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Kitchen science fun!  It’s a necessary thing to learn and be good at in my house.  When you have very curious, inquisitive kids, you have to learn to give up your beautiful island space in your kitchen all for the sake of science!  Science fun in my own kitchen!

Who knew there were so many crazy, fun things you could do with simple items from your kitchen and around your house.  I didn’t, until my little budding scientist began his experiments many years ago.

Some of you may already know about all of these fun experiments. Especially if you have kids like mine – kids who don’t sit still for long. Kids who don’t sit on the couch and watch movies. Kids who are constantly looking for something to make, play, build, do, etc…

In my house, my kids are really into making concoctions and trying to mix things together that will fizz or bubble, or do anything that will make a mess.  In fact, the bigger the mess, the better the experiment is in their eyes!

Sorry about the poor image quality, but as you can see from my scientist, this was taken many years ago! This is way back when – he was too little to sit on the kitchen stools, so his laboratory was the edge of my bathtub! He later graduated to the island in my kitchen…

I’m not sure when all of this started, but I remember very clearly my son making a “concoction” in my bathroom when he was very young.  He was mixing soap and color tablets in a bowl of water, and with just those few items he was able to make quite a mess!

And I mean a big mess.  Luckily, we were in the bathroom and his experiment table (at this age) was the edge of the tub.

When the mixture started overflowing and fizzing, it dripped onto the tile floor and into the tub.  The tile cleaned up pretty easily, but there were hints of blue coloring on my tub for quite some time!

This was not the fizzy experiment I spoke of, but I think it gets the point across. Oh my…  This is how he entertained himself while I got myself dressed and ready for the day!  Never a dull moment.

As my son grew older, he became interested in how a match works.  He always loved to relight his candles again and again, studying the flame before blowing them out.  I think his interest in fire came from my brother in law, who once showed him how to extinguish a lit match by placing it in your mouth!  Of course, he was fascinated by this and immediately wanted to try it.

Not yet…too young.  However, I thought quickly so as to avoid meltdown, and showed him how to extinguish a candle using your fingertips.

Remember that trick? Just lick your thumb and pointer finger, pinch the wick of the candle, and BAM – candle snuffed out!  So as you can see, I’m partly to blame for this mess I’ve created!

I do have to say though, when you’re doing experiments that don’t require a write up for a grade at the end, it’s much easier to enjoy.  Lucky for me, he thought I was crazy, and he did not want to try it.

Just last week, one of his teachers sent me a link to an experiment that she thought Zach would enjoy conducting.  I clicked the link to see a really cool (seemingly simple) experiment that involved fire.  Well…I knew that he would love this one.  I thought I’d save this special activity for a rainy Saturday, but little did I know, he was standing behind my desk while I was watching the video.

As soon as the video ended, he said “Okay…let’s go get the stuff so we can do that.  It looks so cool.”  So much for my rainy Saturday plans…

So we headed into the kitchen, and he spent quite a bit of time conducting this particular experiment, along with many others that he invented along the way.  If you have 10 or 15 minutes, click the video below and watch.

You will have a very clear idea of what my afternoons are like most days with my little scientist!  Never a dull moment…

A Few Words From My Resident Scientist, Zach

Hi. I love science. It’s my favorite subject in school, fun to watch, and a fun hobby. When I started my YouTube channel, the first things I did on it were science experiments.  I love just messing around with them.  If you check out my YouTube channel, you can see some of the crazy things I do. It is at zacharyrmason.com/YouTube.

Some of my favorite science experiments are the ones you do outside!  I loved testing to see how high different sodas would shoot in to the sky if I put Mentos in them. The highest one was Coke.  I also like breaking stuff using sledgehammers – like bricks, balloons, rocks, and soda cans.  When I break stuff, like rocks, I have to wear annoying glasses because parents say safety is the #1 priority.  I say fun is!  I consider that an experiment!  

When I did the candle experiment, I had tons of fun.  I always do side experiments too (trying to light a wet candle, putting out a candle with food coloring, and other stuff).  I always get off track and pretty much go crazy. Science, science everywhere!  Of course, when I’m not doing science experiments, I’m watching/playing baseball.  When I’m not doing any of that stuff, I’m playing outside!

Science will always be one of my favorite things, and I hope you like it too!  So, I guess that’s all, but I will keep guest blogging and keep you all posted.

If you’re looking for some simple, easy to do experiments, you might want to check out the Science Kiddo Website.  There are several experiments listed on this site with easy to follow instructions and videos to watch as well.  Just a few of our favorites are:  Fizzy Color Changing Reaction, Magic Milk, and Colorful Bombs!  There are many more to choose from, so click the link above and check it out.

There are also a lot of great kits that come with most of the supplies you need to have some fun in your kitchen.  Often times, you will need to add Baking Soda or some other ingredient that you probably have in your kitchen, but they supply all the little test tubes, spoons, measuring devices, etc…  Very easy to set up and just as easy (in most cases) to clean up.

I’ve included a link down below to one of the first experiment kits Zach ever got called My First Fizzy Foamy Science Kit by Brybelly.  It was a great start for him, and set us on a path of conducting many science experiments in my kitchen!  It didn’t take long for me to realize that this would be the first of many of these kits.

After this kit, we moved on up to conduct some experiments in test tubes.  For this, we used Big Bag of Science by Be Amazing Toys.  I don’t know if it was better or not, but I do know that Zach loved having real test tubes to play with.

Would you believe that he still has this test tube set in his closet? And yes…from time to time, they still come out for certain experiments!

Even after we had conducted many of the experiments that came with the Big Bag of Science kit, he continued to use those test tubes to make colors with water and food coloring.  He also used them to collect dirt and make home-made concoctions.  In fact, I think those test tubes are still somewhere in his closet!

Below are some links to websites with ideas for easy to conduct science experiments.  Most of them use every day items that you will probably have in your kitchen!  If not, they are easy to find at the grocery store.

And I also came across a neat book you might be interested in if you have a scientist in your house on Amazon called Lab for Kids:  52 Family Friendly Experiments from Around the House.  I don’t own this book, but I think I will be adding it to my collection very soon.  I’m running out of ideas!

So there you have it.  Now you all know what my kitchen island is actually used for, because if you know me at all, you know that it certainly isn’t used for cooking!  If you have some great experiments for kids, please share them.  And be sure to take some pictures.  I’ve had so much fun looking through all of these terrible, old pictures from when my scientist was just a little guy!  Have fun, and be careful!  Until next time…