At-Home Lab

The Mountain That Sleeps

A fizzing mountain.

You need. baking soda, vinegar, dish soap, food coloring, a cup, a tray.

1. Set a cup on a tray. Put two spoons of baking soda in the cup.
2. Add a drop of dish soap and a drop of food coloring.
3. Pour in a little vinegar and watch the foam climb out the top.
4. Ask yourself. Was the foam runny or sticky? What would make it taller?

Do this with a grown-up. Keep it on a tray. Wash your hands afterward.

🐋 The Whale Who Was Hungry

Be a baleen whale.

You need. two bowls, oats, a kitchen strainer, water.

1. Fill a bowl with water. Stir in a handful of oats. The oats are krill.
2. Hold a kitchen strainer over a second bowl.
3. Pour the water through the strainer.
4. What stayed behind? That is how baleen works. Water out, food in.

Do this with a grown-up. Wipe up any spills right away.

🏺 The Buried Secret

A cookie dig.

You need. a chocolate chip cookie, a toothpick, paper, a pencil.

1. Get a chocolate chip cookie on a plate. The chips are your fossils.
2. Use a toothpick to dig out every chip without breaking the cookie.
3. Draw what you find before you move it. Archaeologists always draw first.
4. Count how many you freed. Could you go slower?

Use the toothpick gently and point it away from your face. Do this with a grown-up. Only eat the cookie if your hands and tools are clean.

🧪 The Kitchen Secret

The dissolving race.

You need. two clear cups, warm and cold tap water, sugar, a spoon, a clock.

1. Fill two clear cups, one with warm tap water and one with cold.
2. Stir one spoon of sugar into each cup at the same time.
3. Count how long each one takes to disappear.
4. Which cup won? Why do you think so?

Use warm tap water only. Never hot from the stove.

🌙 The Moon's Secret

Make the Moon change shape.

You need. a lamp, a ball, a dark room.

1. Sit in a dark room with one lamp. The lamp is the Sun.
2. Hold a ball at arm length. The ball is the Moon. Your head is Earth.
3. Turn slowly in a circle and watch the lit part of the ball change.
4. Find the crescent, the half and the full Moon.

Keep the lamp on a table and watch the cord so nobody trips. Do this with a grown-up.

🌱 The Seed's Secret

A bean in a bag.

You need. a zip bag, paper towel, two dried beans, tape, water.

1. Wet a paper towel and fold it into a clear zip bag.
2. Tuck in two dried beans. Seal the bag most of the way.
3. Tape it to a sunny window.
4. Draw what you see every day. Roots come out first.

Wash your hands after you touch the beans.

🪐 The Planet With the Golden Rings

Walk the solar system.

You need. a long hallway or sidewalk and a few small things to be planets.

Grandpa Fenn keeps a card for this one. Take a walk and place every planet where it belongs.

Open the Solar System Walk card

Walk with a grown-up and stay away from the road. Never walk in the street.

🌦 The Weather Secret

Watch the clouds.

You need. a clear sky, paper, a pencil and a grown-up.

Find three cloud shapes. Draw each one. Look again in an hour. What changed?

Never look straight at the Sun. Look at clouds that are away from it.

🪞 Mirrors and Light

A mirror butterfly.

You need. paper, washable paint or markers, newspaper.

1. Fold a sheet of paper in half. Open it up.
2. Put a few dabs of paint or marker on one half only.
3. Fold it closed and press down with your hand.
4. Open it. What do you see on the side that was empty?

Use washable paint. Put newspaper on the table. Wash your hands afterward.

🏎 Race Day

A ramp race.

You need. a board or thick book, a few books, a toy car, tape, a towel.

1. Lean a board or a thick book against a stack of books to make a ramp.
2. Roll a small toy car down it. Mark where it stops with tape.
3. Make the ramp steeper by adding a book. Roll again.
4. Lay a towel on the floor and roll the car again. What changed?

Keep the ramp on the floor. Be careful not to trip on the cars.

🧲 The Magnet Workshop

Go on a magnet hunt.

You need. a fridge magnet, a tray and ten things from around the room.

1. Get a fridge magnet and a tray.
2. Walk around the room and test ten things. Guess first.
3. Sort them into two piles. Sticks. Does not stick.
4. What do the sticky things have in common?

Keep magnets away from phones, computers and cards. Small magnets are not for mouths. Do this with a grown-up.

🔦 Shadows

Trace a shadow clock.

You need. a small toy, a sheet of paper, a pencil and a sunny day.

1. On a sunny day, stand a small toy on a sheet of paper outside.
2. Trace the shadow with a pencil. Write the time next to it.
3. Come back an hour later and trace it again.
4. Which way did the shadow move? Was it longer or shorter?

Never look straight at the Sun. Keep your eyes on the paper.

🔔 Sound and Echoes

Make a rubber band guitar.

You need. an empty box or plastic tub and a thick rubber band.

1. Stretch a rubber band around an empty box or a plastic tub.
2. Pluck it and listen. Watch it blur. That blur is the vibration.
3. Pinch it shorter with a finger and pluck again.
4. Is the note higher or lower? Why?

Use a thick rubber band and keep it away from faces. Do this with a grown-up.