Science is a subject which allows children and adults to continuously learn, investigate, and explore new information in a fun way. There are many areas of science and thousands of fun do-it-yourself experiments.
Whether looking for experiments to do at home or in the classroom, here are suggestions of fun do-it-yourself science experiments:
1. Create your own play dough
Ingredients
1 cup of flour
cup of salt
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 teaspoons cream of tartar
Food coloring
Directions
Mix all of the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. When the dough rolls into a ball, it’s ready for the food coloring. Add any desired color and then take the play dough off of the heat. Once cooled, it’s ready to play with.
To keep the play dough fresh and malleable, keep it in an airtight container or a plastic baggy.
2. Plastic bag ice cream
Ingredients
For one person
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons of salt
4 cups crushed ice
1 quart-sized plastic sealable bags
1 gallon-sized plastic sealable freezer bag
Directions
In the quart-sized bag, mix the milk, vanilla, and sugar. Seal the bag and let stand. Place this bag into the gallon-sized plastic bag and make sure the quart-sized bag remains sealed. Add ice and salt into the freezer bag and seal tightly. Now begin to knead the bag for five to six minutes ensuring that the ice surrounds the milk, vanilla, sugar mixture. Once the inside baggy is frozen, the ice cream is ready.
3. Create lemon light
Ingredients
For one person
1 lemon
1 zinc electrode a galvanized zinc-coated screw, nail, or a penny made after 1982
1 copper electrode a penny dated before 1982
1 LED light bulb
Copper wire long enough to create a circuit
Directions
Stick the zinc electrode into the lemon, which makes this the negative electrode. Stick the copper electrode on the opposite side and this is now the positive electrode. Then connect the lemons together with the copper wire. Connect the LED light bulb to the two electrodes with copper wire – the wire sticking out of the flat side of the light bulb should be connected to the negative zinc side, and the wire sticking out of the round side should be connected to the positive copper side. Then watch the light turn on.
With these easy, do-it-yourself experiments your friends, family members, and you can have hours of fun.
