20+ Mind-Blowing Chemistry Activities for Your Little Ones

I remember how mesmerized 🤩 I was when my chemistry teacher showed us the stunning crystals of Copper Sulphate that looked like tiny gemstones 💎 in the color blue. I have been fascinated with this wonderful subject since that day. 

My fascination intensified when I observed my teacher showing us how chemicals could change their colors- just like a magical ✨️ trick.

My kids are big fans of magical shows; therefore, they are always eager to try some of those tricks at home. As a parent, I love ❤️ to teach them about the scientific ideas and foundations of these magical tricks, especially the ones involving the magic of 🧪 chemistry. 

Chemistry 👩‍🔬 activities not only open doors to mind-boggling chemical tricks for kids, but these activities also offer a lot for them to learn about. 

My son is always ready to explore this magical subject in every possible way, and I want to instill a love of chemistry ⚗️ in my children, too.

Ideal Chemistry Activities For Your Kids

Complex chemistry activities are quite unsuitable to engage in at home with my little ones. Therefore, I have prepared a list of several amazing yet simple chemistry activities that are ideal ✅️ for your little chemists to enjoy as well as learn a lot from.

Read on to discover all the chemistry activities my little chemists or magicians love 👍🏻 to engage in.

Patterns on Milk 

I have always taught my little chemists that we don’t need complex chemicals to create magic ✨️ using the laws of chemistry. 

Chemistry ⚗️ is all around them, and they just need a way to see it. 

I believe exploring several kinds of patterns improves the imaginative capabilities 🧠 of little kids; therefore, I have compiled this experiment where patterns meet chemistry.

What you need- 

Milk, food coloring or paint 🎨, earbuds, and handwash.

Steps: 

I pour some milk into a bowl 🥣 along with some amount of hand wash or soap to produce 🫧 bubbles.

I instruct my little chemists to add food coloring or paint 🎨 to it in the form of drops and create patterns on the bubbly surface using earbuds. 

My little chemists are totally engrossed in the beautiful patterns taking various forms on the surface of the solution.

Important Note:

Please make sure your little chemist doesn’t end up putting the mixture in the bowl inside their mouth.

Colors Forming Colors 

If your little chemist likes painting 🖼 then this activity is going to be his/her favorite throughout the year.

I just take the primary colors in a palette 🎨 and encourage my little painters to mix up these primary colors to form secondary colors. 

The way they utter the word ‘wow’ 👏 on noticing how new colors are formed is absolutely memorable for me as a parent.

This activity will also aid them to enhance their knowledge 🧠 about painting and colors in the future.

Balloon Magic Experiment

I have engaged in a lot of activities involving balloons 🎈 with my kids, and let me tell you, all of them have been a hit.

But the look of awe and surprise 😮 on the faces of my little chemists when I told them about a self-inflating balloon was unmissable.

I told them that the magic of chemistry made it possible. 

What you need- 

Yeast, empty bottle, sugar, warm water and balloons.

Steps: 

• I put a certain amount of sugar at the bottom of an empty bottle and then proceed to add warm water 💧 to it ( usually, I fill up about half of the bottle with water).
• I put yeast in this bottle and mix up ( or swirl) the contents of it.
• I place a balloon 🎈 of my little chemist’s favorite color over the mouth of this bottle, and we wait and observe what will happen next.
• After a few seconds, my kids are absolutely fascinated 🤩 by observing how the balloon increases in size and becomes inflated on its own. They tell me that this experiment is nothing less than pure magic.

Dancing Grains

This experiment is another gem of an activity ✅️ arising from the reaction between vinegar and baking soda. 

What you need- vinegar, baking soda, food coloring, and grains of all kinds.

Steps:

• I just ask my little chemists to fill up three-fourths of a jar 🫙 with water and their favorite food coloring. 
• I add a certain amount of baking soda to this colorful mixture and stir it well.
• I encourage my little chemist to add one-fourth of a cup of uncooked grains (usually, we use rice grains for this activity) along with a few spoonfuls of white vinegar. 
• The unmissable chemical reaction occurring in the jar will make the grains move in a way such that it will appear as if the grains are dancing 🤩 to their own tune.

Write A Secret Letter

My little chemists love ❤️ this activity and write ✍️ a lot of cute little messages for each other during this activity.

What you need- 

Diluted lemon juice, earbuds paper, and a candle.

Steps:

• I provide my little chemist with diluted lemon 🍋 juice in a bowl and instruct them to dip earbuds in it. 
• I guide them through using this earbud to write invisible letters or messages on a piece of paper 📃 and let it dry.
• Now, I hold it over a candle 🕯 so that the piece of paper is exposed to a higher temperature (make sure not to burn the piece of paper). The lemon juice gets oxidized and turns brown in color; therefore, the invisible letters on the paper are revealed when the paper is heated. 
• My kids love writing ✍️ invisible messages again and again, which keeps them engrossed in this activity for a long time.

Magical Paper Chromatography 

I used to love this magical chromatography experiment when I was in school, and I performed it for a science exhibition, too.

My little chemists love painting, and this amazing 👏 experiment involving colors 🎨 is one of their all-time favorites.

What you need- 

Coffee filter paper, black marker pen, water 💧 , and a cup.

Steps: 

• I love to teach my kids about the art of folding a circular coffee filter paper into a triangular form. 
• I take this triangular form of the filter paper and color the pointed tip of it black using a marker.
• I add a tiny amount of water💧to the cup and insert this filter paper into it with the pointed tip inside the water.
• Within a few seconds, my little ones are absolutely mesmerized 🤩 by observing how so many colors are formed on the filter paper arising from the tip of it as the water does a fantastic job of separating the colors from the marker’s ink.
• Moreover, we make chromatography flowers 💐 using this procedure. I instruct my little chemists to color the circular end of the folded filter papers with markers of different colors 🎨 and dip it in water in the way mentioned above. The water separates the ink on the filter paper, and when we unfold the filter, we have flowers with beautiful petals.

Oobleck Magic

My little chemists love this activity where they explore the magic of this non-Newtonian fluid called Oobleck.

I just have to mix up water and cornstarch in a bowl 🥣, and our chemical magic is ready. My little chemists are always delighted to discover this amazing 👏 fluid which displays the properties of a solid as well as a liquid.

Pro Tip

You can also mix up accessories and embellishments in this mixture to make a gooey slime for your little chemist.

When Will The Ice Melt?

If your little one is as old as my son, then this amazing chemistry activity is an ideal one for them.

I try to teach my little chemist how the time taken for ice 🧊 to melt differs when ice is placed in solutions of different compositions.

I place ice 🧊 cubes in 5 bowls carrying the following solutions or substances:

• Water
• Baking soda mixed with water
• Salt mixed with water
• Sugar mixed with water
• Sand

I ask my little chemist to observe and write ✍️ the time ⏲️ takes for ice to melt completely in each bowl with the help of a stopwatch.

Magical Volcanic Blast

As a parent, you must be quite aware of all the simple experiments and activities that are extremely popular 🤩 amongst kids using two simple ingredients from the kitchen- vinegar and baking soda. 

This cool scientific experiment will leave your little chemists awestruck. 

What you need-

Snow, vinegar, hand wash or liquid soap, baking soda, paint, and small bottles or jars.

Steps:

• I constructed a pyramid with my little chemists that resembles a 🌋 terrific volcano using snow. I have a gap in the middle of the volcano by digging out some amount of the snow.
• I put a tiny container or bottle in this gap I just made and add in hand wash or liquid soap, a few spoonfuls of baking soda, and my little chemist’s favorite 🎨 color.
• I took a bottle of white vinegar and poured it into this container located inside the volcano. Vinegar and baking soda come together to result in an amazing 👏 chemical reaction and generate a stunning volcanic eruption.

My little chemists love this chemical experiment and repeatedly ask me to perform this activity a second time in a row.

Important Note:

I will advise all parents to perform this experiment while keeping their little chemists under strict supervision. Please do not let ☠️your little ones fidget with baking soda or vinegar in your absence.

Litmus Magic 

I love to teach my little chemists the differences between acids and bases using litmus paper.

Litmus changes color when it comes in contact with an acid or a base on the basis of the pH of the solution. I just grab some solutions such as baking soda solution, lemon 🍋 juice, milk 🥛 , and other common items from the kitchen.

I guide my little chemists regarding why litmus changes color differently when it comes in contact with these materials.

Glowing Rose 

My daughter loves roses 🌹; therefore, I decided to create a glowing rose for her.

My son couldn’t believe me when I told him that it was possible to create a glowing rose at home ✨️ using the fundamentals of chemistry. 

What you need- 

Highlighter that glows under fluorescent light, a rose 🌹 ( a white rose will be preferred), scissors ✂️, water, and a jar.

Steps:

• I take a highlighter pen that glows under the black fluorescent light and empties its ink in a jar 🫙 containing water 💧 ( usually, I fill up half of the jar with water). 
• I take a rose and cut ✂️ the end of the stem using scissors or a cutter diagonally (to increase the surface area for absorption) and place it in the jar containing the mixture of water and the highlighter’s ink.
• Over time, the rose absorbs the water in the container, and this water (containing the ink of the highlighter) travels to all the parts of the flower 🌼 including the petals.
• Now, this magical flower glows under fluorescent light ✨ ️ and my son feels so elated on gifting it to his sister.

My Self-Powered Boat 

Here is another amazing activity that is highlighted by the amazing fizzy reaction arising when vinegar meets baking soda and generates carbon dioxide. 

Let me tell you that I use this carbon dioxide to create a self-powered boat 🚤 for my little chemists.

What you need- 

Vinegar, baking soda, an empty plastic bottle or milkshake cup 🥤, a straw, tape or glue, a tub filled with water.

Steps:

• I make the outline of a boat 🚤 on a piece of paper and ask my little one to color it as they like. I stick this boat’s cutout on a plastic bottle or milkshake cup 🥤 using glue.
• I take this plastic bottle and make a tiny hole at its base such that a straw can pass through it. 
• I pass a straw through this hole such that half of it lies outside the bottle. Usually, I fix this straw in this position using glue or tape.
• After this setup dries up, I close the straw with my thumb, unfasten the cap of the bottle (take off the cup’s 🥤 lid if you’re using a milkshake cup), and add baking soda to it. 
• I put in white vinegar and fastened the cap quickly before removing my thumb from the straw’s mouth and placing it on the surface of the tub of water. 
• Baking soda and vinegar’s magical reaction produces carbon dioxide, which is released in the form of a fizz 🫧 through the straw. This release of carbon dioxide produces a pressure which pushes the bottle forward in the water. This whole setup looks like a self-powered boat 🚤 moving forward in the water.

Important Note:

I will advise all parents to perform this experiment while keeping their little chemists under strict supervision. Please do not let ☠️your little ones fidget with baking soda or vinegar in your absence

My Lava Lamp

This chemistry experiment is popular amongst kids of all age groups. My little chemists also love making this amazing lava lamp using some simple steps.

What you need-

Fizzy Tablets, vegetable oil, water, food coloring, and a jar.

Steps:

• I fill up the jar 🫙 or container up to four-fifths of its capacity with vegetable oil and the rest of it with water. I always make sure to leave a little space empty at the brim of the jar.
• Now, I teach my little chemists why vegetable oil is floating on top of the water.
• I add a few drops of my little one’s favorite food coloring that sink to the bottom of the jar and mix with the water.
• We put in fizzy 🫧 tablets, and the bubbly lava lamp is ready for my little chemists.

Bouncy Egg

How could I skip out on making a bouncy egg 🥚 for my little chemists when we are discussing chemistry activities? 

My kids love these amazing bouncy rubber eggs that are extremely easy to create.

I just place a hard-boiled egg (with the shell on) in a bowl containing vinegar and leave it for a day or so.

When we take it out of the vinegar after a day or two, the shell disappears because the calcium carbonate in the shell has been utilized in the reaction between the shell and vinegar. Therefore, at the end of this activity, my little chemist has a rubber egg 🥚 to play with.

Pro Tip 

You can also ask your little chemists to clean dirty pennies using vinegar or lemon 🍋 juice.

Conclusion 

In summary, these chemical ⚗️ experiments are not only an amazing way to teach kids about the wonders of chemistry 🧪 but they also put forward amazing activities to enjoy.

I will recommend using gloves 🧤 and taking proper precautions ✅️ before performing these experiments at home in the presence of little ones.

Did any chemistry activity mentioned above turn out to be your little one’s 😍 favorite? 

Let me know about your little chemist’s favorite activity 😇 in the comment section below.