Whether you need new ideas for school or you’re simply curious and like experiments, take a look at our list of 15 cool experiments to do at home with household items.
Experimenting is so much fun. Remember those days when you were a kid? As kids, we are curious all the time and every toy we get must be inspected and carefully analyzed. Of course, that most often meant that those toys were destroyed but nevertheless, we wanted to know what’s inside. Nothing seems forbidden to us and everything can be turned into a fun experiment. Children are simply inquisitive just like cute little scientists and that is a feature that should be treasured because it’s valuable. Unfortunately, many of us tend to lose that feature later on in life due to many other responsibilities and problems. As kids, we don’t really have anything to worry about, we’re as free and unprejudiced as we’ll ever be. Our minds are open and free.
Pixabay/Public Domain
So, together with all the duties and responsibilities that come with age, we slowly lose interest in exploring things around us and we focus on ourselves instead. Our emotional problems or work related problems don’t really leave much space for experimenting. The curiosity we once knew simply fades away. So what are we to do about it?
Well, it may be a little bit too late for us but for starters, we can help kids maintain their interest in science and experimenting by encouraging them to engage in such activities. Why not use the potential children have to help them develop into real scientists? Who knows what they can achieve with proper support and encouragement! And you don’t have to look far to do so, you can make all sorts of experiments at home with everyday items.
If you are looking for ways to amuse and educate your kids with cool experiments, then you’ve come to the right place. If you are interested in physics, check out our list of Simple Physics Experiments with Everyday Materials. If you or child prefer chemistry, we have a solution for that too. Find what you need with our Simple Chemistry Experiments with Everyday materials.
If you want to try some cool experiments, we have that too. Searching through the Internet, and with the help of Science Bob, among many useful sources we’ve find, we have selected the 15 cool experiments to do at home with household items.
15. Foamy Fountain
You will need safety goggles, food coloring, small cup, a 16 ounce plastic bottle, hydrogen peroxide liquid, 1 packet of dry yeast, 2 tablespoons of warm water, and dishwashing soap.
First, make sure you put your goggles on and then carefully pour the hydrogen peroxide into the bottle. After that, add 8 drops of food coloring and 1 tablespoon of dish soap into the bottle and mix it a little bit. Combine the warm water and yeast in a separate small cup and mix for 30 seconds. When you start pouring the yeast mixture into the bottle, it foaminess will begin. Yeast helped remove the oxygen from the hydrogen peroxide thus creating lots of bubbles.
14. Your Own Volcano
You need a volcano made of plaster or a mound of dirt, a small container that goes into the volcano (you can use a baby food jar), red and yellow coloring, vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap.
To avoid cleaning the house after this experiment, you can go outside and make the volcano. Put the container in the volcano at the top and then add two spoonfuls of baking soda. Then add a spoonful of dish soap and the add a few drops of food coloring. Finally, add an ounce of vinegar into the container and observe how your volcano starts to work. In this experiment, you can see how a chemical reaction triggers a physical eruption.
13. A Color Symphony
You will need a flat tray, whole milk, food coloring of different colors, and liquid dish soap.
Slowly pour the milk into the flat baking tray to cover the bottom. Now add about 6-8 drops of food coloring but in different spots. Then add about 5 drops of dish soap onto the food coloring spots and watch what happens. Dish soap can break down the fat and that is what is happening in this experiment. While trying to do so, it causes colors to mix and create a beautiful display of colors.
12. A Density Experiment That You Can Drink
You will need juices of different densities, a narrow glass, an eye dropper (or turkey type baster) for the number 12 on our list of cool experiments to do at home with household items.
Before you start, you need to know which juices are most and least dense. Now pour one of the juices to fill the glass up to 1 inch high. Use the dropper to slowly pour another juice so that it runs down the side of the glass. Will it go bellow or above the previous juice? Continue pouring different juices to determine whether they go down (the ones that are denser should go down) or remain on top. If juice simply mixes with another juice and doesn’t go anywhere, it means they have the same density. Now that you know the densities of different juices, you can create a colorful fun drink.
11. Blow Up a Baloon
You will need some warm water, a small clean plastic soda bottle, a packet of yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and a small balloon.
First, you need to fill the bottle p with bout 1 inch of warm water. Then add the yeast and carefully swirl the bottle so the yeast can dissolve. Then add the sugar and swirl the bottle again a little bit. The yeast is now active. Now all you need to do is blow up a balloon a few times to stretch it, then attach the neck of the balloon over the neck of the bottle and let it sit about 20 minutes. Make sure the place is warm. Now watch the magic as the balloon will start to inflate.
10. The Magic Ketchup Experiment
You will need a 1 liter plastic bottle without any labels, a ketchup pack from a fast food restaurant, and salt.
Fill the bottle up with water and then add the pack of ketchup to the bottle. Make sure you screw the cap on the bottle and then squeeze the sides of the bottle. If you ketchup sinks when you squeeze it and floats when you release it, then the experiment is successful. With a little practice, you can make it stop in the middle of the bottle.
9. A Glowing Beverage
For the next one on the list of cool experiments to do at home with household items you will need tonic water or tonic cubes, and a glass of Sprite or similar drink.
Make some ice cubes using tonic water and then add them to a glass of Sprite or another drink that is light colored. Now you need darkness so switch on the blacklight and watch the magic. The quinine in tonic water glows in the dark and it creates a very beautiful blue color. It’s a perfect, magical drink!
8. A Static Powdered Dancing Ghost
You will need a tissue paper, a balloon, and scissors.
Peel apart layers of tissue until only one is left. Now cut them in the shape of a ghost (you can make several ghosts). Next, blow up a balloon and tie it and then rub it fast through your hair to add static charge. When you slowly bring the balloon near the ghost it will start to rise towards the balloon. If the balloon is charged well, you can control the ghost from a few inches away.
7. Create Invisible Ink
You will need half a lemon, water, spoon, bowl, cotton bud, white paper, and a lamp or other light bulb.
Need a cool experiment to do at home with household items? What’s cooler than making invisible ink! Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl, then add a few drops of water and mix it. Take the cotton bud, dip it in the mixture and then write a message on white paper. When it dries, it becomes completely invisible. To read your message or to show it to your friends, heat it by holding it close to a light bulb or lamp. Pretty cool!
6. Color Your Flowers
We are continuing our list of cool experiments to do at home with household items and for the next one, you will need carnation, food coloring, small cups, and water.
If you want to color your own carnation then first choose the color you want. Fill the cup with water and then add food coloring. Place the stem of the carnation in the colored water. Now you need to wait and observe how the color starts to emerge in the petals and leaves of the flower. Sometimes it can only take a few hours for the color to emerge.
5. Make a Baloon Rocket
You will need a balloon (preferably a longer one), 1 piece of kite string, 1 plastic straw, and tape for the number 5 on the list of cool experiments to do at home with household items.
Tie one end of the string to a chair or a door knob and put the other end of the string through the straw. Pull the string tight and then tie it to another support like a door knob or a chair. Now blow up the balloon and pinch the end of it while taping the balloon to the straw. Now let go and watch your rocket fly!
4. A Soap Powered Model Boat
For the number 4 no our list of cool experiments to do at home with household items you will need a foam tray, a tray, a bowl, liquid dish soap, and a toothpick.
First, you need to cut the foam tray into a boat shape about 2 inches long. Take the toothpick, dip it in the dish soap and apply the soap onto the sides of the notch at the back of the boat. You’ve made your boat and now carefully place it on the surface of the water and watch it scoop across the water. Soap helps break down the surface tension so there is enough force to push the boat.
3. Your Own Rock Candy
For the next one on the list of cool experiments to do at home with household items, you will need a clean wooden chopstick or a skewer, a cup of water, a clothespin, 2-3 cups of sugar, and a narrow glass or a jar.
Clip the wooden chopstick or skewer into the clothespin so that it hangs down inside the glass. Remove them until later. Pour water into a pan and let it boil. Pour ¼ cup of sugar in the water and stir until it dissolves. Continue to add sugar and stir each time until it dissolves. Carefully pour the solution (with the help of an adult) almost to the top and then submerge the skewer. Let the jar cool and wait about 3-7 days until the sugar crystals grow. You can also add food coloring to your solution if you want a colored rock candy.
2. Cut Ice Cubes in Half
You will need an ice cube, a piece of fishing line with a weight tied to each side, a tray, and a container for the number two on our list of cool experiments to do at home with household items.
Turn the container upside down and then put it on a tray. Place the ice cube on top of the container, and rest the fishing line over the ice cube with weight left dangling over the side of the container. Now observe for about 5 minutes as the pressure from the weights pulls the string through the ice by melting it.
Pixabay/Public Domain
1. Make an Electromagnet
You will need a large iron nail, a fresh D size battery, thin coated copper wire (about 3 feet), and some paper clips.
Our last experiment among 15 cool experiments to do at home with household items is not difficult to do and is pretty cool. Wrap the copper wire around the nail leaving about 8 inches of it loose at one end. Next, remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach one end of the wire to one end of the battery (using tape), and the other end of the wire with the other end of the battery. You have made your electromagnet! Now put the point of the nail near some paper clips and observe how it picks them up.
