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At-home Science Experiments Boost Learning

A couple of years ago, my youngest son was working on a Boy Scout merit badge in environmental science.  I took a casserole dish, filled it half full with water and poured a little vegetable oil in it.  As the oil spread across the surface of the water, I said, “Imagine this is an oil spill at sea.  How do you clean it up?”

It was fun to watch his mind work over the next few minutes as he tried various ways to get rid of the oil – from dragging a string across the top of the water to putting a dab of dishwashing detergent on it.  Not only did this help him understand the effects of pollutants in our environment, but a few months later when the BP oil disaster happened in the Gulf of Mexico, he had an immediate grasp of the monumental task facing those who would have to clean it up.

Home experiments like the one we conducted cost next to nothing and take very little time, but they provide huge learning benefits for your child.  Better yet, it stimulates creativity and provides an opportunity for a bonding experience between you and your child.

When you think back, you probably did at-home biology experiments as a kid.  How many of us remember our moms cutting off the end of a sweet potato and putting it in water?  It was amazing to watch each day as the vines crawled along the windowsill.  Or, how many remember holding a bean against the side of a juice glass with a damp paper towel to learn about the magical way a plant sprouts?

The Internet provides a mountain of science experiments you can do with your child.  Just type “at-home science experiments” into a search engine, and you’ll get dozens of websites showing fun and simple projects you can do at home with your child.  These range from the ever-popular erupting volcano, to making rock candy, to creating a geodesic dome with gumballs and toothpicks … or how to make a potato-powered clock.  How cool is that?

One suggestion, though – before you randomly start looking up experiments, check your child’s science book or talk to the teacher to choose an experiment that reinforces what’s being taught in the classroom. 

Finally, a word of advice: You’ll want to bookmark and save some of these experiments so that you’ll be prepared on that inevitable day when your child walks in the door and announces he or she needs a project for the school’s science fair.  I’ve been there.  Trust me.  •

Keith Mitchell is the Director of Communications and Public Information for Lawton Public Schools.  He and his wife have three sons.