8 Fun Science Experiments to Try with Your Pre-Schooler at Home!

Are you looking for fun, home learning activities to keep your child entertained and enriched with the rise of Covid-19 community cases in Singapore?

Check out these 8 science experiments that are easy to set up, highly engaging and can teach your child useful scientific concepts!

Experiment 1: I can make an egg float in water

What you need

• An egg
• Water
• Salt
• A big bowl

What to do

1. First, fill a big bowl with tap water – then, place an egg in it (and see the egg sink).
2. Empty the bowl
3. Now, pour water into a big bowl, but only fill it halfway
4. Put 8 to 12 tablespoons of salt into the bowl of water (the bigger the bowl, the more salt needed)
5. Very slowly, fill the rest of the bowl up with more tap water
6. Place the egg into the bowl, and watch it “magically” float halfway!

Learning Points

This experiment teaches your child the concept of density. The egg is placed in a bowl of regular water, it sinks because the density of the egg is higher than the density of the water. Adding salt to the water causes the egg to float – but only to the halfway mark, because only the water at the bottom is denser than the egg.

Experiment 2: I can colour my vegetables

What you need

• 2 sticks of celery
• Two (clear) containers
• Water
• Food colouring (2 colours)

What to do

1. Put each stick of celery into its own container
2. Pour water into each container
3. Add some food colouring into each container (use different colours in each container) and see the celery sticks change colour!

Learning Points

Here, children learn about the capillary action of water. They also discover how plants take in water through the visual colour changes they see in the celery sticks.

Experiment 3: I can separate pepper from salt

What you need

• Salt
• Pepper
• A bowl
• A comb

What to do

1. Mix pepper and salt into a dish
2. Ask your child to comb their hair using a comb – do this for 60 seconds
3. Hold the comb over the dish and watch as the pepper gets attracted to the comb!

Learning Points

Use this experiment to teach your child about static electricity. Running the comb through their hair will charge electrons in the comb, which then “attract” the pepper to the comb using static electricity.

Experiment 4: I can make coloured rice

What you need

• 5 small bowls
• 1 large container
• Rice
• Vinegar
• Food colouring

What to do

1. Put grains of rice into 5 small bowls
2. Add a teaspoon of vinegar and a little food colouring into each container (use a different colour for each container)
3. Mix the rice and colouring together (with a spoon, fork or chopsticks)
4. Heat the rice in an oven for 30 minutes at 120 degrees Celsius
5. Once the coloured rice is cooled, let kids play with the rice – mixing it into the large container and creating pictures, patterns and designs

Learning Points

Children learn how to make their own “sensory bin”, where they can play with the coloured rice – making creative shapes, images and patterns. This activity stimulates their imagination and sparks creativity in young minds.

Experiment 5: I can pick up ice using a string

What you need

• Drinking glass
• A few pieces of ice
• Water
• String
• Half teaspoon of salt

What to do

1. Put a few pieces of ice into a drinking glass
2. Add water to the glass
3. Place a piece of sting over the ice cubes
4. Sprinkle salt onto the ice
5. After a minute, pick up the string and watch as the ice is lifted by the string!

Learning Points

Explain to your child that salt lowers the freezing point of water. When salt is added to the ice, the ice melts, then quickly refreezes over the string – allowing your child to pick up ice cubes using the piece of string.

Science Experiments in My First Skool

At My First Skool, our hands-on curriculum encourages children observe and talk about the world – places, events, things, animals and people – around them. Children make discoveries and widen their knowledge on fieldtrips and during fun lessons, such as the science experiments they participate in during class. Our curriculum cultivates a healthy curiosity to explore the world, and lays the foundation for lifelong learning.

These are some of the interesting science experiments that children at My First Skool try out with friends. In our learning environments, experiments like these are used to teach children about basic scientific facts and concepts in fun and engaging ways.

Experiment 6: I can freeze water instantly

Children discover the secret behind “instantly freezing water”, which involves learning about the freezing temperature of water and how water molecules freeze by forming ice crystals – also known as “supercooled water” or “flash freezing”.

Experiment 7: I can keep the paper towel dry in water

Children will be amazed at how a paper towel that’s inside a glass can remain dry, even after the glass is submerged in water. In this experiment, they learn about air pressure and how air takes up space around us (even though it can’t be seen).

Experiment 8: I can make water ‘walk’

Children watch in awe as water “walks” from glass to glass through a process called capillary action – which is how trees and plants use their roots to get water from the soil around them.