Today my son ran up to me and said he wanted to do an "Experiment." It took me a minute to figure out what exactly he meant by that, but basically he wanted to mix a whole bunch of ingredients together and then add baking soda and vinegar. So I sent both of my kids outside with a bowl and a whisk. Read on to learn how to do this fun science activity with your preschooler!
Kids are born scientists! Like a good scientist, they love observing and figuring out why things happen. By observing the natural world and experimenting with different ways of interacting with it children are making creative connections. Here is a fun exercise that is sure to delight even the youngest scientist!
Every kid loves watching the reaction of baking soda and vinegar being mixed together. If you do it once, they will ask for it again and again. This activity provides them with an opportunity to mix a variety of other ingredients in as well. Stand back and watch them have a blast collecting, measuring, mixing and experimenting!
Supplies: Mixing bowl, mixing utensil and vinegar and baking soda. Give each kid a bowl and tell them to go outside and fill up their bowl with as many ingredients as possible from nature. Suggest things like: dirt, flowers, grass, rocks, etc.
To practice reading you could send them outside with a shopping list and boxes for them to check. Tell them that once they have all their ingredients they can bring it back to you and you will give them the secret ingredients (vinegar and baking soda). You could even add in measurements and send them out with measuring cups and spoons!
At Halloween time you can call this a witches brew. You can also give them various spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg or curry powder to mix in for fun smells. And lastly, to really spice it up you could add a couple of drops of food coloring to the bubbling brew!
This makes for a great after nap, or after school activity. Keep everything outside to avoid a mess in the house!