When introducing science to children using theoretical knowledge or just lengthy text would not work. Kids learn faster with project-based learning. Here are some science activities for 5 to 7-year-old kids that help them understand the world around them a little deeper.
Science Activities for Kids
1. Milk to Plastic
Heat milk until it’s hot but not boiling. Add it into the bowl. Add some vinegar into the milk and stir for a few minutes. Strain the milk with a cotton cloth until it is almost dry. Now you can mould it into the shape of your choice, it will harden in a few days.
2. Levitating Ping Pong Ball
This experiment explains Bernoulli’s principle. Cut an empty plastic bottle into the proportion of one third from, with a bottle cap. Remove the cap and punch hole in it, that almost fit the straw. Place the short end of the bendy straw into the cap hole. Now your ping pong ball is ready to levitate.
3. Rocket Launch
This is a classic project activity for kids to explain to them Newton’s law of motion. Tie the end of the string to the doorknob or some other support. Put the other end into the straw and tie it to. Blow up the balloon. Tape the balloon to the straw. Now release the closed opening of the balloon. Your rocket is ready for launch.
4. Pull the Egg into Jar
An easy classic experiment about air pressure. Get a paper strip, light it and put it in a jar. Cover the open end of the jar with peeled egg. Now watch the egg getting pulled inside the jar.
5. Check the pH
Trying hard to explain acid and bases. Using some red cabbage you can show it practically. Chop some red cabbage, boil it for 15 minutes. Strain the cabbage out of the liquid. Now use this coloured liquid for pH measurement. Use household supplies such as vinegar, shampoo, salt tomato juice for acidity determination.
If the solution turns red then it’s acidic, if it turns green then it’s basic. No colour change indicates a neutral solution.
6. Crystal Rock Candy
The activity is based on supersaturated solutions. Sugar and water should be added in equal parts in the saucepan. Wait till all sugar is melted. Then slowly add more sugar to the pan, until it no longer dissolves. When the solution starts turning a little cloudy a perfect saturation is attained.
Add those solutions to the jar and add food colouring and flavour. Get some wood sticks and cover them with some powdered sugar. Place them on the top of the jar without touching the jar walls. Watch your rock candy grow day by day.
Also Read – 10 Activities to Raise Your Kids’ IQ: An Intellectual and Smart Approach
7. Glitter v/s Soap
This experiment helps them understand how soap fights germs? Get a tub or plate with water in it. Add some glitter in it, you can add dust also. Get an earbud, dip it in soap solution. Place the earbud in the tub or plate with glitter. Watch the reaction.
8. Big Bubble Theory
Playing outdoors with human-sized bubbles is a happy experience. Mix water and cornstarch well. Add 1tb of baking powder and glycerine each. Add some dish soap and mix it well without making it bubble. Now you are good to go with big bubbles.
9. Ferris Wheel
Using ice cream sticks and some stationary build Ferris wheels. Arrange the sticks in a hexagon arrangement. Glue it with the help of a glue gun. Repeat the same for another half. To build the base of the wheel, arrange sticks in a triangle. But make sure its sides have double the length of the wheel.
Now pin in the middle of the wheels and add metal wire that can hold the wheel weight. Set it up on the base triangle. Now your wheel is good to go.
10. Make Water Move
This experiment is based on the capillary action. Get some tissue or cloth or cotton string. Align glasses with water, for fun add some colours into it. Place one end of the string/cotton/ cloth in one glass and the other end in the next glass. Now you can see the water getting mixed into each other.
11. Leak-Proof Bag
An easy trick to explain how polymers work. With this activity, you can explain the chemistry of polymers. Get some pencils and an empty ziplock bag. Pierce the pencils in a ziplock bag carefully. Now add the water into it, it will not leak. You can do the same with balloons and air.
12. Build Cell Phone Stand
Activity doesn’t explain any scientific phenomenon, but it surely helps you with engineering skills. all you need is some paper clips and ice cream sticks. You are flexible to decide what position and structure of the stand.
13. Water Cycle Bag
This bag helps your kid to explain how rain forms and falls. All you need to do is get a large ziplock bag. Draw some clouds, ocean and sun. Add water to the bag, to make a little twist you can add a little blue colour. Hang it in place with maximum sunlight. Now all you have to do is wait.
14. Save the Eggs
In this activity, challenge their engineering skills. Get them some raw eggs and tell them to protect them from falling. To protect the egg, they have to build a structure that can protect the egg even after falling.
15. Straw Roller Coaster
This is another STEM challenge to do with your kid. With simple stationery such as straw, you can build a simple or complex roller coaster. You can add more twists and turns to the coaster. All you have to do is glue some straw and ride with a ping pong ball.
16. Solar Oven Experiment
Sun is the source of the energy. How can you harvest the energy directly from the sun to cook your food? If you have a pizza box then cut the lid to make an oven door. Cover it with aluminum foil and cover the remaining lid part with a plastic cover. For fun decorate it, now you can cook with your solar oven.
17. Dancing Marker Man
The experiment is based on insolubility and density. To make a dancing marker man, get a dish, dry-erase marker and water. Draw a marker man on the base of the plate, add water carefully to lift the man. Now your man can move in the water.
18. Hot Water – Cold Water
This is an extremely simple experiment about density. Get two glasses of hot and cold water each. Add contrasting colours to them. Now place a piece of cardboard paper on the top of the glass. Hold it with your hands and invert it. Now carefully place an inverted glass on the top of another hot/cold glass. Remove the paper carefully. See the water migrate.
19. Layer the Right
This is another density explaining the experiment. In this experiment, honey, corn syrup, dish soap, water, vegetable oil, rubbing alcohol, lamp oil are placed on each other. This seven-layered experiment will stun your kid.
20 Crush the Can
Teach them how to crush the cans without touching them. Rinse the soda can with water. Add 1tb of water to it, and heat it for 2-3 minutes. Fill the bowl with water. With the help of a tong, lift the heated can and place it in the bowl with water, in such a way that the open end should be in the water. Now see the air pressure crushing it.
21. The da Vinci Bridge
This bridge experiment is inspired by da Vinci’s self-supporting bridge. All you need is 8 pencils and rubber bands. Tie rubber bands on both ends and the middle of the pencil. Repeat it for all the pencils. Now you are ready to build the da Vinci Bridge.
22. Sugar Snake
This is a demonstration purpose activity. Many of you have seen or lighted the snake firecracker during Diwali. Get 10gm of baking soda, 40gm of sugar, lighter fuel or any kind of fuel. Simply mix it and place it on the surface in a bowl with sand, add fuel and light it.
23. Human sundial
Let them practice their measuring skills to become human sundials. Get kids outside on sunny days, let them stand in place. Mark the spot and direction of the shadow. Now they can check the shadow movement throughout the day, and observe the movement of the sun.
24. Plant Transpiration
In this activity, they will learn about plant transpiration. Just grab a plastic bag and rubber. A small plant in your gallery will work for this experiment. Take a branch of the plant, cover it with plastic and tie it with rubber. Now observe.
25. Naked Eggs
Use some vinegar and dissolve eggshell like magic. Get a jar with a lid, add vinegar to it. Place the boiled egg with a shell in it. Now, wait up to 12 hrs, to see the magic.
26. Shrinking and Growing Eggs
Activity is based on osmosis. Our cells use water potential to transfer water in and out of the cell. This activity can be done as an extension of the previous activity. Make two to three naked eggs. Fill one glass with corn syrup ( salty water) and another with normal water. Wait for 5-6 hrs. Compare them against each other.
27. Ancient Coins
All you need is some old, rusty coins. A variety of solutions such as cola, vinegar with salt, apple juice, water, ketchup and vinegar. Place rusty coins in this solution and observe the results.
28. Blow the Balloons Up.
Using reaction between acid and bases. Get vinegar, baking soda, balloon and funnel. Add some vinegar to an empty bottle, also some water into it. Now dry the funnel, attach it to the balloon, add baking soda into it.
Now attach the same balloon to the vinegar bottle. Make sure that soda won’t fall into the vinegar. Slowly lift the balloon to add soda into vinegar, see the balloons blow up.
29. Lava Lamp
Constructing lava lamps by themselves is fun. Vegetable oil, any effervescent tablet or soda mixture, food colour, water. Fill the bottle with vegetable oil till ¾, add water ¼. Add a little soda mixture or small piece of the tablet, replace the cap after effervescent. Now shake the bottle in all directions you want.
30. Bottled Tornado
Fill the water bottle ¾ of its volume with water. Add some colour and glitter to it. Replace the cap, to make sure it will not leak. Now turn it upside down very quickly to see the tornado.
Also Read – 5 Most Innovative Kid’s Activities for a Productive Use of Their Time: Creative & Outdoor Activities
31. Not too Much Sugar
How eating too much sugar can harm their teeth, explain it with this experiment. Variety of drinks such as cola, flavoured soda, orange juice, sugar-free drinks and some boiled eggs. Add drinks in glass up until it wets half of the egg. Now wait till 5-6 hrs and watch the reaction.
32. Build a Barometer
A simple DIY experiment to teach your kids about air pressure and meteorology. Cover an empty tin can with balloon plastic. Now peel the plastic wire for a pointed metal tip. Attach it to the balloon end of the tin, such that if the balloon expands it lifts the tip. Now place the scale next to it to take a measurement.
33. Hotdog Mummy
Fascinate them with Egyptian mummification technology. Measure the length and circumference of the hotdog with string. Cover the hotdog with baking soda, pack it in an airtight container. Place the container shady region away from hot or cool vents. After a week observe the hotdog.
34. Fire Extinguisher
This a twist to the acid-base reaction. In the container add some baking soda. Light some candles, add vinegar to the container. Now take the container near to the candle. Watch candles bowling out.
35. Archimedes Squeeze
This experiment explains Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy. Measure and cut different sizes of foil papers. Fill the tub with water. Now squeeze the foil paper into different sizes and see how much it drowns in the tub. Take your observation in the table.
36. Magic Index Card
Get a notecard, fold it halfway and cut it at both ends one centimetre apart. Now open it and cut the middle line, ensuring you will not cut the ends idle. Once again fold it and cut it in a zig-zag pattern. Now open it, you will get a loop big enough to pass it through.
37. Stand on Paper Cups
Experiment explaining physics law of distribution of weight. Make a base of paper cups and place cardboard on it. Now try to stand on it.
38. Salt Water Solutions
Simple experiment covering basic concept of solution, ocean science and density. Make baking soda water in one glass, saltwater in one, sugar water in another glass and plain water as control. Now add some plastic toys to it. See what happens next.
39. Lung Model
Explaining the respiratory system is hard, but make it a simple handy lung model. Cut the bottle base, stick the balloons with one end of the straw. Add this straw to the bottleneck and fix them with the help of clay. Now cover the cut end with balloon plastic, fix it with duct tape. Now pinch out the bottom balloon to see balloons inside the bottle inhale and exhale.
40. Safe Landing
With a variety of material teach them about parachute function. Tissue paper, cotton cloth, plastic bag, shopping bag can be used as parachute material. Strings and weight. Tell them to build parachutes out of this material and find out the best material to build the parachute.
41. Make Ice Glue
Using heat transfer law, explain your kid with this ice-string experiment. When ice comes in contact with salt it temporarily melts to dissolve the salt. After it freezes back to its mean position. If you place the string in between it sticks to the ice.
42. Limestone Rock experiments
Collecting rocks and experimenting with them, children love it. After sprinkling some lemon juice on limestone it produces bubbles. Why can other rocks react the same?
43. Engineer a Challenge with Recycled Newspaper
Tell them to stack a pile of newspapers. They can simply roll it and build a tower, make it hold weight until it crashes. They are free to do anything with the newspaper.
44. Build a Rain Gauge
Building a rain gauge to measure how much rain is falling on your house? Get a plain, transparent container. Mark it with a centimetre scale. Hang it in the open place of your house that gets the rain.
45. A Rubber Band Guitar
Learning about sounds is part of phonics. Get a paper cup and rubbers. Tie rubber to a paper cup that will align parallel to each other at the open end of the cup. Now play it. To make it more interesting use different sizes and diameters of rubber.
46. Write with Invisible Ink.
Get the secret agent out of your child, teach them how to write with invisible ink. Normal home supplies such as lemon juice or sugar water can act as invisible ink. Make them write with it. To decode the message you have to hold the paper on flame.
47. Folded Mountain
How different landforms are created? Layer towels on each other now press them from both sides. Observe the changes. Can you see ups and downs?
48. Build Catapult
Building a launcher to project their balls and receiver for an extra twist. Fix two cups inverted on cardboard, tape the pencil at the middle of the cups and top of the cups. Such as that they join two cups. Now get a ruler and stick it to the pencil on the top of the cups.
49. Layers of Earth
With coloured dough and a container, you can explain the soil sampling. Add different layers of coloured dough to the container, to represent the idea of soil layers. With the use of a straw get the small portion of dough out. And examine the lengths of coloured dough.
H4.50. Stars of Ceiling
In this activity, you can build a DIY projector to project stars. Punch some holes in a paper cup, cover it with coloured paper. Place the small bulb inside it and now you can enjoy stars on your ceiling.
51. A Better Umbrella
This lets them test the variety of materials they found around them. Make them find out better umbrella material. Materials such as a sponge, paper cups, wax paper, tissue, cloth, etc.
52. Make it Rain
Easy experiment to simulate rain. This activity is easy to handle and kids love to see falling rain. Get a transparent jar, fill it with water, cover the top of it with shaving cream. Now add ink on the top of that, see the falling raindrops.
53. Make it Flip
This activity involves the concept of light refraction. Fill the glass with water, draw an asymmetric picture. Now place it in front of the filled glass. Observe, why can’t empty glass make it flip?
54. Disappearing Penny
Set the coin on a flat surface, place drinking glass over it, cover the mouth of the glass with a plate. Now fill the glass with water and again cover it with a plate. Can you see the coin, it disappeared.
55. Cola Volcano.
Cola bottle and mentos mints. Add the Mentos mints in a cola bottle and quickly move away from the bottle. See the cola explode.
56. Expanding Ivory Soap Experiment
Expanding Ivory soap will create fluffy surprises for your preschooler. Put the ivory soap in the dish and microwave it for 1-2 minutes. See it expanding. You can teach volume and shape with this experiment.
57. Homemade Butter Jar
Making your butter is an exciting experience for kids. A carton full of cream and transfer it to a glass jar. Now all you have to do is shake, with all possible direction and energy.
58. Grapes to Raisins
You can convince them how grapes turn into resins. They can make their resin collection. All you need is juicy grapes and a bowl. Place the grapes in a bowl and observe them shrink day by day.
59. Magic Coloured Milk Experiment
It is a kitchen science activity, with milk and some food colouring. Pour little milk into the plate, gently drip-drop food colours on that milk. Now grab earbuds and apply some soap to them. Press the soapy tip to the coloured region. See colour intersecting.
60. A Slimy Recipe
Using some assorted glue, baking soda and contact lens solution, and get your slime done. Pour glitter glue in a bowl, add baking soda to it, stir well. Now add a contact lens solution to it. Your slimy thing is ready to play with.
61. Elsa’s Frozen Hand Activity
This summer let them play cool. Get some used gloves, fill them with water, add some toys, buttons in them, freeze them. Let them play with it.
62. Build Ice sculptures
Building stuff with various things is good for motor skills development. Different ice cube trays and containers, food colours and water. Freeze coloured water in ice trays. Let them build different sculptures with ice.
63. Frozen Fractals Soup Activity
This can be an extension of previous activity. You can make soup out of the remaining coloured ice.
64. Ice Age Bin
Get some small toys, toss them in water and freeze. Your kid will be happy mining its favourite toys.
65. Dino Dig
This is another ice playing activity. Instead of random toys get some dino toys, shells, pretty stones and freeze them with water.
66. Sink or Float
As a kid, they must have a variety of toys and things to play with. Get them a bucket of water, tell them to see if their toy sinks or floats on water.
67. Salt and Ice
As they have fun with melting ice, get them some salt and let them experiment. This activity teaches them how salt melts and referees ice.
68. Water Displacement
Everyone must be aware of the story of a crow who throws stones in a pot to reach the water. A simple and affordable experiment to them water displacement, just by sinking things in the water.
69. Lets Play Holi
Most of us love playing with coloured water. Kids also do love playing with coloured water. This is a simple backyard activity to keep your kid engaged and cool on a summer day.
70. Tubes and Funnels with Water Bin
If you are searching for activities for playdate sessions, this could be the one. This is a station activity. Get them to build their draining system.
71. Paper Towel Dip
As eggs or resins absorb water, towels can also do the same. Get some paper cups, add some coloured water, dip a paper towel into it. See the colour migrating through it.
72. Artsy Cotton Pads
This beauty product can be your preschooler’s playmate. This also extends to previous activity. With a dropper let them add colours to the cotton pad.
73. Make It Snow
Simple and delightful experiment with snow and colours. Get some shaved snow, let them build castles out of it and colour it.
74. Homemade Water Colour
Children love colours if they love to paint. Baking soda, white vinegar, light corn syrup, corn starch, food colouring. Mix vinegar and baking soda and wait till fizzing stops. Add cornstarch and corn syrup, mix it well till corn starch dissolves. Add food colouring and keep it in containers.
75. Ice Pop Paintings
Coloured popsicles can be used as a brush to paint. Get popsicles tray, fill them with coloured water and freeze it. Let your kid try to draw with an ice popsicle.
76. Wax Resist Cards
Write with white crayon on drawing paper or draw. Now add colours using a paintbrush. It will reveal the message written on paper.
77. Make your Paint Puff
With this three-ingredient recipe, get started. Self-rising flour, food colouring, salt and water. Mix all of them well to get a uniform consistency. Now you are all set to get puffy paint.
78. Sharp Dye Tech
Get some rubbing alcohol and colours. Add concentrated colours in rubbing alcohol and paint with dropping colours on paper.
79. Melted Crayon Art
Under the observation of an adult, kids can get creative with the crayons they have. In the dish grate crayons, sprinkle them on paintings or blank paper. Microwave it for 5 minutes, and see the coloured magic.
80. Ice Painting Activity
Giving them watercolour and telling them to create art on an ice block. As they try to draw on ice, ice will eventually melt down their art.
81. Corn Run With Funnel and Hoses
How can we walk? Why do things fall? If you have funnels and hoses at home you can opt for this activity. Let them hold the funnel and hoses at high and try to pass the corns across the barrier.
82. A cloud Dough
With flour and baby oil, you can make cloud dough. Mix them to make fairyland cloud dough for your kid to play with.
83. Ghost Mud Activity
As parents living in the city, kids miss the chance to play with mud. Supplies such as toilet paper, soap and water create fake mud to play with.
84. Fairy Mud
Like fake mud, there is also another type of mud. This is a simple two-ingredient activity to create foamy mud. Two rolls of toilet paper, ivory soap ( grated), colours if you want. Mix it with warm water and microwave it.
85. Frozen Clean Mud
Kids like to try wonderland things, this could be one of those. Ivory soap ( grated), toilet roll, blue glitter, and blue colour. Mix it well with warm water, microwave it.
86. Styrofoam Structures
It is an open-end activity that can teach them about engineering skills. With tools such as straws, clips, tape, scissors. Let them build a styrofoam structure.
87. Toilet Roll Structures
After you use all of your toilet paper, the remaining skeleton is not of use. This activity makes it a plaything for your child. Under the observation of an adult, kids can proceed to build toilet roll structures.
88. Mosaic Tower
Random colourful pieces of styrofoam are of no use. You can build a mosaic tower with it.
This activity uses styrofoam pieces and glue guns to glue them together.
89. Lemon Fizz
In this, get a fizzy reaction of baking soda and sliced lemon. Get a sliced lemon and sprinkle some soda on it. Explain why it happens with lemon juice and not with other fruit juice.
90 Edible Chocolate Dough
Sweetened condensed milk, 1 bar of chocolate, cocoa powder if needed, corn starch. Add condensed milk, and chocolate to a pan then mix it with corn starch. Mix it well, add cocoa powder if needed. Your chocolate dough is ready to eat and play with.
91. Inverted Balloon Bottle
They get excited to see odd things. 1 tb water, glass bottle with a narrow neck, balloon and oven mitts. Add 1 tb water to the bottle, microwave it for 1-2 minute. Now cool down your neck using water. Cover the open end of the bottle with a balloon. Now see the balloon migrate inside and blow by itself.
92. Bloody Bottle Model
Blood is an important component of our body. Cinnamon candies as red cells, white jelly beans as white cells and uncooked rice as platelets. Mix them in a bottle and add water as plasma.
93. Inside the Penny
With just penny and lemon juice. Pitch a small hole inside the penny at the edge, now add this penny to lemon juice. Now observe the penny.
94. Make Harry Potter Potions
You are potter head or not but kids love things related to magic. Vinegar, baking soda, dish soap, food colouring, any spice, hydrogen peroxide, glitter etc, they can make a potion out of these supplies.
95. Lemon Volcano
Just like the cola volcano you can also use this activity. Cut lemons on one end to make it sit flat, and cut the other end with the core. Place some baking soda in the core. Squeeze another lemon for extra juice, add colour to it. Now pour this solution into soda lemon.
96.Boba Experiment
Use the little beads to reach fro-yo. Create your kids own imagination world with these boba beads.
97. Apple Oxidation
This activity can explain the concept of oxidation to your kid. Cut the apple and let it be for some time. Observe the changes. You are also open to other fruits that show rapid oxidation change.
98. Gravity-Defying Magnets
This experiment can clear the concepts of gravity and magnetism. Cut the strings of the same length, tie one end to paper clips. Stick them on a flat surface, with the same distance. Now get a cardboard strip to stick magnets on the strip with the same distance as stings. Now hold it above the paper clips, find them floating against gravity.
99. Mould Science
This is a somewhat gross experiment, but teaching them about moulds and their effect is easy with this experiment. Get bread, keep it in a container for a day or two. Observe it after 12 hr of the period.
100. Instant Ice
Get them to feel the power of Elsa. All you need is bottled water, a glass or ceramic bowl, a plastic tray, ice cubes. Place the bottled water in the freezer for 2 hrs, remove it before it freezes. Now place the bowl upside down, place some ice cubes on the base of the bowl. Now pour the bottled water on it.
Also Read – 16 Mind-Blowing Kids Workout Activities to Make Kids Healthy
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