Make Your Own Bouncy Balls!

Age Group:

Total time:

Supplies

• Elmer’s white glue

• Good coloring

• Borax powder

• Cornstarch

• Warm water

Directions

1. Gather Elmer’s white glue, food coloring, Borax powder, cornstarch, and some warm water.

2. For each ball, combine 4 tablespoons of warm water, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, and ½ a teaspoon of borax powder into one bowl.

3. In another bowl, pour out 1 tablespoon of Elmer’s white glue and add several drops of your food coloring.

4. Mix together your water, cornstarch, and borax and then pour it into your now colored glue!

5. Stir it all together until it is almost entirely solidified. Once you’re satisfied with the texture roll it between your palms to form your bouncy ball!

Image source StemEducationGuide.com

Sundial

Age Group: 2nd-5th grade

Total time: 12 hours

Supplies

• Stick | 1

• Rocks or chalk | 12 or 1

• Playdough (optional) | 1 cup

• Watch or clock | 1

Directions

1. Find a sunny spot on a lawn or sidewalk.

2. Put the stick upright into the ground. If on concrete, put the stick into the playdough and stick the playdough to the ground.

3. Every hour, put a stone on the ground where the shadow falls. Alternatively, mark the spot with the chalk using numbers or dashes. Marking each hour may be completed over several days.

4. When all the markers have been placed, the sundial is ready to use. You should be able to tell time from looking at where the shadow falls on the chalk marks or array of stones.

Image source KidsCreativeArts.com

Invisible Ink

Age Group: K-5th grade

Total time: 20 minutes

Supplies

• Lemon | 1

• Bowl | 1

• Cotton Swab | 1

• Sheet of Paper | 1

• Heat Source (Lamp or Stove) | 1

Directions

1. Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl.

2. Dip the cotton swab into the lemon juice.

3. Draw or write a secret message on the paper using the cotton swab with the lemon juice as “ink.”

4. Wait for the lemon juice to dry.

5. Heat the paper by holding it close to a heat source, such as a lamp, and wait for the message to appear.

Image source MommyPoppins.com

Milk Art

Age Group: All ages

Total time: 10 minutes

Supplies

• Bowl | 1

• ½ cup milk

• Dish soap

• Cotton swab

• Food coloring

Directions

1. Pour the milk into the bowl and put one drop of food coloring in different places

2. Put a small amount of soap onto the cotton swab and touch one of the colors

3. Adding soap to the food coloring makes the fat in the milk separate!

Image source Broogly.com

Homemade Butter

Age Group: All ages

Total time: 10 minutes

Supplies

• Glass Jar | 1

• Heavy cream (35% whipping cream) | 1 carton

Directions

1. Fill your jar halfway with the heavy cream

2. Put the lid on tightly and SHAKE

3. After a while of shaking the liquid should thicken because of the combination of compounds

4. As the cream thickens you get whipped cream!

5. If you keep shaking the whipped cream eventually turns into butter!

Image source TheStayAtHomeChef.com

M&M Rainbow

Age Group: K-3rd grade

Total time: 10-15 minutes

Supplies

• M&Ms

• Plate

• Water

Directions

1. Start by putting some M&Ms onto a plate.

2. Arrange the M&Ms in a large circle at the outside edge of the plate.

3. Gently add enough water to the middle of the plate until the water is touching all of the M&Ms. Be careful not to add the water too roughly or it will cause some of the M&Ms to move out of the circle.

4. Then just watch and over the next few minutes, a rainbow will form!

Image source GiftOfCuriosity.com

Fireworks in a Jar

Age Group: ages 3 and up

Total time: about 30 minutes

Supplies

• An empty jar

• 4 tbsp of cooking oil

• Food coloring

• Water

• A bowl

• Paper towels

• A spoon

Directions

1. Begin by filling an empty jar 3/4 of the way with water. Set this to the side.

2. In a bowl combine 3 tablespoons of cooking oil along with several drops of food coloring.

3. You will want to add 3-5 drops of food coloring for each color that you are using.

4. Use a spoon to stir the food coloring into the oil.

5. It will not mix, but stirring will help to break the food coloring into smaller droplets.

6. Now, pour the container of oil into the jar of water.

7. After a moment or two the oil will settle at the top of the jar, but the food coloring will begin to shoot down and mix into the water, creating a "fireworks" effect!

8. The food colors will continue to shoot down like fireworks until all of the droplets have fallen from the oil.

Image source OneLittleProject.com

Diet Coke and Mentos Eruption

Age Group: Any age group!

Total time: 5 minutes (including cleanup!)

Supplies

• Diet Coke | 1 bottle

• Original Mentos | At least 1

• Container for the reaction

Directions

Just drop the Mentos into the bottle of Diet Coke, and make sure to back up a safe distance to watch the explosion! It may make a bit of a mess, so put the bottle in a large container.

Image source ScienceBuddies.org

Oobleck!

Age Group: K-2nd grade

Total time: 10 minutes to make, but the oobleck lasts a day!

Supplies

• Water | 1 cup

• Cornstarch | 2 cups

• Small bowl | 1

Directions

1. Mix the water and cornstarch in the small bowl.

2. If the oobleck is too watery, add more cornstarch! If the oobleck is too solid, add more water!

3. Add food coloring if you want to add some color!

Image source BrianWilliamsScience.com

Sidewalk Picasso

Age Group: K-2nd grade

Total time: 3-5 minutes per round

Supplies

• Chalk | As many colors as possible

• An asphalt or concrete surface

Directions

1. Set up stations for each child participating by drawing a square on the area they’ll be drawing on (Driveway, sidewalk, etc.)

2. Pick an object they can see such as a nearby plant, a car, or even each other!

3. Give them 3-5 minutes to recreate the object as a chalk drawing on the sidewalk- best rendition wins a point!

4. Continue for as many rounds as you’d like!

Image source MommyNearest.com

3-Ingredient Puffy Paint

Age Group: 4 years and up

Total time: 30 minutes - 1 hour

Supplies

• Shaving cream

• Liquid Glue

• Food Coloring

• Bowl

• Large spoon to mix

Directions

1. Place equal amounts of shaving cream and liquid school glue into a bowl and mix.

2. If you’re making one color, add some food coloring right into the bowl and stir.

   1. If you want several colors, scoop the shaving cream/glue mixture into plastic cups, then add different colors of food coloring and stir.

3. Start painting on any kind of paper with your puffy paint!

Image source OneLittleProject.com

Erupting Lemon/Lemon Volcano

Age Group: 4 years and up

Total time: 30 minutes - 1 hour

Supplies

• Lemons (grab a few!)

• Baking Soda

• Food Coloring

• Dawn Dish Soap

• Plate, Tray, or Bowl

• Craft Sticks

• Lemon Juice (optional: pick up a small bottle or juice from another lemon)

Directions

1. Have an adult cut the lemon in half. Place half of the lemon in a bowl or dish to catch your mess! Squeeze the other half of the lemon and save the juice for later

2. Next, take your craft stick and poke holes in the various sections of the lemon. This will help the reaction along a bit in the beginning.

3. Now you can place drops of food coloring around the different sections on the top of the lemon. Alternating with different colors of food coloring will give a fun effect. However, you can also stick with just a couple of colors or even one-color!

4. Pour some Dawn dish soap all over the top of the lemon. What does dish soap do? Adding dish soap to a reaction like this will also produce a bit of foam and bubbles!

5. Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda onto the top of the lemon. Then you can go ahead and use a craft stick to press some of the baking soda down into the different sections of the lemon to get the eruption going.

6. Wait a few minutes for the reaction to begin taking place. Slowly, your lemon will begin to erupt into a variety of colors. Additionally, you can use the craft stick to mash the lemon and baking soda around a bit more!

7. You can add some additional baking soda when the first round of erupting has taken place to continue the reaction.

8. Pour your extra lemon juice from the other half onto the lemon to continue the reaction!

Image source LittleBinsForLittleHands.com

Baking Soda/Vinegar Experiment

Age Group: 4 years and up

Total time: 30 minutes - 1 hour

Supplies

• Baking Soda

• Small bowls of white vinegar

• Liquid food coloring

• Casserole dish or baking sheet

• Medicine dropper/Turkey Baster (or just spoons)

Directions

1. Sprinkle baking soda in a layer all over your casserole dish or baking sheet

2. Add drops of food coloring to each of your small bowls of white vinegar

3. Using turkey baster/medicine dropper/spoon, pour small amounts of vinegar and food coloring mixtures onto the baking soda and watch it fizz and bubble!

4. Create a beautiful array of colors and play around mixing colors!

Image source ToddleringFromHome.com

Fluffy Cloud Dough

Age Group: 4 years and up

Total time: 30 minutes - 1 hour

Supplies

• 2 cups cornstarch

• 1 cup scented conditioner (any scent that you like!)- Suave brand is best

• Food coloring or sparkles *optional

• Airtight container

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix your conditioner, and cornstarch. If the mixture is too sticky add a little bit more corn starch.

   1. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more conditioner.

2. The dough should be non-stick, stretchy, and pliable.

3. Divide it up by how many kids are playing, and by what colors/sparkles they want

   1. If using food coloring, be careful because it can get on your hands (try wearing gloves!)

   2. To make it look like a real “cloud,” use a white conditioner

4. Play with dough on a covered surface- create anything you want (just like playdough but it smells like your conditioner scent and is super soft!)

Image source TheBestIdeasForKids.com

Obstacle Course

Age Group: Any age!

Total time: 20-30 minutes

Supplies

• Your backyard | you can do this with things found in nature

• Stopwatch | can be a smartphone timer

Directions

1. Begin by asking a parent or guardian to time you as you complete the course

2. The first step is to find 5 locations throughout your yard

3. Now the Obstacle Course:

   1. Run to the 1st location and then circle around it 2x

   2. Bunny hop to the 2nd location

   3. Skip to the 3rd location and do 5 jumping jacks

   4. Run to the 4th location

   5. Taking the most giant steps you can, walk like a giant to your 5th location and jump once when you get there

   6. Last, crab walk back to the start

4. Do the course as many times as you’d like trying to beat your time from before and challenge your family members to compete with you as well.

5. Be creative and add your own aspects to the course!

Image source HomeTalk.com

Bug Town/Fairy Village

Age Group: All ages

Total time: 30 minutes - 1 hour

Supplies

• Anything found in nature

• Creativity!

Directions

1. Go outside and gather a variety of items - rocks, moss, sticks of different sizes, leaves, flowers - anything you can find!

2. Create a village for tiny fairies or bugs! Make houses out of sticks, pathways out of rocks, or a miniature garden with moss and flowers. Picture yourself as a tiny bug or fairy and think of what you would want in your little town.

3. Continue decorating your house or village until you’re happy!!!

Image source CountryLiving.com

Nature Xylophones

Age Group: K-2nd Grade

Total time: 15 minutes

Supplies

• Empty glass jars (different sizes) | 2 or 3

• Dirt, Mud, Rocks, Water (any nature item) | As many as you can find

• Sticks or Spoons | 2

Directions

1. Wash and dry the empty jars

2. Fill the empty jars with the nature items (if the jars are the same size then fill up the jars with different levels of the nature items)

3. Once the jars are full, use the sticks/and or spoons to hit the jars while they are upright

4. Music will sound!

Image source TheMomentsAtHome.com

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Age Group: K-5th Grade

Total time: 1 hr

Supplies

• Checklist | 1 for each person

• Pencil | 1 for each person

• Bucket | 1 for each person

Directions

Print out a copy of the checklist on the following page for each participant. Give each person a pencil and bucket. Ask them to find the checklist items in nature and put each item in the bucket. Instruct participants to come back when they have found all items. People can take turns sharing each item they found.

Image source HowtoNestforLess.com

Hopscotch

Age Group: Any age group!

Total time: 20-30 minutes

Supplies

• Chalk

• A small object | This could be a rock, beanbag, button, etc.

Directions

There are many different ways to play. One way is described below. Come up with your own hopscotch games if you like! The possibilities are endless.

1. Draw a hopscotch design as shown on the right (use different colors and designs to make it your own!)

2. Throw the small object onto a number.

3. Hop through the hopscotch design and skip the number the small object lands on. Remember to only put one foot for each numbered box.

4. How to make it harder:

   • Add more numbered boxes to make the hopscotch design longer (Can you reach 50?)

   • Use more small objects each round to skip more boxes (That’s going to be a lot of jumping!)

Flower Bookmarks

Age Group: 3rd-5th graders

Total time: 1-2 days

Supplies

• Flowers or leaves | 3-5 per bookmark

• Cardstock | One piece of cardstock can make 2-3 bookmarks!

• Scissors Glue or glue stick

• Hole punch (Optional)

• Packing tape (Optional)

• Yarn to wrap and create a border with! (Optional)

Directions

1. Take a nature walk and pick out some cool flowers and leaves.

2. See how many different colors you can find.

3. Press the flowers/leaves in a book and leave them there for a day to dry out and flatten.

4. Cut cardstock to the size you want your bookmark (suggestion: 6 inches by 2 inches.)

5. Use a glue stick to lightly attach your flowers/leaves to your cardstock.

6. Optional: Cover your bookmark with packing tape to seal in the dried leaves/flowers and/or create a border with punched holes and yarn. Ta-da! All done!

Image from buggyandbuddy.com