Looking for a super fun and educational activity? Look no further: try these 5 amazing experiments for the littlest budding scientists. Tested and approved: you can try this at home. Put on your crazy lab glasses, scour the kitchen cupboards and experiment! Please note: be sure to do this with mom or dad present

The erupting volcano

What do you need :

• An empty plastic bottle
• Clay
• Alcohol vinegar
• Food coloring (preferably a red coloring to approximate the effect of lava),
• Baking soda
• A tablespoon

Step-by-step plan: what you need to do

Afraid of the eruption? Then better find a spot outside to experiment!

Fill the bottle halfway with vinegar. Add 4 spoons of food coloring. Knead the clay and cover the bottle with it until just above the opening. Pour a tablespoon of baking soda into the bottle. And then the moment of truth: Take cover, the volcano is going to erupt!

If your children like to do crafts, you can further develop the volcano by painting the clay and making a landscape around the volcano (pebbles and some greenery from the garden can help you get started here).

The vibrant lemon

What do you need:

• 2 lemons
• Baking soda
• Dishwashing liquid
• Food coloring
• A teaspoon
• A knife
• A fork
• A plate
• A cup

Step-by-step plan: what you need to do

Call an adult to cut the lemons (Safety first!). Cut the 2 lemons in half. Place 1 half on a plate (if necessary, cut a piece from the bottom so that the lemon has a flat side to lie on). Using a fork, crush the inside into a pulp. Make sure the juice remains in the lemon. Drop a few drops of food coloring and a drop of dish soap into the lemon. Squeeze the other 3 halves into a cup and throw away the squeezed lemons, you don't need them anymore. Spoon a spoonful of baking soda into the lemon and watch it start to fizz. If you want the lemon to fizz even more, add the extra lemon juice from the cup.

The tower of layers

What do you need :

• A narrow vase or pot
• Honey
• Milk
• Olive oil
• A screw
• A bouncy ball
• A nut
• A piece of straw and a spoon (You can also choose other objects, always in order from heavy to light, such as a marble, a cherry tomato, a paper clip and a ping pong ball)

Step-by-step plan: what you need to do

The bottom layer of the tower is honey. Because honey is a liquid with the greatest density, pour it into the vase first. Make sure that the different layers are about three centimeters high. The next layer is milk. Carefully pour the milk onto the rounded side of a spoon so that it drips slowly into the vase. The milk will remain on top of the honey. The last layer is olive oil. Pour this again into the vase using the spoon. Because olive oil has the least density, the oil floats at the top. Let the tower rest for a few minutes so that the three liquids can separate from each other. Carefully drop a screw into the vase. Because this is the heaviest object, the screw will sink to the bottom. The second object you drop into the vase is the bouncy ball. The ball will just miss hitting the bottom. Then you drop the nut into the vase. Because this is much lighter than the previous objects, the nut floats in the layer of milk. The piece of straw will float last in the olive oil.

The lemon battery

What do you need :

• 5 lemons
• 6 electrical cables with crocodile clips
• 5 copper coins
• 5 screws
• A knife
• An LED light

Step-by-step plan: what you need to do

Make a small slot in the 5 lemons where you can insert the copper coins. Screw a screw into each lemon, approximately 2 cm from the coin. Arrange the lemons in a circle. Now take an electrical cable and pinch open the alligator clip and place it on a screw, pinch open the other clip and place on a coin from another lemon. Connect the 5 lemons together in this way from a coin to a screw. At the last one
lemon, connect the cable to the coin but do not connect it to the screw of the first lemon. Connect another cable to that screw. With the free end of the cable attached to the coin, attach the clamp to the longest leg of the LED light. Now connect the clamp of the other cable that is on the screw to the short leg of the LED light. Now the circuit is closed and electricity flows through it, turning the LED light on.

 

The racing car 

What do you need :

• Scissors
• A balloon
• Glue
• 4 bottle caps
• Paint
• A paint brush
• Adhesive tape
• 2 wooden meat skewers
• 3 straws
• 2 pieces of cardboard (small and large)

Step-by-step plan: what you need to do

Draw a racing car on the largest piece of cardboard. At the bottom of the car, draw a strip along the entire length of the car, with a height of 3 cm. Divide the strip into rectangles of approximately 2 cm wide. The carriage will later be attached to the chassis with this strip. Cut out your racing car and paint on both sides. Then draw the chassis of the car on the smaller piece of cardboard. To do this, draw a rectangle that is as long as the car and 6 cm high. Cut out the base and paint only the top.

Ask an adult to pierce a hole in the 4 caps using a meat skewer. The bottle caps become the wheels of the cart. Take a straw and cut 2 pieces of 6 cm from it. The straws ensure that the wheels can turn freely. Secure the straws to the base with adhesive tape (approximately 3 cm from the top and bottom of the base). Cut 2 pieces of 12 cm from the meat skewers. Slide the meat skewers through the straw and then attach a wheel to each side.

Cut the rectangles at the bottom of the car and fold them alternately forwards and backwards (a light cut with a utility knife can make folding easier). Apply glue to the bottom of the rectangles and attach the cart to the base. Press the rectangles firmly so that they stick well.

Cut off the top of the balloon (close to the end). Insert 2 straws into the neck of the balloon and close it tightly with tape so that air cannot escape. Slide the back of the cart between the 2 straws and tape them in place. Bend the short ends of the straws outwards, this will be the exhaust pipe of the car. Secure them together with adhesive tape. Your racing car is now ready! Hold the neck of the balloon (do not squeeze it) and blow air into the open ends of the straws. Once your balloon is inflated, squeeze your finger and thumb together to hold the air in the balloon. Place your car on a flat surface, loosen your fingers and… let's race!

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