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4 Activities To Do With Your Budding Chemist

If your kids are ANYTHING like mine, they LOVE mixing things together.  Every kid should come with a t-shirt that says, I LOVE MIXING THINGS AND MAKING A MESS! I am going to give you 4 activities you can do with  your budding little chemist.

Tip #1:  Read an Inspiring Children’s STEM Book

On our last library trip, I checked out the book, Ada Twist, Scientist.  Andrea Beaty has three STEM books Ada Twist, Scientist, Rosie Revere, Engineer, and Iggy Peck, Architect.  And the kids enjoyed it! After reading Ada Twist, Scientist, my son said that he wish we could keep it.

 

The book is about a little girl who doesn’t speak until she is three years old, BUT when she does start talking, she questions EVERYTHING!   I think it is a good read for both parents and kids.  Ada’s parents get frustrated with her testing everything.  So it is a lesson to parents to be patient with a child who wants to experiment.  We should give our kids some liberty to tinker and to experiment if we really want to encourage them to be little scientists.

For the child, it shows them that it is ok to ask lots of questions, and it’s ok to try to figure out answers to questions through trial and error.

This book has great illustrations.

 

Tip #2:  Do a Simple Science Experiment that Doesn’t Require Much Prep

One of the most common science experiments is the exploding volcano.  When you think there’s no way your kids will want to do this experiment again, you may be surprised at their enthusiasm to do it yet again (particularly if you have small children).  For an easy volcano experiment get a plastic cup, a plate, some tape, and some aluminum foil.  Attach the aluminum foil to the cup and then attach the other end to the plate as shown to create an easy volcano! I didn’t have any paper plates, so I just took some cardboard and cut out a large circle to act as our plate. 🙂

I bought some large aluminum pans from Dollar Tree so the mess from the exploding volcanos could be somewhat contained.  Then get some vinegar, baking soda, and don’t forget the food coloring and let your kids have at it!  My kids played for a long time with these simple volcanoes.

Tip#3: Let Your Kids Make Healthy Alternative to Kool-Aid

Growing up, we drank a lot of Kool-aid, and boy was it good.  However, it is not very healthy.  Needless to say, my kids haven’t had much kool-aid.  But what a great idea to let your kids make a healthy alternative to kool-aid.  Recently I purchased an elderberry kit and the kit came with a sample packet where it was suggested that the sample could be an alternative to kool-aid.  The sample had in it hibiscus and nettle.  On Pinterest, I found a blog post that has all kinds of ideas of different things your can put in your kool-aid alternative such as raspberry leaf, orange peel, lemon peel, and rosehips.  I am sure there are many more things you can try.  To see the bloggers recipe for her drink you can check out her post here.

Tip #4: Let Your Kids Do Some Investigative Research

At the end of last year, I tried my hand for the first time making elderberry syrup.  Elderberry syrup is supposed to boost your immunity.  On one of the times I wanted to make some, I decided to enlist the help of my kids.  Kids love pouring things together and making something new!  Check out my blog post about Making Elderberry Syrup with your kids. 

BUT don’t stop at just letting your kids make the elderberry syrup BUT ALSO let your kids do a little investigative research to learn about the benefits of elderberry syrup. For example, let your children do research on the benefits of things such as elderberries, ginger, clove, rosehips, and raw honey.  Let them LEARN why the elderberry syrup boosts helps to boost your immunity.

So start with the book Ada Twist, Scientist, and then let your kids EXPLORE, EXPLORE, and EXPLORE!