We love fun science experiments, science activities and science projects that are easy enough to do at home. Today we have a list of fun ways to learn and explore science experiments with your little scientist. Don’t be intimidated, these science projects for kids use things that you already have around the house.
EASY SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS
You can set up a learning laboratory anywhere…on the back porch, on the driveway, on the sidewalk, on the kitchen counter, in the laundry room, or even in the bathtub!
Related: Science games for kids & Egg Test: Spin, to Find Out if an Egg is Raw or Boiled.
Here is a list of our favorite easy kids science experiments (or science activities) that don’t require fancy equipment or supplies. We created the list for home, but these science projects for kids also work great in the classroom.
Easy Science Experiments for kids at home (or in the classroom!)
1. Paper Bridge Science Activity
Build a bridge with two plastic cups and construction paper and test your hypothesis of how many pennies it can hold before the bridge collapses.
2. Homemade Kazoo Activity
Explore sound with a homemade kazoo made with simple items you’ve got in your kitchen!
3. Cattail Science Craft For Preschool Kids
Perfect for the spring, learn about plant growth spurts and how seeds spread from plants to grow new ones.
4. STEM Marble Run
Create a marble run to learn about physics. Make predictions about what will happen each time you make a change to the track.
5. Seesaw Science Experiment
Explore the relationship between a lever and fulcrum by launching ping pong ball with a homemade lever. This is perfect for all ages.
6. Doppler Effect Science Project
Use a wire hanger and a string to make this simple activity to teach sounds waves.
7. Milk and Food Coloring Experiment
Try this experiment with milk and food coloring to see what happens when you add in grease-cutting dish detergent. Make predictions and discover what happens!
8. Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiment
This fun and colorful experiment teaches chemical reactions with just a few ingredients you’ve got in your kitchen!
9. Science Experiments With Water
Talk about water absorption with your kids then test their theories by taking items around your house and placing them in water.
10. Sink or Float Experiment
Here is one of the most simple fun science activities you can do with your kids. Grab a few things from around the house and a bucket of water and guess which will sink and which will float.
11. Chemical Reaction Experiments
Learn about more chemical reactions by turning a penny green. There is also a free printable to track your observations!
12. Plant Project Ideas
Observe a plant bulb growing by watching it slowly grow in your house for a month.
13. Dancing Raisins Experiment
Mesmerize your kids by making raisins dance! See what happens when you add carbonated water to raisins.
14. Paper Chromatography Experiment
Explore chromatography using coffee filters and markers. Your kids will love this!
15. Science Experiments With Tea Bags
Using recycled materials and a tea bag, you can make your own rocket!
Science Experiments in the kitchen
16. Squeeze an Egg Experiment
Have you ever considered how strong an egg shell actually is to protect the baby chick? We always think of egg shells as fragile, but kids can learn more about how strong an egg is too through this science experiment that answers the question, “Can you break an egg with your hand?”
17. Use Cabbage as a pH Test
Kids can learn all about pH science in this fun kitchen experiment using red cabbage. Yes, it needs to be RED!
18. Let’s Learn About Germs
In this germ science experiment kids can see and grow their own food bacteria for an eye opening lesson in keeping things clean!
19. Make Candy DNA
Kids of all ages can learn about the structure of DNA on the kitchen counter through this candy DNA model building project that is as fun to build as to eat.
Fun Outdoor Science Experiments for Kids
20. Build a volcano
We think outside is the best place to make a homemade volcano with simple things you have in your kitchen plus a little dirt from your backyard!
21. Sunscreen Painting Activity
In this sunscreen experiment kids can use the sun for their next art project. So much fun and learning!
22. Fizzing sidewalk paint
Make your own fizzing sidewalk paint through the scientific magic of baking soda and vinegar reactions…oh, and it is delightfully fun!
23. Explore soda
There are so many fun soda experiments science experiment for kids that will have your driveway popping with color.
GRAVITY SCIENCE ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS
24. Host an egg drop
Grab some of our favorite egg drop ideas for your next science competition…even if you are hosting it in the backyard.
25. Host a paper airplane flying competition
First make a paper airplane and then challenge yourself or others into a STEM flying competition…watch out for gravity!
EASY SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
Kids are super curious and science is the perfect way to entertain them while learning and having a really good time. These science activities are great for kids of all ages:
->Science Activities For Toddlers
A lot of supervision and direction is needed from the adult and the toddler science activity is more about what will happen and less about why it did.
->Science Activities For Preschoolers
Again, a lot of supervision and direction is needed from the adult and the preschool science activity is about what will happen and then playing with what did happen. Kids at this age may start to question how.
->Science Activities For Kindergartners
Supervision is necessary, but the direction of what is happening is shifted more to the child. Let the child explore (safely) within the perimeters of the science activity and talk about what is happening and why.
->Science Activities For Elementary School and Beyond
These activities make great inclusions into science lesson plans and the basis for science projects. Everything in science can be just the start of the exploration of knowledge!
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WE WROTE THE BOOK ON SCIENCE {GIGGLE} EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS!
Our book, The 101 Coolest Simple Science Experiments, features tons of awesome activities just like this one that will keep your kids engaged while they learn. How awesome is that?!
SCIENCE PROJECTS FOR KIDS FAVORITE SUPPLY KITS
These science kits make it simple and easy to start experimenting right away! Here are a few of our favorites!
- Tasty Science Kit – Learn why soda pop fizzes and why cakes rise!
- Weather Science Kit – Understand how the weather works; thunder, lightning, clouds and more!
- Trash Robot Kit – This helps you to build a robot with recycled items at home.
- Volcano Making Kit – Make a 4-Inch tall erupting volcano!
Related: Teacher Appreciation Week <–everything you need
SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FOR KIDS FAQS
The good news is that 4 year olds are the perfect combination of curiosity and play making them the perfect age for simple science experiments. Every single simple science experiment on this list can work for a 4 year old with proper supervision. Don’t worry about overwhelming a 4 year old with science facts or theory. Simply do one or more of these simple science experiments and see what happens. Talk about why the child THINKS it happened and have a conversation from there!
Start with #1 – building a paper bridge, #7 – colorful milk experiment or #10 – sink or float. These are easy science activities to set up and use things you likely already have around the house. Have some fun with simple science experiments!
Check out our big list of the best science fair (50 Cool Science Fair Project Ideas for Elementary to High School Kids) ideas for kids! But the most amazing thing about the best science fair projects is they start with a simple idea and build. You could start with any one of the things on this list of easy science experiments and use it as the foundation for curiosity for your next science project.
more Fun Science from Kids Activities Blog
- Science doesn’t have to be overly complex! Try these simple kitchen science for kids.
- Learn about physics with these inertia experiments for kids.
- Take the stress out of the science fair with these elementary schools science fair projects.
- Fuel your child’s love for physical science and engineering with these simple catapults.
- Make a cool electromagnetic train
- Reach for the stars with these outer space activities.
- Learn about acids and bases with this awesome tie dye experiment.
- This science fair project on how easy germs spread is perfect considering the pandemic at hand.
- As are these hand washing science fair projects as it shows the importance of washing your hands thoroughly.
- If you don’t like those projects, we have plenty of other science fair poster ideas.
- Still wanting something else? We’ve got plenty of awesome science projects!
- Your little ones will love these hands-on playdough science experiments.
- Get festive with these spooky Halloween science experiments!
- Candy corn is a controversial candy, but it is perfect for this candy corn science experiment.
- These cool edible science experiments make science delicious!
- Want more science activities for kids? We’ve got them!
- Check out these fun science experiments for preschoolers!
- What about some themed experiments? here are som dr seuss science activities
Which science experiments for kids are you going to start with first??
Science is one of the resonances of world development
Yes, science is SO important, and it’s great to get kids interested at a young age, with fun STEM activities at home!
These are awesome. Thanks! I may do some with my kids, I also let them read fun science slogans. I can share a few of them with you if thats okay
So fun! If you are looking for more simple, fun science activities, visit my youtube channel or website for more free ideas https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2RVACfUSdJhvrg0Mh43q8TmwkUn0KjXx or supersciencegirl.com
Such a cute idea. Hi I would also like to share this E learning application that will surely help your child improve their knowledge and academic skills. We also offer tutorial services to guide your child throughout the learning journey. For more info please visit https://techhubcorp.com/solaro/
Thanks for sharing!
#12 Bulb Planting link is the wrong one.
Cool very handy 4 us