Meet Selenga!
Safety First
Before you begin, remember:
- Always do experiments with an adult
- These experiments use food items — don't eat them
- Wear safety glasses and an apron if you have them
- Protect your work area with newspaper
Experiment 1: Volcano Eruption
What you need: Baking soda, vinegar, dish soap, food coloring, plastic container
How to do it:
- Pour 3 tablespoons of baking soda into the container
- Add 5 drops of red food coloring
- Mix in 2 tablespoons of dish soap
- Pour vinegar on top and watch it erupt!
Why it happens: Baking soda (a base) and vinegar (an acid) react together and create carbon dioxide gas. The dish soap turns this gas into colorful foam.
Wonder question: What happens if you use more baking soda? Does the eruption get bigger?
Experiment 2: Oil and Water Don't Mix
What you need: Clear bottle, water, cooking oil, food coloring
How to do it:
- Fill the bottle halfway with water
- Add a few drops of food coloring
- Pour cooking oil on top
- Seal and shake it up
Why it happens: Water and oil have different densities. Oil is lighter, so it always floats on top. They simply refuse to blend together!
Experiment 3: Color Mixing Magic
What you need: 3 clear glasses, water, yellow and blue food coloring
How to do it:
- Fill each glass with water
- Add yellow coloring to one glass, blue to another, leave one plain
- Pour some yellow water into the blue glass
- Watch the color change
The challenge: What color appears? Try other combinations — what happens when you mix red and yellow?
Experiment 4: Ice Melting Race
What you need: 3 ice cubes, salt, sugar, a flat surface
How to do it:
- Place three ice cubes on a flat surface
- Sprinkle salt on one, sugar on another, leave one alone
- Which one melts first?
Why it works: Salt lowers the freezing point of ice, making it melt faster. This is why cities use salt on roads in winter!
Experiment 5: Paper Tower Challenge
What you need: 10 sheets of paper, tape, scissors
Your mission: Build the tallest tower possible using only paper.
Building tips: Roll paper into cylinders, create triangular bases, stack layers for strength.
The science connection: Engineers design structures the same way — they experiment, learn from failures, and try again.
Experiment 6: Rainbow Light
What you need: Clear glass of water, white paper, sunlight
How to do it:
- Place the glass in front of a sunny window
- Hold white paper behind it
- Look at the light reflecting through
Did you see a rainbow? Sunlight actually contains all colors mixed together. Water separates it into its individual colors.
Experiment 7: Which Way Does a Plant Face?
What you need: Potted plant, sunny windowsill
Week-long observation:
- Place your plant by the window
- Watch it every day
- Which direction do the leaves turn?
After 4 days, rotate the plant 180 degrees. What happens next? Plants naturally turn toward sunlight — scientists call this "phototropism."
Experiment 8: Make Your Own Compass
What you need: Needle, magnet, water-filled bowl, small foam piece or paper
How to do it:
- Stroke the needle with the magnet 30-40 times in the same direction (this magnetizes it)
- Place the needle on a small foam piece
- Float it in the water bowl
- The needle will spin and point north!
Test it: Compare your homemade compass with a real one. Do they point the same way?
Keep a Science Journal
After each experiment, write down:
- The experiment name
- What materials you used
- What you did step by step
- What happened
- Why you think it happened
This is exactly how real scientists work!
Questions Parents Ask
I can't find all the materials. Don't worry! Every experiment uses minimal, common household items. Most are already in your kitchen.
The experiment didn't work the way we expected. That's perfectly fine! In science, unexpected results are still valuable. Ask your child: "Why do you think that happened?"
My child wants to do more experiments. Wonderful! Each experiment ends with a "wonder question" — use those to explore further together.
A Note for Parents
These experiments don't need to work "perfectly" to be successful. The process matters far more than the result. Asking "What do you think happened and why?" teaches real scientific thinking — something much more valuable than getting the "right" answer.