ADVENTURE SCIENCE CENTER
The Adventure Science Center has a wide range of DIY science experiments for kids to do at home. Here's a real sweet one — the Homemade Rock Candy Experiment:
You’ll need:
• 2 cups water
• 6 cups granulated sugar
• Optional: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon flavoring extract or oil
• Optional: food coloring — to give your candy a fun color
• 4 12-ounce jars or one quart-sized jar
• Cotton thread & pencils or 4 wooden skewers
• Candy thermometer
Directions:
• Clean jars with hot water.
• For each jar, cut a piece of string that’s a few inches longer than the height of your jar and tape it to a pencil. Position the pencil over the mouth of the jar and wind it until the end of the string is hanging about an inch from the bottom. If you’re using skewers, use a clothespin to hang it in the jar.
• Bring 2 cups of water to a boil over medium high heat, then add one cup of sugar. Stir until it dissolves completely. Repeat this step with all 6 cups of sugar to create a super-saturated liquid. If your sugar is not dissolving, raise the heat.
• Heat the sugar solution until it reaches 230 degrees Fahrenheit on your candy thermometer. This is called the “soft ball” stage in candy-making.
• Remove the solution from the heat and add flavorings (no more than 1 teaspoon).
• Carefully wet the strings or skewers in your syrup and roll them in granulated sugar. This will be the base of the sugar crystals.
• Optional: Add 6-7 drops of food coloring to your jars.
• Pour the sugar solution into your jars, leaving room at the top.
• Position your strings or skewers in the jars as outlined in step 2.
• Let your jars sit undisturbed for 3 -5 days. Watch your jars as candy crystals form! Make sure you don’t jiggle the jars too much.
• For larger candy crystals, put your jars in a dark warm room (or the back of the pantry).
DISCOVERY AT HOME
The Discovery Center at Murfree Spring is engaging kids at home through its Discovery at Home digital channels. content featuring resources for home learning and activities, videos and staff-picked links. The content includes science- and art-related themes. Access it at explorethedc.org/discoveryathome.
SCIENCE FUN SITES
Keep the wonder going!
mommypoppins.com
Easy science experiments for kids using household items.
blog.prepscholar.com/easy-science-experiments-for-kids-at-home
Cool science experiments.
funfamilycrafts.com/category/craft-type/science-crafts
Science crafts and activities for all ages of kids.
leftbraincraftbrain.com/easy-awesome-science-projects-for-kids
Easy and science crafts for kids.