The Easter long weekend is on its way again! That means chocolate, family gatherings and a bit of time off to play with the kids. But there’s no way you can spend the whole weekend just eating chocolate. So gather up your lab coat and materials, because we’ve got some great at-home experiments you can put together with the kids this Easter break!
Melting Easter Eggs
Okay, so maybe you can make time to eat a little bit of chocolate. Our first experiment is all about chocolate and the way it melts! All you need is some small chocolate eggs (get some that are the same size for better results) and plates that you can rest them on. Then get to work on testing how fast chocolate melts in different places around the house! What happens if they’re outside in the shade for 10 minutes? What about in direct sunlight? Hot water? Inside your mouth? Melt your eggs and record how long it takes. If they don’t melt fully then use a finger to squish them and compare how soft the different eggs got.
Magic Easter Rabbit
Next, we’re testing a cool phenomenon called capillary action! Cut a bunny shape out of a piece of paper (or use our supplied template). Decorate the bunny with pencils, crayons and markers, then fold in the ears and the head. What happens when you place the folded bunny on a plate with a few tablespoons of water? You’ll have to try it to find out! And don’t forget to be creative with your decorations – the prettier the bunny is, the better.
Bouncing Egg
There’s enough chocolate eggs going around on Easter, so our next experiment uses real eggs and a cool chemical reaction instead. Grab two raw eggs and large cups to put them in. Fill the cups with vinegar (white household vinegar is great for this), carefully add the eggs in and then leave them alone for 36-48 hours. The vinegar reacts with the eggshell, dissolving it away and leaving you with eggs that are only held together by a thin membrane. Want to know where this experiment gets its name? Take your eggs out of the vinegar and rinse them off. Now hold them 3-4cm above a smooth plate and drop them gently to see what happens!
Beautiful Bath Bombs
After a hard day of eating chocolate it’s time for a bath. Add some colour with homemade bath bombs! Using household incredients like bicarb soda, citric acid and food colouring, you can mix up your own bath bombs. Dispoable plastic cups make great moulds for shaping your bath bombs, but the only limit to colours and shapes is your imagination. Bonus points for making bath bombs that look like easter eggs!
DIY Volcano
Gather up your materials and head outside for this one, it tends to make a mess! You’ll need an empty 2L bottle, a slurry made of water, baking soda and a few drops of food colouring, and then two cups of white vinegar. Put the empty bottle on the ground. Use a funnel to fill it with your colourful baking soda slurry. Then add the vinegar and step back to watch the show!
Make Your Own Hand Sanitiser
After all these Easter experiments you’re going to need a way to get clean. Luckily, hand sanitiser is pretty easy to make at home. With a simple mix of isopropyl alcohol, aloe vera gel and any scents or perfumes you like, you can make an effective hand sanitiser. Keep it in a clean tube, bottle or pump pack to make it easier to dispense. And remember, this one requires parent supervision!
Teabag Rocket
It wouldn’t be much of an Easter weekend without a bit of cool pyrotechnics to cap things off. This is another simple one, but it should always be done with adult supervision. Simply take a cloth teabag and remove the string. Unfold the bag and empty the tea leaves out (they can go into the garden or compost!) so that you’re left with a cylindrical tube. Stand the cylinder up on a non-flammable plate or surface and then use matches to light the top of the cylinder on fire and see what happens!
Can’t Get Enough of Our Science Experiments? Come to a Street Science Public Event!
Science isn’t just for the Easter weekend or school classroom, that’s why Street Science hosts regular public events. Our team of experienced science teachers put together shows and demonstrations that are fun, exciting and educational! We work with everyone from small community groups to large venues and corporations, so you’ll always be able to find us hosting an event somewhere near you. You can check out our event calendar to see the free community events that are happening near your family! If you’d like more information on our events or want us to design an experience for you, you’re more than welcome to get in touch with us at any time.