Exciting Science Activities for Curious Kids

Science is an often-overlooked facet of education for younger children. It isn’t until the upper elementary grades that most public schools begin to place emphasis on the sciences. The good news is that science is fun and easy to teach younger children right at home through hands-on activities that are captivating and exciting.

Here are some ideas to nurture a passion for discovery and learning in your little scientist. I have actually done every one of these activities with my own children and I highly recommend them!

Try this new twist on a classic science activity

A baking soda volcano is a great, safe way to introduce your kids to the concept of chemical reactions. This new take on an old classic involves using a carved pumpkin instead of the traditional volcano.

I can promise that your kids will find this incredibly entertaining. We used our Jack o’ lanterns after last Halloween to create foam-spewing pumpkin faces. My son in particular loved this!

Science activities with an edible end product are wildly popular with kids!

My kids love when they’ve created something they can eat while learning about science. This sun science experiment teaches kids about the power of the sun and is a great exercise in data collection over a period of time.

Making butter in a jar from heavy whipping cream shows children how a mechanical action can change cellular make-up. The resulting product is delicious! My suggestion is to have plenty of people available to help shake the jar as it can be exhausting.

We made this fizzy sherbet to learn about chemical reactions on a sensory level. My kids were amazed with the result after tasting each ingredient and then the final product and finding them totally different.

Combine art and science to provide fun activities for kids with different interests

My children all have very different personalities, and sometimes our science experiments are just plain boring to my oldest daughter. In order to make our activities as much fun for her as they are for the other children, I try to plan activities that are engaging on multiple levels.

She’s a creative soul, so we often mask our scientific research with art projects like this rainbow paper. While learning about the properties of light, beautiful rainbow paper is created.

Earth science activities provide for practical experience in conservation and nature study

Teaching kids about practices that help and hurt our planet is a logical way to help ensure that they become thoughtful and responsible members of the global community. On a world-wide scale, it’s difficult for children to grasp these concepts.

Small-scale experiments and demonstrations can help put these issues into perspective. Teach kids about composting, the most basic form of recycling, by creating a wormery.

Demonstrate how soil erosion affects our environment and how to prevent it with an erosion model.

Show kids how plants absorb water and talk to them about the implications of polluted waterways using this leaf experiment.

STEM activities combine science and a cause and effect mentality to give kids a practical taste of mechanics and engineering in our everyday lives.

STEM (an acronym for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) learning for kids is becoming increasingly popular in our technologically advanced and industrial society.

Through STEM experiments, children learn concepts that may be valuable in future careers and develop passions that may lead them to seek employment in the STEM industries.

Check out projects like popsicle catapults and this oil spill clean-up project.

Oil spill clean-up project allow kids to use their creative thinking skills, real-world experiences, and science education to solve problems.

There are tons of resources available to help teach kids science like Bill Nye the Science Guy.

A few of our favorite non-experiment based ways to learn about science include Steve Spangler's science YouTube channel.

And The Magic School Bus books and TV series, which is available for viewing on Netflix, because sometimes this momma doesn’t have the time or patience for real life science experiments.

Find other great science activities for kids with our Remember Stuff kids' activities search feature.