds together.
Grades 3–8You need A coin, a dropper, a cup of water
12. Pepper scatter
Sprinkle pepper over the water. A student touches the middle with a dry finger (nothing happens), then with a finger dipped in soap, and the pepper rushes to the edges.
Grades K–5You need A plate of water, ground pepper, dish soap
13. Ice melt race
Sprinkle salt on one ice cube, sugar on another, sand on a third and leave one plain. Check every five minutes and record which melts fastest. Ask why roads get salted in winter.
Grades 2–8You need Ice cubes on plates, salt, sugar, sand, the timerUse 5 minute timer
14. Where did the water go
Pour water into a tray by a sunny window and trace the water's edge on the tray each hour. Students see it shrink and talk about where the water went (into the air).
Grades K–3You need A shallow tray of water and a marker
Color and light
15. Marker color split
Draw a thick dot near the bottom of a strip and dip just the end in water. As the water climbs, the black ink separates into other colors. Compare different brands of marker side by side.
Grades 2–8You need Coffee filters cut into strips, washable black markers, a cup of water
16. Make a rainbow
Set the glass of water on a sunny windowsill with white paper on the floor below. Move the paper until a small rainbow appears. Ask where the colors came from.
Grades K–5You need A clear glass of water, a sunny window, white paper
17. Mixing colors
Children add drops of two colors to clear water and predict the new color before they look. Record the results on a chart: red and yellow, yellow and blue, blue and red.
Grades Pre-K–2You need Cups of water, red, yellow and blue food coloring, droppers
18. The bending pencil
Stand a pencil in the glass and look from the side: the pencil seems broken at the water line. Students draw what they see and talk about light changing direction in water.
Grades 2–5You need A clear glass of water and a pencil
Plants and food
19. Celery drinks color
An adult trims the celery ends with a knife. Stand the stalks in colored water overnight. Next day the leaves are tinted, and an adult can cut a stalk across to show the colored tubes inside.
Grades K–5You need Celery stalks with leaves, cups of colored water
20. Bean in a bag
Fold the bean inside the damp towel, seal it in the bag and tape it to a window. Students draw it every two days on a plant log as the root and shoot appear.
Grades K–3You need A dry bean, a damp paper towel, a clear sealable bag, tapeUse Plant growth log
21. Why apples turn brown
An adult slices the apple. Leave one slice plain, dip one in water and one in lemon juice. Check every fifteen minutes and record which browns first. Check allergies; the apple is for observing.
Grades 2–5You need An apple, lemon juice, water, plates
22. Yeast blows up a balloon
Mix yeast and a spoonful of sugar into warm (not hot) water in the bottle and stretch the balloon over the top. Over half an hour the balloon slowly fills. Ask what the yeast is doing.
Grades 3–8You need Dry yeast, sugar, warm tap water, a small bottle, a latex-free balloon
23. Shake cream into butter
Fill the jar a third with cream, close it tightly and pass it around the circle, each child shaking it. After several minutes it thickens and then turns to butter and liquid. Check for dairy allergies first.
Grades K–3You need Heavy cream, a small jar with a tight lid
Forces and motion
24. Balloon rocket
Thread string through the straw and tie it across the room. Blow up the balloon, hold the end closed, tape it to the straw and let go. Measure how far it travels, then try a bigger balloon.
Grades 2–8You need A latex-free balloon, a drinking straw, string, tape
25. Ramp and roll
Prop the ramp on one book and let the car roll, then measure how far it goes. Add a book at a time and record the distance. Ask what changed and why.
Grades K–5You need A board or stiff cardboard, books, a small toy car, a tape measure
26. Paper bridge
Lay a flat sheet across two cups and add coins until it sags. Then fold a new sheet into a zigzag and try again. Students compare how many coins each shape holds.
Grades 2–8You need Paper, two cups, coins
27. Pendulum swings
Tape the string to a desk edge and count how many swings the washer makes in thirty seconds. Change only the length of the string and count again. Ask what the length changed.
Grades 3–8You need A washer tied to string, tape, the stopwatchUse Stopwatch
Air and charge
28. Paper airplane test
Everyone folds the same simple plane and throws it from a line. Then each student changes one thing, such as the wing fold or a paper clip on the nose, and measures again.
Grades 3–8You need Paper, a tape measure
29. Water in a straw
Dip a straw in the water, cover the top with a finger and lift it out: the water stays in. Lift your finger and it falls. Ask what is holding it up.
Grades K–5You need A drinking straw and a cup of water
30. Static pick-up
Rub the balloon on the scarf, then hold it just above the paper bits and watch them jump up. Try it on a dry day; it works poorly when the air is damp.
Grades K–5You need A latex-free balloon, a wool scarf, small bits of paper
Making it work
- Try every experiment yourself the day before. Five minutes of practice shows you what can go wrong.
- An adult does anything hot or sharp: boiling water, knives, the hair dryer on hot. Students wear goggles wherever a liquid could splash, and everything happens on trays.
- Food is for observing, not eating, unless your school's food policy allows it and you have checked every student's allergies. Use latex-free balloons.
- Ask students to predict before they test and to write down what actually happened. The gap between the two is where the questions come from.
- Change only one thing at a time when students compare results, and say so out loud: the same ramp, the same car, one more book.
Questions teachers ask
- Which of these experiments are safest for kindergarten?
- Sink or float, mixing colors, walking water, pepper scatter, making a rainbow and the ramp and roll. They use only water, paper and classroom objects. Even so, keep liquids on trays and an adult at each table.
- Do I need goggles for baking soda and vinegar?
- It's a good habit. Vinegar stings if it splashes in an eye, and the fizz can spray. Goggles also make students treat the experiment as science rather than play.
- How do I fit an experiment into a short lesson?
- Set up trays for each group before the lesson, keep the instructions to three steps on the board, and save the talk for the end. Many of these take ten minutes; walking water, celery and bean in a bag run overnight or longer.
Written for teachers by Peabody Teach. No ads, no affiliate links. Something wrong or missing? Tell us.