Preschool Science: Mad Scientist Lab

Lately it seems my 5 year-old is into my stuff ALL THE TIME.  I keep finding miscellaneous items squirted on my bathroom counter:  toothpaste, strawberry shampoo, various lotions…and then there’s the mixing of food at meal time.

It drives me nuts, but then I remember doing some of the same stuff.   

So, this week, I decided to actually ENCOURAGE that experimentation by setting up our own Mad Science Activities for Preschool.

This is perfect for kids 3-5.  

Mad Science Activities for Preschool

Because they love fizzing science experiments so much, the first thing I did was I fill a couple small squirt bottles with colored vinegar and put baking soda in one small bowl. 

Then I hunted through my cabinets to find other fun “potions.”

My brother-in-law had given me some super old flavorings he had found in the back of his cabinets.  I don’t want to use them to cook with, but they are great for play!  I added a little water to a small bottle of vanilla extract, and poured a little of the anise flavoring into a small container.

I found a fancy jar of capuccino I was never going to drink, put some flour in a small bowl, grabbed the plastic test tubes I had bought at the dollar store and loaded a few up with shampoo and a couple with some of the broken bay leaves I had.  I also filled a small container with cinnamon — just love the smell!

Then I added a couple eye droppers, measuring spoons, funnels, and long handled spoons for stirring.

I set it all up on a small table, out in the garage where clean up would be easier.  I made sure to bring several mixing containers and helped my little scientists get in their “costumes” to protect their clothes.

We started off smelling each of the ingredients.

And then I told them to mix whatever they wanted to their heart’s content.

They had a blast.

I THOUGHT they would actually use the eye droppers and measuring spoons to carefully measure ingredients, and maybe they will the next time we do it…

But this time around?  Who has time to measure???

There was a lot of excited pouring and stirring and tons of smiles, all without the use of small measuring devices.

They REALLY loved it when they added baking soda to their rapidly filling mixing bowls and squeezed the colored vinegar into the mixture.  (And I was really glad we were outside!)

I have to say, with all the flavorings, cinnamon, and the shampoos, this Mad Science Preschool Activity was a pretty good smelling preschool science activity to observe.

And clean up wasn’t too bad, either.  (Got to love the garden hose!)

More Science Experiments You’ll Love:

• Pop and Mentos Experiment 
• 3 Oil and Water Experiments
• Make a Cloud in a Jar
• Make a Rubber Egg