Loving Life with Fun, Balance, and Learning
10 Easy Toddler Science Experiments To Wow Your Kids
Combine play time and science for a creative way to connect with your children! These easy toddler science experiments will inspire fun, creativity, and learning into your days with the kids.
This is a fairly low prep science activity and simple to complete. It is great for 2 years of age and older.
The great thing is that sometimes the simplest things can turn into the absolute best toddler learning activities.
If you love these ideas also be sure to check out my post on 3 ingredient art crafts and dollar tree craft ideas as well! You can never have too many ideas lined up to keep your toddler busy.
Fun Toddler Science Activities!
1. “when will the boat sink” toddler science experiment, get your supplies ready.
Everything you need can be found with one trip around he house and shouldn’t cost any more than a few dollars if you need to grab some supplies! Here is a list of the items you will need if you don’t already have them at home.
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Here is what you will need:
1.Aluminum foil to make your boat
2. A Messy Mat or cardboard to catch the water. Or you can do it outside.
3. Something to weight down the boat! Coins would work great. We decided to use letter but they were a little too light. We had to add a lot of letters! The kids enjoyed it though.
Let The Guessing Began!
Have your kids guess how much it will take to sink the boat! My kids guesses were all over the place and it was hilarious 🙂
If you have more than one child, I suggest dividing up your experiment materials so everything will go smoothly! Mine argue over everything currently.
Let the Fun Begin!
This part of the activity is very simple and fun! Add each piece slowly and count them until the boat sinks! Try to spread your materials throughout the boat and you will be surprised how much can really fit on top.
The funnest part is when the boat actually sinks 🙂
We had so much fun, we had to take the party outside!
2. Glove Air Blow Experiment
We had so much fun with this!
All you need is, gloves, a cup, and a straw! I wrote names an/or alphabet letters on the fingers and I watched my kids run around blowing in their gloves saying “magic gloves”.
Check out the pictures and videos below!
Sidenote: I Loove Green Craft Kids. If you are looking for Hands-on science and art kits delivered each month for ages 2-10+, check this out!
2a. Color Water Mixing
I did a brave thing and did a water mixing activity inside. My husband was literally holding his breath lol. The experiment involves water colored with Crayola Washable Paint ! Super fun!
3. Grow A Rainbow Experiment
The Best Ideas For Kids has an awesome rainbow experiment! Check it out here !
4. Sink or Float Science
A simple yet awesome science experiment for kids. Check it out at Happy Hooligans
5. Mixing Colors Science Activity
This is another awesome science activity that your toddler would love. See more at here at Busy Toddler.
6. Salt With Frozen Hands Science Activity
I love this simple project! My kids currently adore anything frozen so Im looking forward to trying this one. Get the how-to at here .
7. Sink The Egg Stem Challenge
This is another low prep activity that the kiddies would ABSOLUTELY love from one of my favorite activity mom bloggers! Check it out at Happy Toddler Playtime .
8. Exploring Colors Challenge
Baking and vinegar will never go out of style for almost all ages, especially when you add color. Check out this awesome science project here at Buggy and Buddy.
9. Rain Clouds Science
How cool is this toddler experiment?? Get the how-to at Team Cartwright
10. Toddler Gravity Experiments
This is literally one of the most important science lessons we can study as a young child. I mean really 🙂 Check out the how-to at Lovevery.
I hope you enjoyed these easy toddler and preschool science experiments! They have certainly brought joy to my children. Have you tried any science projects yet? If so, please tell me some of your ideas below. I would absolutely LOVE to hear about them.
Also check out my posts on a great pom pom frame craft and popsicle stick crafts for more fun ideas!
Also, remember to sign up for your FREE weekly activities planner on the top or the right side of the page and check out my printables page
Welcome to my blog! I am an activity mom of three and I have over 15 years of experience crafting, writing, designing and creating. My mission is to bring fun, balance and learning to your busy homes with activities, tips, inspiration, and organization!
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Hi Kayla, congratulations for designing this great website. It is very appealing and I love the post topic of toddler science experiments. The kids will love this and I believe it truly will also help their developmental growth.
I plan to direct some friends and family members who have toddlers to come over to this beautiful website to learn ways to keep their kids busy in a productive and educationally enriching way.
I really wish you great success!
Thank you Joseph, I appreciate that!
Iheanacho David
This is a very useful article and i think i will be getting the materials for one of these experiments for my niece and nephew. I think it is much better than the regular toys i get for them. I feel it will build their interest in the science world at a very young age and they want to try out new things.
I agree! Enjoy!
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Heloo there
Thanks alot for this informative article on ten easy toddler science experiment… This is really fascinating…. Doing science projects helps to to develop a child’s resourcefulness particularly their skills at goal getting, planning and solving problems. I really appreciate your effort on this and i can’t wait to try them with my little niece and nephew. Thanks alot for sharing… I’m looking forward to seeing more of your post.
you are welcome and yes it has so many benefits! Thanks for your comment!
Yayy!! All the experiments are really good and informational. Thanks for sharing!!
You’re Welcome Robin! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
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10 quick and Easy science experiments for toddlers that are totally awesome {2 years old and Up}
It is science week here at Tot School, and to celebrate, we had a week full of daily science experiments for toddlers.
If you are looking for easy science experiments for toddlers to learn and enjoy, these are our top favorites so far!
All of these science experiments for toddlers are age-appropriate and fun and have been tested and approved by my toddler 2-year-old toddler as well as my sensory students.
The Best science experiments for toddlers
#1 volcanic eruption.
Also called Witch’s Brew, this science experiment for toddlers is number 1 on our list because it is so easy to make, it is so much fun to do, and the kids can do it themselves.
To do this experiment, you only need baking soda and vinegar. Mixing the two creates a magic explosion that is safe for little ones and a lot of fun.
Use food coloring to change the color of the bubbles. Add water to the vinegar to dilute and expand its use. The kids love to pour and see the bubbles repeatedly, so this will extend the activity for extra playtime.
Learn how to set up this witches brew experiment with step-by-step instructions
#2 fizzy cubes.
To make fizzy cubes, freeze a mixture of baking soda and water. Activate with vinegar in the same way mentioned above.
To change the activity and work fine motor skills , this activity was set up using a dropper to suck the vinegar and squeeze it into the fizzy cube.
My toddler tried it several times but wanted a faster way to dissolve the cubes. He enjoyed grabbing each fizzy cube and dropping them into the vinegar cup.
Making Oobleck is one of my favorite activities, but it can get messy! When you grab this substance, it is solid but melts and becomes liquid when you let go of the pressure.
To do this science experiment, all you need is two parts cornstarch and 1 part water.
Watch our quick video or get the step-by-step instructions and learn how to make Oobleck
View this post on Instagram Make the coolest science experiment for toddlers and am kids of all ages. All you need is water, cornstarch and food coloring. (Be careful as some food coloring can temporarily stain the hand) 1 cup of water to about 2 cups of corns starch A post shared by Alexa | Kid Activities (@kidactivitieswithalexa) on Jul 15, 2020 at 6:38pm PDT
#4 Sink or Float
Understanding weight is one of the first science experiments you can do at home. All you need is a bowl of water and a few water-safe objects.
Start by identifying what happens when each object touches the water. Repetition here is key!
Once the toddler grasps the new vocabulary words and correctly identifies what is happening, then try to ask before the item gets dropped to guess what he thinks is going to happen.
You can repeat this experiment during bath time, at the pool, or anywhere else you can access water.
Have you played the sink or float game? Well, actually is a science experiment and one of our favorite activities. I usually let Manu set up the whole thing form the beginning. I give him a pitcher of water and an empty bowl for him to pour h the e water into. Then we walk around and find different things to test out. Will it float? Will it sink? I let him pick what he wants to throw (as long as it can get wet and has no batteries) and this freedom lets him explore and learn. Who knew a bowl of water could be so fun! #2yearoldactivities #toddleractivitiesathome Posted by Kid Activities with Alexa on Monday, September 28, 2020
Learn how to set up the sink of float experiment with step-by-step instructions
#5 hot and cold.
Learn about temperature using sensory bottles. We filled one bottle of water with cold water, added a few ice cubes, and filled another one with hot water. We dyed the cold water blue and the hot water yellow to help associate the concepts.
We also paired this opposite lesson with a YouTube video in which we learned the lyrics and acted out the finger-play actions throughout the week.
#6 Mixing Colors
Once a toddler is familiar with the colors and can identify and name them correctly, it is time to add colors to science experiments. Working with primary colors, we have started to create a few experiments to make new colors. This week was all about yellow and blue making green. We did it with some water, food coloring, soap, and paint.
What Primary colors make new colors?
- Red and Yellow make Orange
- Yellow and blue make Green
- Blue and Red make Purple/Voilet
Discovering air is one of the first science concepts that can be taught. Do this experiment if your child already knows how to blow out. Add a squirt of dish soap and some water to a bowl. Provide a straw and show your toddler how to blow to create bubbles.
Look at the colors the bubbles reflect. Can you hold one? Does it pop? Can you blow on them? What happens?
As a variation of this experiment, you can add watercolor paint to the solution and allow the colored bubbles to pop onto a piece of paper to create a work of art.
#8 DIY Lava Lamp
This experiment was one of Manu’s favorites. To create your own DIY lava lamp, you will need vegetable oil, water, food coloring, and effervescent tablets.
For our first try, we filled half of the glass cup with water and added food coloring (too much!), and the other half with vegetable oil. I crushed the effervescent tablet in many pieces because I knew my toddler would enjoy dropping the tablets into the glass.
Once the tablet hits the water, it starts to dissolve and create bubbles that travel upwards on the glass, passing through the oil and popping into the surface. Because the water doesn’t mix with the oil, you can visually see how these bubbles travel toward the surface and, once they pop, how the water travels back down.
For our second try, we used only 1/4 of water, much less food coloring, and much more vegetable oil in the glass. The lava lamp looked much better, as the colored water bubbles had more room to travel.
Cutting up the tablets into different pieces was a great idea. Manu loved creating the bubbles and enjoyed repeating them over and over.
Slime is a great tool for working on fine motor skills, and it is also a cool chemistry experiment. Similar to Oobleck, slime changes are composed when played with. It is solid but stretches or breaks. Toddlers, of course, won’t understand the science concept behind it, but they will enjoy playing with the material and doing their little experiments as they learn and understand how slime behaves. It is not like playdough ; it is not like oobleck; it is its unique material.
I like using fluffy slime , like rainbow or white fluffy slime, with toddlers. Fluffy slime is less stretchy than other types, so it is easier for toddlers to handle.
Learn how to make rainbow slime
Learn how to make white fluffy slime.
#10 Exploring light
Learning about light and dark, shadows and reflections are all science activities you can start exploring early on.
Make shadows using cutout woods or use your hands and a flashlight, use the sun to explore the light and it’s reflection. We have made colored bottles to explore the colors reflected on the floor, made apple-shaped suncatchers, and made a glow-in-the-dark sensory bottle.
Last Thoughts
Science can be a lot of fun, and as you can see, you can start even when they are toddlers. Allowing your toddler time and exposure to different materials and experiments helps them understand their world and gives them the confidence to experiment, explore, and gain a ton of new information when doing so. Don’t forget always to supervise any experiment or invitation to play.
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