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There are many simple chemistry demonstrations/experiments you can do with young children. Check out Steve Spangler’s website. It has great videos and resources for chemistry.=

Hi Payton,

The American Chemical Society also has some activities created for young students.  Their site for elementary students is called Adventures in Science and their site for middle school students, which may have some activities you could adapt, is called Middle School Chemistry.  They also have put their publication, Inquiry in Action, online.

Rebecca F

With my Transitional Kindergarten students the way I incorporate science experiments into our lesson is by an initial introduction to our concept followed by observations, predictions and lastly we conduct our experiments. For example, for one of our experiment we used backing soda, and vinegar. We began by having two bottles and seeing if either the baking soda or the vinegar reacted when it was by itself. Through our observation we were able to observe that when both were alone in the bottle the balloon did not inflate. After discussing if both baking soda and vinegar were to be combine is when we might began to see a reaction occur. Simple experiments like these is how I expand on and introduce science into my class with a younger group and my students seem to enjoy this method. 

Chemistry activities for young children are some of the coolest and most engaging for students. Putting on goggles, using measuring utensils and mixing substances fits in to what most students think of when you use the word, “scientist.”

You don’t have to have an elaborate set up to teach chemistry.  Stick with easy, inexpensive “bucket” or “kitchen” chemistry activities.  Before you try any hands-on activity, you have to practice it and make sure you follow all safety precautions.  Insist on students wearing goggles – just like you will model.

Demonstrations like elephant toothpaste are always a hit with students in all grades, but make sure that you incorporate a lesson in the chemistry of what is happening.  Ask students to observe carefully, attempt to explain what they see and ask questions. 

While demos are very exciting nothing beats hands-on activities.  Making slime or crystals is great – and you can find many recipes that your students can experiment with.  Remember, there has to be some chemistry education happening.  There are inquiry activities like, “What dissolves and what doesn’t?” in which you can really give students a chance to follow their own paths – making observations all the way. 

Search NSTA’s Learning Center https://learningcenter.nsta.org; and Freebies for Science Teachers:  https://www.nsta.org/publications/freebies.aspx  for ideas, lessons and activities. 

And I particularly like the Janice VanCleave books for the multitudes of experiments! I found an interesting site called https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com that has quite a few freebies.  I received some sample pages from an author of a slime recipe book and I have attached the collection.

Hope this helps!

Slime Sampler from Molly Conway's book: "Slime Sorcery" Collection (8 items)

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I searched through the NSTA Learning Center and found some activities/lesson plans that may interest you:

• Colorful Chemistry (painting with chemistry)
• Demystifying Mixtures (chromatography ... I've done this with M&M candy coating to see the colors that are mixed to make a color)
• Nurturing Young Chemists (making slime)
• The Dirty Water Challenge
• Mixing Materials 
• The Dynamics of Dissolving
• What Causes Water's Surface Tension? 

I hope you find these helpful! 

Hi Payton,

I'm also an aspiring elemetary education teacher and I recently had a speaker come to my class and we did activities for young children that are fun but also science related. Something that I did that involved chemistry was making my own playdough! I had to measure out the flour mixture, water, and oil to make it and then cook it on a griddle however long I thought I needed to. Baking is a fun way to incorporate chemistry and most of the time you can either eat or play with what you made!

Hello Annmarie!

I am also going to become an elementary education teacher! I think that there are many different ways to think about chemistry and incorporate them into your classroom. I think of experiments such as baking, crystals, why bread rises, food colors and dish soap, and even working with slime. All of these different activities involve some sort of chemistry. Including chemistry into your own classroom will be difficult, but there are so many different ways to incorporate chemistry!

Good luck!

Marissa

Hey Payton! As many have said, and from my experience, chemistry in a younger classroom can be one of the most engaging activities you can do. Obviously young students cannot follow elaborate plans or tackle difficult tasks in a normal Chemistry classroom, so dial it down by making something easy or simple, like a gel or playdough. You can also use colors, such as food coloring, to explain some more complex concepts!