The "Shaving Cream Water Cycle" Experiment Is an Easy Science Project You Can Do With Kids at Home

The cool thing about science is that it describes what's happening all around us, all the time. Sometimes, though, kids find it hard to connect what they know about science to the real world. These easy science experiments for kids can be done at home, with everyday household items, to show kids that the abstract concepts they may have hard about actually have influence over their normal, everyday lives. Next time your kids are looking for fun indoor activities, set up one of these experiments and watch them be amazed — we tried to find DIY projects that have a flair for the dramatic.

You can find a subject they're particularly interested in, whether it's Earth science, weather, magnetism, astronomy, or even chemistry, which is often the hardest one to grasp in the real world. But, of course, it must be said that even when you're not in the lab, safety counts: wear goggles and coats or aprons if need be (sometimes kids get a kick out of how scientific the protective gear makes them look), and always make sure that the kids are supervised when doing them (especially the projects that involve fire). Then, pave the way for your future Nobel winner.

What works best for keeping an apple from turning brown? Test to find out! Slice up an apple, and let each slice soak in a different liquid. Then take them out, lay them on a tray, and check the brownness after three minutes, six minutes, and so on. Not only does this test the properties of different liquids, it also helps students practice the scientific method if they create hypotheses about which liquids would be most effective.

Get the tutorial at Jennifer Findley »

RELATED: 50 Fun Activities for Kids Will Keep Them Entertained for Hours

Chromatography is the process of separating a solution into different parts — like the pigments in the ink used in markers. If you draw stripes around a coffee filter, then fold it up and dip the tip in water, the water will travel up the filter and separate the marker ink into its different pigments (in cool patterns that you can display as a craft project). This family made the end-result even brighter by adding an LED circuit to the center.

Get the tutorial at Steam Powered Family »

You'll need six containers of water for this one: three with clear water, one with red food coloring, one with blue coloring, and one with yellow coloring. Arrange them in a circle, alternating colored and clear containers, and make bridges between the containers with folded paper towels. Your kids will be amazed to see the colored water "walk" over the bridges and into the clear containers, mixing colors, and giving them a first-hand look at the magic of capillarity.

Get the tutorial at Fun Learning for Kids »

Put a few drops of food coloring in a shallow bowl of milk, and they'll stay that way — as self-contained blobs. But add a little dish soap to a toothpick or a Q-tip and touch the food coloring, and the colors will swirl around on their own like magic. It all has to do with surface tension: At first, the food coloring stays on the surface, but the soap causes a chemical reaction that breaks the surface tension.

Get the tutorial at Live Life and Learning »

RELATED: Fun Learning Activities for Kids to Enjoy at Home

Bend pipe cleaners into fun shapes, and watch them grow crystals when left overnight in a Borax solution. (Words of warning: Always be careful with Borax and kids, and make sure they understand that the end result is not candy even though it looks like it could be.)

Get the tutorial at One Little Project »

Hang paperclips from a ruler or dowel, and they dangle, as they should, because of gravity. But you can show kids how other forces can overcome gravity by putting strong magnets on a ruler and using them to get the paperclips to stand straight up.

Get the tutorial at Buggy and Buddy »

Kids might guess that if you pierce a bag of water with a sharpened pencil, the water would all leak out. In fact, if you do it right, the polymers of the bag's plastic will re-seal around the pencil, and your counters will stay dry (and your kids will be amazed). You can get them thinking about the chemical compositions that make up everyday items.

Get the tutorial at Fun With Mama »

Mold experiments are always grossly fascinating, and you can see how different additives (salt, vinegar, etc.) affect the growing of mold on bread. For a twist on this experiment that might lead to more hygienic habits, you can also see how mold grows on bread that's been touched by hands that have been washed with soap and water, cleansed with hand sanitizer, or not washed at all. That'll get them scrubbing for 20 seconds.

Get the tutorial at Life With Moore Babies »

Give your little scientists the powers of Elsa! Water can turn into ice as it's being poured. The secret is to chill water in the freezer until it's almost frozen, then pour it over ice placed on an overturned ceramic bowl. Kids can see the transformation between the states of matter, and also how ice crystals are formed.

Get the tutorial at Only Passionate Curiosity »

A twist on a vinegar-and-baking-soda experiment, if you put baking soda in an empty bottle and vinegar in a balloon, when you attach the ballon over the mouth of the bottle and let the vinegar pour in, the resulting gas will be enough to inflate the balloon on its own. Bonus: This experiment is less messy than a vinegar-baking-soda volcano.

Get the tutorial at Mess for Less »

Want a memorable way to teach kids that hot air rises? Take the tea out of a tea bag, hollow it out and stand it up, and (carefully) take a match to it. The hollowed-out bag is so light, it rises along with the hot air, and becomes a flying tea bag.

Get the tutorial at Paging Fun Mums »

Oil and water with food coloring don't mix, teaching kids about density. For fun, add an antacid tablet, and bubbles start to flow all around like a groovy lava lamp.

Get the tutorial at Rookie Parenting »

Making a homemade sundial is one of the lowest-prep science experiments you can do: You just need a dowel or a good stick, a paper plate, and a marker. Mark the position of the dowel's shadow every hour, and you've got an easy opening into talking about the Earth's rotation. The next day, see if your sundial tells accurate time while playing outside.

Get the tutorial at Happy Brown House »

Having kids figure out what makes certain objects sink and what makes them float is a good way to teach them about density — and an even better way to get them practicing the scientific method, if they make a hypothesis first about what will sink and float and then measure the results.

Get the tutorial at Fun with Mama »

Secure two two-liter bottles together with water inside, flip upside down, give a shake, and watch a tornado form its distinctive funnel shape. You can also put glitter or small items in the bottle to show how a tornado's winds would whip objects around in the real world.

Get the tutorial at Gift of Curiosity »

Finally! An experiment you can actually eat. Toss the ingredients in a bag, seal it up, and have your kids shake it vigorously for 10 minutes. Will they absorb the lesson about how energy transforms states of matter? Maybe, but, either way, you get to have a treat.

Get the tutorial from Delish »

For another experiment you can do with food, set Skittles into a shallow bowl of water, and see how the colors swirl. Skittles are basically pure sugar and dissolve in water, so you can use this as in intro to solvents, solutes, and solutions.

Get the tutorial at Coffee Cups and Crayons »

Another way you can introduce kids to solvents, solutes, and solutions is by "lifting" the Ms off of M&Ms. All it takes is water!

Get the tutorial at Coffee Cups and Crayons Delish »

A peeled hard-boiled egg can't fit into a bottle without smushing into a big mess, can it? It can — if you put a burning piece of paper in the bottle first. The burning paper in the bottle causes the air to expand and the pressure to go up. When the fire runs out of oxygen, the temperature cools and the air contracts, sucking the egg through the bottle opening. The fire and the sucking of the egg makes this an extra-dramatic experiment.

Get the tutorial at Left Brain Craft Brain »

For an easy lesson in Earth Science, your family can grow an avocado tree from a pit. You can buy an AvoSeedo kit, or just peel the seed and suspend it over water with toothpicks.

Get the tutorial »

This project focuses mostly on the engineering side of STEM. You need some household items (toothpicks, bottle caps, coins) and an empty juicebox to construct the car — and then you can inflate the balloon through the straw and watch it go!

Get the tutorial at Raising Whasians »

Give students a brush-up on the water cycle by setting shaving-cream clouds on top of a glass of water. Use a dropper to add in blue water, and when the clouds get saturated — blue rain.

Get the tutorial at Alice and Lois »

RELATED: Amazing Indoor Activities for Kids' Rainy-Day Fun

You can show them how plants get water from their roots to their leaves — literally — by putting cabbage (or celery, but cabbage is more colorful) in food coloring. You can also use this as an an example of capillary action, like the water-walking experiment,

Get the tutorial at Itsy Sparks »