8 Simple Chemistry Experiments for Kids: Chemistry “Science Scouts”

When you’re looking for chemistry experiments for kids, they don't have to involve lab coats and complicated formulas. With just a few simple household ingredients, you can help your students see chemistry in action. Bubbles, color changes, fizzing reactions, it’s all around us, and it’s a fantastic way to spark curiosity and hands-on learning!

That’s exactly what our Chemistry Science Scouts pack is designed for. Each activity uses easy-to-find materials and includes step-by-step instructions, student recording pages, and reflection prompts to help kids think like scientists, whether you’re in a classroom or gathered around your kitchen table.

Read on to find out more about the eight fun, low-prep experiments included!

1. Invisible Ink: Writing Secret Messages with Chemistry

Who doesn’t love a secret message? This simple experiment lets kids write with “invisible ink” made from baking soda and water, then reveal their words using a turmeric and alcohol reagent.

When the baking soda mixture dries, it looks like nothing’s there. Then the turmeric solution reacts with it, turning the hidden writing a darker color. It’s a fun, hands-on way to introduce acid-base reactions and chemical indicators.

As teachers, we love this one because it doubles as both a science and literacy crossover. Kids can write words, spelling words, or even coded messages! It’s important to note, however, that turmeric can easily stain clothes and surfaces. We recommend covering any workspaces with disposable table cloths and using aprons or painting smocks if you have them!

2. DIY Lava Lamp: Exploring Density and Chemical Reactions

Kids are instantly mesmerized by this one! To make your own “lava lamp,” all you need is oil, water, food coloring, and an effervescent tablet like Alka Seltzer.

The science behind it? Density and gas production. Oil floats on top of water because it’s less dense. When the tablet reacts with water, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles that carry the colored water upward, then fall back down once the bubbles pop.

It’s an amazing visual demonstration of how chemical reactions can create movement and change.

3. Balloon Inflation: The Magic of Vinegar and Baking Soda

If you want to make kids’ eyes widen, show them how to inflate a balloon without ever touching it! When vinegar and baking soda combine, they produce carbon dioxide gas. That gas needs somewhere to go, and it just happens to fill up the balloon sitting on top of the bottle.

This is a simple way to introduce chemical reactions, gas production, and the concept that matter takes up space, even when we can’t see it.

4. Non-Newtonian Fun: Making Slime

Slime is always a hit, but it’s also a perfect example of chemistry in action. When you mix glue and a cross-linking agent like contact solution or borax, the molecules connect to form something that’s both solid and liquid.

Kids get to explore what makes a non-Newtonian fluid behave differently: it stretches and flows like a liquid when you let it, but snaps apart like a solid when you pull quickly. It’s an engaging way to explore states of matter through sensory play!

5. Shiny Pennies: The Chemistry of Cleaning Copper

Old, dull pennies can look brand new again with a little vinegar and salt. Together, they dissolve the copper oxide that’s built up on the coin’s surface, revealing the bright metal underneath.

This activity is short, simple, and so satisfying. It’s perfect for a quick lesson on how chemistry is part of our everyday cleaning and cooking.

For a fun extension, challenge students to test different cleaning mixtures (like lemon juice or soda) and compare the results!

6. Evaporation Crystals: Watching Solids Reappear

For this experiment, kids dissolve salt, sugar, and Epsom salt in water, then let their mixtures sit out to evaporate. Over a few days, they’ll see beautiful crystals forming as the water disappears.

It’s a slow but magical way to demonstrate evaporation and solubility, and it ties in beautifully with lessons about the water cycle or changing states of matter.

Encourage students to sketch what they observe each day and note which solution grows the largest or most interesting crystals.

7. Color-Changing Cabbage: Natural pH Indicators

This one always gets a “whoa!” reaction. Red cabbage juice acts as a natural pH indicator, changing color when mixed with different substances.

When you test common kitchen liquids, like lemon juice, baking soda water, and milk, kids will see a rainbow of color changes that reveal which solutions are acids and which are bases. 

It’s chemistry, art, and a little “magic potion” fun, all in one! Plus, it’s a great starting point for talking about how scientists use indicators to test chemical properties in real-world labs. 

8. The Floating Egg: Density in Action

Can an egg float in water? Normally, no. But add salt, and the answer changes!

By gradually dissolving salt into water, kids can increase the water’s density until the egg begins to float. It’s a simple way to explore density and buoyancy.

You can extend the learning by having students predict and test how much salt it takes to make the egg float completely.

Turn Curiosity into Confidence with Chemistry Experiments for Kids

When kids get to do science, it clicks in a way that worksheets and textbooks can’t match. These eight activities let them ask questions, make predictions, and experience the “aha!” moments that make learning stick. And they don’t require as much prep as a full-blown science lab experience!

Whether you’re a classroom teacher looking for quick, low-mess labs or a homeschooling parent planning your next science week, the Chemistry Science Scouts download makes it easy. It includes printable directions, student recording sheets, and prompts to help guide inquiry and reflection, all with simple supplies you already have at home or can easily get at the closest store.

Grab your Chemistry Science Scouts pack and get ready to spark a love of science, one bubbling, color-changing, floating experiment at a time!