Harry Potter magic chemistry experiments, kitchen science activities

Looking for some "wizard" science experiments to impress students? How about some Harry Potter magic tricks using simple household chemistry! Here are 10 easy hands-on kitchen science activities.

Eerie Ectoplasm (AKA silly putty, noise or farting putty): Mix equal parts Elmer's school glue and liquid laundry starch. Work together with fingers until it forms a rubbery putty. Have kids experiment with folding it and making a loud burp noise. Explain that because air is trapped, it pops, like a latex balloon. This is how we prove that air is a gas, takes up space and creates pressure. Use these kitchen science experiments in lesson plans on matter. 

Ghost Writing or Invisible Ink: Dip a cotton swab or toothpick in lemon juice or milk. Write a message  to a friend. Or write a magic spell from Harry Potter. To read the invisible ink, hold it over a warm light bulb, candle or flame. The writing will magically appear. Use these kitchen science experiments in chemistry lesson plans. 

Magic Rubber Bone: Turn ordinary chicken or turkey bones into a bendable "rubber bone." Soak a clean bone in white vinegar for 24 hours. Tell students that you have cast a spell upon the bone to make it bend. When you take the bone out of the vinegar, it will bend and not break. These chemistry experiments shows how acid (vinegar) dissolves the hardened calcium and mineral deposits it the bone.

Unbreakable plastic bags: Tell students that you have special magic bags that will not leak even if you poke them. Fill Ziploc bags with colored water and seal. Gently push a sharpened pencil through the bag and remove it. Use these science experiments to demonstrate a polymer works. Plastic is a polymer that will stretch to close the gap and not let any liquid spill.

Magic fire shield (adults only): Tell students that you have magic that prevents clothing from catching fire. Dip a bandanna in magic fire shield solution (rubbing alcohol). Squeeze it out and don't let it dry. Hold a match to the tip of the bandanna. Flames will engulf the bandanna but it will not burn up. After a moment, the flames will burn out and the bandanna will be un touched. Explain that alcohol burns at a very low heat. 

Magic beans: For this science activity, get Mexican jumping beans from Amazon. These are little beans with a live worm inside. When the worm moves (especially in your warm hand) the beans jump. Pretend to talk to the beans, ask them questions, etc. The beans will seem to move in answer to your questions. 

Magic rainbow (color chromatography): Gather assorted brands (Sharpie, El Marko, Crayola) and styles (water color, permanent) black markers. Touch each marker tip to a separate piece of damp paper towel. Watch each ink blob diffuse and separate into a color spectrum. Use this chemistry activity show that black is made up of many colors. 

Fleeing fleas: Fill a pie tin with water. Add black pepper and then red pepper. The different pepper types will repel each other like magnets. What's really happening is that the pepper is disturbing the meniscus--or molecular force that holds water inside a glass. Use this for water or magnet science experiments. 

Wizard Water: Further explain meniscus by slowly over-filling a bottle. The water will actually rise above the level but stay in place by the meniscus "skin" till too much is added and it breaks. 

Genie in a bottle. Rinse a glass bottle and freeze it. Place a dime atop the bottle and then call the genie out. Slowly the dime will lift to let trapped air escape. Then the dime will clink back in place. It will repeat this several times. What's happening is that as the frost inside the bottle melts, it expands. These make great science lesson plans on states of matter. 

Health science lesson plans: Nutrition chemistry and recipes to fight obesity

Childhood obesity is a dangerous health issue that affects more kids annually. What can we as parents and teachers do about it? Weight loss under age 13 is tricky because preteens are still growing. Better to teach good nutrition in health and science lesson plans. Here are healthy food swaps for favorites kid foods and ways to teach nutrition in the classroom. 

* Salt: Teach properties of salt in kitchen chemistry lesson plans. Teach children to read labels and seek out low-sodium varieties of favorite snacks. Put out healthy snacks and let kids make trail mix in snack size bags to control portions. Make low salt popcorn in class. For fun nutrition lesson plans, instruct kids to research salt substitutes--lemon juice, vinegar and herbs.

* Soda pop. Have students study nutrition labels to discover how much sugar pop contains. In chemistry
science lesson plans, demonstrate how sugar dehydrates, and how the acid in pop burns grime off a penny and in the same way burns stomach lining and tooth enamel. Help students create healthy carbonated drink recipes with 100 percent fruit juice and soda water. Demonstrate the importance of plain water in curbing obesity and overall health. 

* Pizza: Kids love pizza and there are a million great ways it can be used in lesson plans. Let students make clock faces with vegetables and cheese on personal crusts. Experiment with creative pizza recipes using healthy toppings and creative crust food swaps. Made right, pizza can actually fight childhood obesity. 

* Veggies and dip: Kids love vegetables in ranch dip so let them invent healthy dip and dressing recipes. Use food swaps of yogurt, garlic, pepper and a little Parmesan cheese. Teach colors and patterns with cut vegetables. Help them to explore texture and taste and then write descriptively. 

* Spreads and condiments: This is a great place to learn measurement and portion size. Let kids practice measuring serving sizes of ketchup, jam for PBJ, butter, mayo, etc. Explore calories and teach math by counting and adding calories in math lesson plans. 

* Breads: Help kids explore healthy vs. unhealthy ingredients in breads. Bring in your bread machine and use it to teach cooking, nutrition and kitchen chemistry lesson plans. Help kids invent and write nutritious bread recipes using different grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruits. 

No nutrition lesson plans are complete without the fitness component. Get kids away from screens and outside playing. Active children will not need to worry about weight loss and obesity. 

Free Printable Dr Seuss Recipes

Free Printable Dr Seuss Recipes Oobleck, Pink Yink Ink Drink. Dr. Seuss celebrates his birthday on March 2. We celebrate Dr. Seuss legacy of literature. Dr. Seuss's charming fable Bartholomew and the Oobleck is pure Seuss fun. Here are recipes to make oobleck with your children, homeschool or students.Dr Seuss recipes. For Pink Yink Ink Drink recipes, visit this blog. For more fun kids foods and recipes visit me at Great Food 4U (blogspot). For more kitchen science recipes, come see me at Kaboom! Fizzle! Pop! (blogspot)

Play Dough, Oobleck, Moon Sand, Lint Dough, Silly Putty recipes

March is National Reading Month. For hands-on reading lesson plans, how about homemade science recipes and kitchen chemistry experiments? Here are recipes for silly putty, noise or farting putty, Flubber, play dough, melting goop, Oobleck, Moon Sand, lint dough, modeling clay, paper mache, and soap dough.

Noise Putty, Farting putty or Flubber: Silly putty is called farting putty, because it sounds like passing gas when squished. This simple recipe has wowed generations of students in three decades of teaching. Mix blue liquid laundry starch and white school glue. Laundry starch is found in laundry section. Sta-Flo is the most common brand. Blend in cup or zippered bag with fingers. Mix till sticky glue is blended in and putty is slippery and rubbery.

Magic Melting Putty or Oobleck. This simple recipe defys the laws of matter. Mix a little water in corn starch. It hardens to a solid then "melts" when you touch it. Put melting putty in the preschool sand and water table. Or fill a child's pool with cornstarch and water for hours of messy fun. Great preschool birthday party activity!

Moldable Moon Sand. This dough recipe teaches ratios. The ratio is 2 to 1 to .5. Mix 2 cups of commercial play sand, 1 cup corn starch to one half cup of cold water (color water with food coloring if desired). Dissolve corn starch in cold water (cold doesn't clump, but you can let kids experiment with warm to discover that for themselves). The blend sand and corn starch together. Make a large batch for classroom sand table.

Perfect Play Dough: Blend 1 cup salt, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar or alum, food coloring, cooking oil (about 2 T.) Dough too sticky? Add flour. Too dry? Add water or oil.

Soap Dough: Mix 1 cup powdered laundry detergent, an eighth of a cup of water and food coloring. Mold or sculpt as you would with play-dough. Store in refrigerator.

Paper mache. Tear any recycled scrap paper in pieces. Soak in hot water till pulpy. Add a dribble of white school glue. Blend till smooth. When cool, spread over boxes and containers to form shapes. Great eco-friendly craft.

Dryer Lint Dough. Teach ratios 1.5:1:.3. Mix 1.5 cups pressed dryer lint with one cup cold water and one third cup of flour. Add a drop of oil to prevent mold. Dissolve flour in cold water and blend to get rid of lumps. Carefully add lint and stir constantly until mixture forms stiff peaks. Mold like paper mache.

Household Chemistry Activities, kitchen science lesson plans

You can create a complete semester of science lesson plans and chemistry experiments with this shopping list of school supplies from your local pharmacy. Normal science classroom safety precautions should be taken. 

Ph test strips or Litmus paper. Use these to test the base or alkaline vs. acid level in products. Find them with diabetic supplies or in school supply catalogs. Or make your own litmus paper using this guide from Owlcation. You'll need blotting paper available from Amazon. Here is a litmus paper color chart to indicate acid or alkaline (base). 

 

Assorted vitamins and pain relievers:  Give each student a label from different medicines and vitamin bottles. Have them analyze the ingredients for additives, active ingredients, composition, dyes, etc. Students can also evaluate safety, effectiveness, proper usage, etc. Students should compile a medicine safety booklet.

Pill solubility chemistry experiments. Demonstrate how long it takes various pills to dissolve and enter the bloodstream. Students should note findings in science journals. 

Medicines in water source chemistry experiments. Extend pill solubility lesson plans into an ecology lesson by allowing the water to evaporate. Note any remnants of the pills. Explain how flushed pills and medications enter our environment via sewer systems and are spread to rivers, lakes and streams. Via the water cycle, they enter the atmosphere.  

Glycerin science experiments: Glycerin is basically biodiesel fuel. It has a sweet taste and it used to coat pills to make them taste better and easier to swallow. Debate with students the advisability of using an alcohol based product for ingested products. This thick liquid can also be used to demonstrate viscosity of liquids. Demonstrate it by adding it to dish soap and water to make super sturdy bubbles.

Soap chemistry lesson plans. Compare ingredients with commercial soap brands which claim to be pure and gentle. Ivory, Dove, Caress to castile soap and other natural soaps. Compare ingredients in stronger soaps like Irish Spring, Lava and Fels Naphtha. Use ph strips to test acid or alkaline (base). 

Epsom Salts. Here's a complete unit of science activities using epsom salts and other household chemistry supplies. Here are more epsom salts science experiments and craft projects to make crystals, salt, ice, a salt pendulum and more. 

Lotions and creams. Use Ph strips to test acidity levels in these creams. Students will be surprised to discover that products that are supposed to soothe and protect often contain very harsh drying chemicals like petroleum or alcohol. 

Isopropyl Alcohol: Have fun with this non-Newtonian liquid. That's one that doesn't follow the laws of physics. Rubbing alcohol is used to dry up or evaporate other liquids. Hand sanitizer is a great example as it dries quickly. Alcohol is used for swimmer's ear to keep the ear from holding water and to dry it quickly. In fact consumed, beer, wine or liquor alcohol dehydrates the body. 

Hand sanitizer. With Covid 19, we're using more antibacterial hand sanitizer. Demonstrate to students that while it kills bad germs it's also dangerous because it kills all bacteria, even good bacteria. It's also somewhat flammable. 

Iodine. Iodine has disinfectant and anti-puritic capabilities. It is yellow in color, but will turn deep purple in the presence of a starch (bread, potato, etc.). Iodine can be used in numerous science lesson plans on anatomy, biology, nutrition, chemistry and health.

Hydrogen Peroxide. Women used to "bleach" their hair with peroxide. Use to demonstrate whitening properties by pouring on a lock of cut hair. Use peroxide toothpaste to show how it removes stains from teeth. Remove stains from clothing with peroxide. It is the base of oxy cleaners. It will also foam up when applied to a cut, to clean away dirt. Benzoil Peroxide cleans out pores. Hospitals use betadine now instead of peroxide. 

Syringes. Use to demonstrate a vacuum. Teach measurement and use to add drops of liquid.