Science Experiments to Try at Home

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My daughters and I have done a lot of science experiments together over the years. Science can be a lot of fun – even if I don’t understand all of it!

I am definitely not an expert scientist, but that hasn’t stopped me from teaching science to my daughters. Who says I can’t learn with them? We’ll see if that changes as they get older and science lessons becomes more advanced, though.

To encourage science exploration, my daughters have a “science bin” that includes safety glasses, goggles, a small net, journal, bird guide book, experiment supplies, magnifying glasses, binoculars, and more. Their rock kit, skeleton model, human body model, and various other science kits are stored near their science bin. They also have numerous science type books throughout the house.

Even though we are done with our school year for the summer, my daughters and I continue working on some science lessons together. One wall in my house displays some of our recent studies of human anatomy and physiology, which we have been studying using Apologia Human Anatomy and Physiology.

The large body poster is from a Magic School Bus kit. The skeleton replica is from The Giant Science Resource Book, which is a resource book I have used over and over again with my daughters for various science lessons. It was definitely worth the $2 I paid for it at a rummage sale! I use painter’s tape when I hang the items so the paint (hopefully) doesn’t peel when the items are removed from the walls.

My daughters have enjoyed science so much, one of my daughters even decided to have a science themed birthday party one year. (I have really enjoyed throwing inexpensive, yet entertaining themed birthday parties for my daughters!)

During the science themed birthday party, my living room became a science museum, and all of the guests became scientists. We had a lot of fun performing experiments (in my kitchen), exploring the hands-on science museum (my living room), and enjoying a cake decorated as a cell.

Each of the kids went home with goggles, a test tube filled with candy, a homemade scientist ID badge, and their own scientist shirts I had purchased from The Dollar Tree (only $1 each) and decorated ahead of time.

I saw the idea for this shirt somewhere online years ago, although I can’t remember where I had seen it.

Another result of our love for science experiments is the number of science kits we have accumulated over the years as gifts from family.

We have enjoyed each of the science kits we have received; however, we would not have nearly as many science kits if they weren’t given as gifts. Some of the kits can be rather pricey especially since most of them still require extra supplies not included to complete the experiments.

For that reason, I have compiled a list of 50 simple science experiments that use basic household supplies, which was recently posted on Hands On As We Grow. No science kit required!

Some of the science kits my daughters currently own and have used are shown below incase you are interested.

Smart Lab: It’s Alive Slime Lab

This one requires batteries and other ingredients that are not included in the kit.

Smart Lab: That’s Gross Science Lab

I recommend putting a bag around the top part of the toilet in this kit to protect the button from all of the messiness. Again, additional materials are needed to do the experiments in this kit.

Magic School Bus: A Journey Into the Human Body

This is the kit the poster on our wall came from. My daughters placed the organ stickers that came with the kit on the human body poster as we discussed them.

We ended up with a horrible stench when we attempted Tim’s Experiment #1 described within this kit. Maybe if we had cleaned the chicken bones (not included) better, the stench wouldn’t have been as bad.

KidzLabs Human Organs and KidzLabs Glow Human Skeleton

You could try to make a fake lung as seen on Science Sparks if you are interested in demonstrating how lungs work and don’t want to spend the money on the human organs kit.

The magnets included in our human skeleton kit were not strong enough to hold up the bones we created with the kit, but it was still fun to build a human skeleton.

Science Wiz Chemistry and Science Wiz Inventions and Science Wiz DNA

This picture only shows the books that came with the kits, but there are other materials within each kit. The DNA kit was my favorite of these three!

In order to complete each of the science kits my daughters receive, we intentionally schedule our own at-home “science days”. Before the science days, I prepare by reading through the supply lists and gathering all of the needed supplies.

Making mistakes and having experiment failures are part of being a scientist, right? In that case, I’m a great scientist! Experiments definitely don’t always go as planned.

Do you enjoy doing science experiments? Have you had any science experiment mishaps? I would love to hear from you!

“I’m a scientist experimenting…”