Fun Kitchen Science Activities

How can you do kitchen science? The kitchen is a great place for science! There are so many science demonstrations and experiments to do in the kitchen that it is hard to start.

Here are some reasons the kitchen is good for science. The place is easy to clean. Materials are inexpensive and ready available. The kitchen had a stove, a dark cupboard, and a freezer. There is also a ready source of water.

A Warning

Because in kitchen science you are using a hot stove and hot materials do not do the demonstrations or experiments with out adult supervision. Cooked sugar can cause serious burns. If not done properly making ginger-ale can be dangerous.

Kitchen Science Demonstrations

Here are some easy kitchen science demonstrations that you can do.

• Show your young children the properties of water. Boil water to make steam. Freeze some water to make ice.
• Show what happens when you add vinegar to baking soda.
• Grow crystals out of sugar, table salt, or Epson's salt.
• Find out what items sink and float in water.
• Use food color in water or gelatin to mix colors.
• Watch yeast grow. Place a package of yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water. You can use yeast to make bread or ginger-ale.
• Make butter out of cream. Add 1/2 cup cream to a small container with a tight fitting lid. Shake the container.
• Make candy. You can find a candy recipes online.
• Dissolve an egg or chicken bones in vinegar. Explain that the vinegar dissolved the calcium in the egg and bones.

Experiments that You Can Do In the Kitchen

Most kitchen science ideas are really just demonstrations. If you want to do an experiment you will have to change something. You can make most demonstrations into experiments by asking why something happens. To do kitchen science experiments you will need to think of a question. Then think of how you can answer the question.

An example of an experiment would be to make ice cream two different ways. To make ice cream you add salt to the ice that surrounds the cream. If we did not add the salt to the ice would the mixture still make ice cream?

Here is a recipe to make ice cream in a Ziploc bag. To a pint sized Ziploc bag add 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1/2 cup milk. Seal the bag and place in a gallon bag that has ice and 6 tablespoons of table salt or rock salt. Shake the bag. It should make ice cream in 10 to 15 minutes.

To make it an experiment, make two bags of ice cream. In one gallon bag add the salt in another gallon bag do not add salt. Do both bags make ice cream? Does one bag take longer to make ice cream? These are some of the questions that you can investigate.

Cooking Experiments

You can do a lot of experiments when you cook. Find recipes that make a small amount. Also look for recipes that use only a few ingredients. You do not want to waste food. When you have found your recipe change one thing and compare it to the original recipe.

An easy cooking experiment is to add lime soda to pancake mix. Using a complete pancake mix follow the directions adding the water to the mix. Make another batch of pancakes using the soda for the water. Make each pancake the same by using a 1/4 cup measuring cup to place the batter on the pan. You can try to measure the difference with a ruler. Also taste the difference.

Another idea is to make a simple sugar cookie recipe. In one batch add white sugar. In the second batch add brown sugar. In the third batch add honey. How did the cookies turn out? Here is a recipe that makes a small batch of sugar cookies.

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Additional sugar

Mold

This is not my favorite experiment but I have done it in the past. Grow mold on a piece of bread. If you want to just do a demonstration put a piece of bread in a Ziploc bag and wait until mold grows. To make it an experiment place one bag of bread in a dark cupboard, one bag in the refrigerator, and one bag in the freezer. You are trying to find out which place is best for growing mold. Check your bread daily. Which place grew the mold the fastest?

More Ideas

You can find more ideas on the internet. Here is a site that I like.

Science buddies has science fair activities that deal with food. The site gives and explanation of the scientific principle for each activity. It also shows how to set the experiment.

Kitchen science can be fun, easy, and educational. It is easy for people who homeschool to do.

Demonstrate what you know with common ingredients. Experiment when you are cooking to make new and interesting foods.

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