Valentine’s Day is around the corner. We love doing theme-based science experiments in our home. This year we decided to make a chemical love potion with ingredients we have on hand. This Valentine’s Day Science Experiment is fun and simple to do. Kids will be focused on creating a bubbly colorful potion, which is NOT meant to be consumed. Parents should do this activity with their children.
Kids and parents will learn patience while doing this Valentine’s Day Science Experiment. You have to use a specified amount of each ingredient in order for the chemical reaction to work. Once kids see the bubbly potion appear, they will be proud of their accomplishments.
Below is a video showing you how to make the love potion. We encourage you to follow the exact directions in the video.
We love to do simple activities that require household materials. These types of activities take a few minutes to set up and provide at least an hour or more fun for kids. The Colorful Milk Experiment is a great example of one of those activities. There is a ton of learning in doing this experiment as well.
Our first time doing the Colorful Milk Experiment, we were amazed at the results. My son was three at the time, and talked about the results for a week. Back then we called this activity the Milk Rainbow. You will need the following for this activity…
This experiment teaches kids how soap attaches to grease, which in this case would be the fat in the milk. Mixing the milk, soap, and food coloring results in a beautiful mixture of colors. We encourage you to try it with a variety of colors.
Below is a video showing you how to do the experiment. It comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please subscribe if you like what you see on the channel.
Below is a video of my son sounding and spelling words at 21 months.
Many people ask me how this was done and the answers are in thebook below, Teach Your Toddler to Read Through Play. We also have an online course that gives a more detailed account of how he learned to read at an early age.
Click the link below to access the online course.
Click the link below to access to book on Amazon.
Children will become interested in reading when you make it fun. You accomplish this by building their interest in words and stories. This will come naturally by reading a variety of interactive books.
Reading a variety of interactive books exposes children to various vocabulary words, characters, plots, settings, problems, and resolutions. When Cory, my son, was a baby, I always borrowed books about the alphabet, colors, and numbers from the library. This is the main reason he knew these topics at nineteen months and could read at twenty-one months.
I also picked interactive books with colorful pictures. When reading, I would point to the characters and various objects on the page. Pop-up books are great to read to children because they create an element of surprise. It also gives them an appealing visual of what is happening in the book.
Lift-the-flap books are great because your child is anticipating the answer to a question. They are also engaged while reading these books because they are showcasing the answers with lifting the flaps. Cory has always liked to handle books; therefore, I taught him how to turn the pages at nine months. This was another strategy used to get him involved in reading as a baby.
Start your child’s fun reading journey by reading interactive books. I have listed 20 below.
Let’s Get Started – 20 Fun Interactive Books For Kids
Alpha Bugs: A Pop-up Alphabet by David Carter
This book is all about bugs. It is a great resource for practicing sounds.
Birthday Bugs: A Pop-up Party by David Carter
This book celebrates birthday bugs. It has a different bug popping out of the presents.
The Wide-Mouthed Frog (A Pop-Up Book) by Keith Faulkner and Jonathan Lambert
This frog loves finding creatures outdoors and eating them. However, he was stumped when there is another that likes to eat wide-mouthed frogs.
Pop-up Peekabook: Under the Sea by DK
This is a baby book that introduces children to colorful underwater scenes and characters.
Pop-Up Dinosaurs: A Pop-Up Book to Get Your Jaws Into
This rhyming book has facts about dinosaurs. There are five big dinosaur pop-ups that jump from the pages.
The Jungle Book: A Pop-Up Adventure by Matthew Reinhart
This is a great retelling of a classic. Children are exposed to battles of good over evil and the importance of family.
The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings by Anna Llenas
This sensitive book gently illustrates common emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm.
A Pop-Up Book of Nursery Rhymes: A Classic Collectible Pop-Up by Matthew Reinhart
This book is a classic storytelling of Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes.
Brush Your Teeth, Please: A Pop-up Book by Jean Pidgeon
Children will learn proper dental hygiene in a fun way. They will see chimp brushing and a shark flossing!
Pop-Up Peekabook! Things That Go: Pop-Up Surprise Under Every Flap
This interactive book has bold pop-ups that make diggers, trucks, and cars jump from the pages when the flaps are lifted.
Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Rod Campbell
Children will try to find the perfect pet with this book. They will lift flaps and see a monkey, lion, and an elephant.
Where’s Spot by Eric Hill
This is a great bedtime book where children will delight in trying to find Spot.
Playtown: A Lift-the-Flap Book by Roger Priddy
Children will learn about busy scenes from around the town. This includes the airport, the hospital, and shops.
Lift-the-Flap Tap Farm by Roger Priddy
In this interactive book, children will learn all about the farm, from animals to crops to farm machines.
What’s in My Truck by Linda Bleck
Children will learn about various trucks making deliveries to different places. They can peek inside these fun trucks and see what’s inside.
First 100 Animals Lift-the-Flap: Over 50 Fun Flaps to Lift and Learn
This book will help babies and toddlers learn all about their first animals. There are over 50 flaps to lift that reveal hidden photographs of animals.
Do Cows Meow? by Salina Yoon
This is a simple and rhythmic book. Kids will happily imitate all kids of animal sounds after reading this book.
Do Crocs Kiss? by Salina Yoon
This book has fun text and colorful illustrations. Children will see lions, tigers, and bears, as well as snappy reptiles and other favorite creatures.
Peek-A-Who? by Nina Laden
This book has colorful pictures and simple rhyming texts. Children will delight in the anticipation of what’s hiding on the next page.
Winnie the Pooh’s Giant Lift-the-Flap Book by A.A. Milne and Ernest Shepard
Winnie-the-Pooh has an adventure involving shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and how to tell time.
Apples are in season this time of the year. I recently had a neighbor give me about 60 apples. This means making a lot of apple sauce for the family. In order to celebrate this time of year, my son and I made apples with homemade materials. Afterwards we created a mini explosion with the apples. This made for a fun fall activity for kindergarten.
Please note that kids younger and older than kindergarten age can do and have loads of fun with this activity.
My son liked this activity because he could get his hands messy with mixing the various substances. I like it because we made a chemical reaction and incorporated math by using measuring cups and spoons.
We consider this a great sensory activity for kids because they will mold the apple together using their hands. This is a fun fall science activity that you can do at home.
Below is a video showing you how to make the apples and the mini explosion. This video comes from my son’s YouTube Channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please like and share if you like what you see.
The year 2020 is going by really fast. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is almost here. It seems like New Year’s was here just yesterday. My son and I love to do projects based on the holidays. Today we have an exciting one for you. We will show you one of our fun holiday science experiments. You will learn how to inflate a turkey using science!
This consists of using a chemical reaction to inflate a turkey. This project includes science, art, and math. The science is in the chemical reaction you will create to blow up the turkey. Your child will use their artistic skills to make the turkey from a glove. The experiment involves measuring various ingredients to make the chemical reaction, which incorporates math.
This is an all inclusive activity for kids.
We love this activity because it uses ingredients you mostly likely have in your kitchen. This is a great activity to do with the kids on Thanksgiving Day. Children will love seeing how the chemical reaction makes the turkey come alive.
Below is what’s needed for this fun Holiday Science Experiment…
Holiday Science Experiments – How To Create a Fun Turkey Blaster
If you want to try this experiment, please view the how-to video below. It comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please subscribe if you like what you see.
Please note: You will see my son and I both inflating our own turkeys. However, I did something different from my son, which made a big difference in the activity.
I remember watching Sid the Science Kid cartoon with my son. We watched the “Sid Wings It” episode where he and his classmates learned how people were exposed to flying by observing birds in nature. They also explored a special exhibit showcasing gliders, flying contraptions, and jet planes at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.
At the end of this episode, Sid and his father make a paper airplane. After watching this, my son wanted to make one. We got one sheet of paper and started making a paper airplane like the one in the cartoon. My son flew this airplane and had a blast.
Curiosity is growing
Pretty soon, he started getting curious about other paper airplanes we could make that would fly higher, faster, and longer. We watched some YouTube videos but couldn’t find exactly what we were looking for.
Making paper airplanes is a fun DIY STEM project where you can discuss with kids the scientific law of aerodynamics. The law has three basic components: thrust, which moves the plane forward, draw, which holds it back, and lift which keeps it airborne.
My son wanted to share his favorite airplane, which is the glider, with you. He loves this paper airplane because it loops and has a lot of air time. Plus it is easy to make and only requires one item, which is paper.
How to Make a Glider with Paper
In the video below, my son will show you how to make the glider.
This video comes from my son’s YouTube Channel called, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. This channel has science experiments, DIY projects and learning games for kids. Please subscribe and share if you like what you see.
We used the classic chemical reaction of baking soda and vinegar. However, we added an element of surprise by adding some color to our magic potion. We found a way to hide the color so a person could not see it until the baking soda and vinegar reacted with one another.
This Magic Potion activity reminded me of something a magician or wizard would do in a fairy tale story. Once the potion came together, my son was happy with the results. I think your child will have the same reaction if they did the experiment as well.
The results were a colorful mini explosion that overflowed out of the glass jar. Another benefit in doing this experiment is that you can explain the science behind the mini explosion.
Why it works?
As the baking soda mixes with the vinegar, it creates bubbles of carbon dioxide gas.
The mixture creates a lot of gas, which results in the chemical reaction.
Watch the video below to see the Magic Potion Recipe. This video comes from my son’s Youtube Channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please subscribe and share if you like what you see.
The fall season is here which encourages us to bring a fun Halloween activity for kindergarten. It is a time where kids can dress up and go trick or treating. However, due to Covid-19, there may be some changes in how trick or treating is carried out this year. Covid-19 has caused many people to socially distance themselves.
The good news is you can still do fun Fall and Halloween activities in the comfort of your home. I have one for you today which is called the Oozing Pumpkin.
My son requested to do this activity. He loves activities where he can create a chemical reaction or some type of light explosion.
Because there is a chemical reaction in the oozing pumpkin, we consider this a science experiment. Many kids like this experiment because it looks like the pumpkin is vomiting. The pumpkin is oozing the chemical reaction out of his month. The chemical reaction we created is called Elephant Toothpaste. My son’s exact words were “this is cool!”
Halloween Activity for Kindergarten
Below are the materials you need for the Oozing Pumpkin…
My son learned the alphabet at an early age. However, we still love to create games that are based on the letters. One activity we created is called the ABC Hide and Seek Game. The game will help children learn and review their letters in a fun way.
We incorporated one of my son’s favorite toys, the Geo Safari Walkie Talkie.We used it to communicate various clues to one another during the ABC Hide and Seek Game. Don’t worry if you don’t have walkie talkies, each player can give clues by simply talking in a normal voice.
ABC Hide and Seek Game
Below is a video of how we played the game.
The video below comes from my son’s YouTube Channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please subscribe and share if you like what you see.
You have the option of making this an indoor or outdoor activity. Add more learning to this game by having children identify the phonetic letter sound once they find it. Here are other fun activities to learn the alphabet.
Remember the alphabet is one of the first steps to teaching a child to read. If a child does not know the alphabet first, it will be hard for them to connect letters to make words. Therefore, play this game so they can get the fundamentals of reading and literacy in a fun way!
My son and I love to do DIY projects around our home. There is something special about taking household materials and creating something that is fun to play with. At first, we decided to make a Cable Car Toy so that we could send messages back and forth to one another.
However right before making the Cable Car Toy, my son decided he wanted it to transport his toy cars to race on this Hot Wheel track. This ended up being a fun activity to do.
The best thing about making it is that you most likely have all the materials in your home. Below is what you will need….
Watch the video below to learn how to make the Cable Car Toy. The video comes my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please like the video and subscribe if you like what you see.
Once you have made the Cable Car Toy, have your child move the string in various directions. This is great time for them to make observations about how the string and the sandwich bags can move forward or backwards.
You may use this toy to send messages, toys, and small household objects etc. Next time, we will use it to pass math problems to each other. This will incorporate fun learning. The sky is limit with this project.
