Home experiments are an excellent alternative for children to learn new things in a didactic and entertaining way, that is, to learn while they play and take the risk of creating new things. So take advantage of what's left of this year (2023) to start exciting and easy experiments at home. Here are 20 of the most popular home experiments that are sure to give you an afternoon of fun.

How to write secret messages

 To write secret messages you just need to make an invisible ink, if you wonder how it is, it is simpler than it seems: use lemon juice. Yes, with lemon juice you can write messages on a piece of paper, either using your finger or a small brush, to reveal what you wrote you must apply gentle heat either with an iron or a light bulb.

Lava lamp

For this fascinating experiment you only need a transparent plastic bottle, water, vegetable oil and effervescent tablets. With this you will get colored bubbles that will rise and fall inside the bottle.

Bean sprouts

 With this experiment you can closely observe the growth of plants. In addition, it is very simple, place a bean or bean in a container with wet cotton. Leave it for a few days in a place where it receives air and does not dry out in the sun, you can see how the roots grow.

Erupting volcano

If you use a plastic bottle, baking soda, vinegar and dye, you can produce a mini volcano (note that each of the experiments must be supervised by an adult) when you add the vinegar you will see the eruption.

Colored glass

This is an experiment to explore the density of liquids, that is, how 'heavy' they are, to achieve the colors you can superimpose different sugar solutions dyed in a glass and observe how these colored layers are formed.

Create a rainbow

 It's easy! Fill a container with water and place a mirror inside. Then take a flashlight and point it at the mirror. You will be able to see how the rainbow forms inside the water.

How to create colored play dough

 With flour, salt, water and food coloring you will be able to create colored play dough. You will have your own play dough!

How food grows in water

 If you put stalks of celery, carrots or other vegetables in a container with water, you will be able to observe how the roots grow, due to the nutrients they take from the water.

Colorful bubbles

If you mix water, liquid soap and colorant you can create colorful bubbles, once you blow the soap you will see how the different shades combine.

The bouncing egg

 Dip the egg in vinegar, let it stand for a few days, the vinegar will dissolve the shell, leaving only the membrane which is also very flexible, this will help the egg bounce without breaking.

Magic foam

Use vinegar, baking soda, liquid detergent and food coloring, if you mix them you can get colored foam.

Jumping worms

For this one you will need jelly rubber bands and water. If you submerge the gummies in the water they will absorb the water and expand, they will look like real worms! If you use different colored water, you will also get results.

Magic balloon

You need a balloon, vinegar and baking soda, when you combine these ingredients a chemical reaction takes place that releases carbon dioxide which inflates the balloon. Keep in mind that the different amounts of these elements help to inflate the balloon more or less.

Create your own slime

For this experiment you need liquid glue, baking soda, contact solution and dye. When you mix the ingredients together, a reaction takes place that creates slime. If you add it, it will be much more fun.

Salt crystals experiment

With this experiment you can see how crystals are formed. You need hot water, salt and a transparent container. By dissolving the salt in the water, when it cools it allows the crystals to form and grow.

Artificial cloud

 If you want to explain to a child how clouds are formed, take a plastic bottle, an air pump and a few drops of alcohol. Pump air into the bottle (this will release the pressure), as the air cools, the water will begin to evaporate and in a few minutes you will have a small cloud inside the bottle.

Color explosion with milk

For this one you need a shallow dish, food coloring, detergent and milk. Pour a little of the latter in the dish, then add the colors, then the detergent, but this on a swab, that is, put a little detergent on a swab and dip it in the milk. You will be surprised by the results.

Floating egg

Simple: a glass with water, salt, a raw egg. Fill the glass with water and add salt. Dissolve it well, then place the raw egg, you will see that it floats instead of sinking. This happens because salt water is denser (heavier) than normal, that is, when salt is added it becomes denser than the egg and therefore it will float.

Lemon volcano

 You need a lemon, baking soda and vinegar. Cut the lemon in two and make a hole in the center of each of the parts. Place one of these in a plate and a teaspoon of baking soda inside the hole, then pour the vinegar over the lemon, you will see how it fizzes and how you get an original lemon volcano.

Water that does not spill

You need a glass with water and a cardboard, hold the cardboard horizontally, place the glass in the center of the cardboard (making sure it covers the entire opening of the glass) and then carefully flip both (glass and cardboard) quickly, keeping the cardboard firmly pressed against the mouth of the glass, then release the cardboard little by little and you will see that the water does not spill.

One tip is that when you perform each experiment, measure the reaction time and write it down on a piece of paper, this will help you to have an idea of how many seconds each experiment takes to perform. 

You can use kids watch of the  Kiddus platform.

Another useful tip is to protect your eyes with glasses. If you don't have safety glasses on hand, you can consider  sunglasses for children .

There are some important questions to keep in mind when involving your children in doing these experiments:

What do you think will happen?

This is a vital question for the child. Before doing any experiment, ask him/her what he/she thinks will happen, listen to what he/she says and let him/her explain why he/she thinks what he/she thinks, it is important to know what he/she thinks before the experiment.

What happened?

This is almost the second step in this 'question session', ask the child to tell you what happened with the experiment, or if he didn't understand it, explain it to him yourself. Give him space to ask if he doesn't understand something, remember that the idea is that he learns in a didactic way from what he sees.

Why do you think that happened?

It is also important that you ask him why what happened happened, what he believes. Listen to him and value his opinion.

Can it happen any other way?

Find out if the child believes this could happen in another way, and if so, what that other way would be. Listen to him/her and also give your opinion: do you think it could be another way?

What would you do to change it?

Give the child the opportunity to say how he/she would have changed the experiment if he/she could, whether he/she liked it or not, and what he/she learned from it.

Conclusion

There are simple experiments that you can do at home, getting your children of different ages to participate, but also to learn new things, take the risk to create and wonder why these things happen. Just take note and try some of them, but be sure to accompany your child throughout the process, ask about what he thinks and let him ask questions too, it will surely be a super enriching and entertaining experience for both of you.

Other options for children to learn while they play include:graphomotor exercises ,  games to learn the hours of the watch for kids ,learning mathematics through games, play by doing  subtraction and addition and finally, use your hands with  slime games for kids.