Challenge and Discover: Kitchen Chemistry

Welcome back to Challenge and Discover – our monthly science challenge link up co-hosted with with Science Sparks and The Imagination Tree. Thanks so much to everyone that linked up to last month’s bridge building challenge. This month’s challenge is kitchen chemistry. We are challenging you to get in the kitchen and do some science with your kids. We will give you examples of projects for the theme on our blogs and in our Science at Home video series.

Easy Kitchen Chemistry

My son’s favorite kind of activities involve mixing things together. He enjoys seeing what will happen and making a mess. A super easy way to do chemistry at home is to explore mixtures and solutions {and maybe a reaction or two} with ingredients from the kitchen. It is generally safe to mix edible ingredients together. For this experiment, we mixed white powders {cornstarch, flour, and baking soda} with water. The goal was to compare the textures of the mixtures and see how and if they acted differently.

Materials:

• cornstarch
• flour
• baking soda
• water
• vinegar {optional but it adds another fun comparison}
• containers
• spoons

Place cornstarch, flour, and baking soda in different containers. Add a little bit of water to each powder. Stir, and compare the textures. I talk a little bit about the textures in the video below.

For extra fun, add a little vinegar to each of the powders. What happens? Does the vinegar react with all three?

**Safety side note: While edible ingredients from the kitchen are generally safe to touch, many of them {vinegar, lemon juice, etc.} do not feel good when placed in the eyes. Be sure to wash your child’s hands after play.**

Science at Home Video Series

Watch the video to see examples of science in the kitchen.

Check out the Science at Home post for more information and links to the other kitchen chemistry ideas.

More Kitchen Chemistry Examples

Science Sparks has 50 Kitchen Science activity ideas.

Baking soda and vinegar is always a child favorite. Use the reaction to create bubbles!

This kitchen chemistry post has several ideas for exploration and discovery in the kitchen.

Have you ever made rainbows in milk? This simple science with kitchen ingredients is sure to please.

Challenge and Discover: Kitchen Chemistry

Link up posts about kitchen chemistry activities you have done with your kids. By linking up, you are giving us permission to grab one picture and feature your projects on our blogs and social media sites. We’d love for you to grab a button and add it to your post.

<div align="center"><a href="https://inspirationlaboratories.com/" title="Inspiration Laboratories" target="_blank"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7281/8714558209_754cc3451b_m.jpg" alt="Inspiration Laboratories" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 

You can also share photos of your activities on our Facebook pages or in the Science for Kids community on Google+.

Link up your kitchen chemistry projects starting today.

Thanks for sharing your kitchen chemistry ideas!

Linking up here.