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Are you in for a surprise treat to share with your friends and family? This homemade version of the classic pop rocks will get you fizzy with baking soda and citric acid! Personalize this candy with your own flavor and experience this chemical reaction in your mouth!Want to explore more kitchen science experiments? Explore the tastier side of learning with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/science-of-cooking-bread-butter-project-kit/5463">Science of Cooking: Bread &amp; Butter</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Spread the powdered sugar over a metal baking sheet. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of citric acid over the powdered sugar. 

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Measure out the other 2 tbsp of citric acid into a small bowl and set it aside. 

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In a medium saucepan, add the granulated sugar, the water, and the corn syrup. Place the saucepan of the medium heat. 

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Stir the mixture until it boils. Then stop stirring and wait until the mixture just starts to turn brown at 305 degrees F. This will take about 5 minutes.

Watch this step very carefully - once the sugar starts to brown, it will burn very quickly.

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Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for 3-5 minutes, or until the bubbles subside. While it's cooling, measure out the baking soda, food coloring, and flavoring oil into a small bowl.

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Add the baking soda mixture to the pan and mix until combined. Be careful, the sugar mixture in the saucepan is still very hot. Then immediately pour it out onto the powdered sugar you spread on the baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tbsp of citric acid over the hot sugar. Let it cool to room temperature.

Break up the cooked candy into small pieces with your hands or by crushing it with a rolling pin. Pop some in your mouth and feel the fiz! For maximum fizz, crunch the candy and then hold it in your mouth for a few seconds. Do the bubbles tickle your tongue?

What's going on?
This recipe keeps the citric acid and baking soda separate until you eat it. When these two ingredients combine with the saliva in your mouth, it creates carbon dioxide gas. It doesn't "pop" like the fizzy candy sold in stores, but you are still experiencing a chemical reaction in your mouth!

powdered sugar (1/4 cup)

canning citric acid (available on amazon) (3 tbsp )

granulated sugar (1 cup)

water (3 tbsp)

light corn syrup (2 tbsp)

baking soda (1 1/2 tsp)

flavoring oil (of your choice) (1/8 tsp )

food coloring (3 drops)

Fizzy Candy

experiment

egg experiment

easy experiment

spring

egg projects

food science

Is a square egg possible? Not in nature - but you can re-shape a hard-boiled egg in just a few easy steps!Discover everything that eggs have to offer with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/eggsperiments-project-kit/2979">Eggsperiments</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store">KiwiCo Store</a>! Use the scientific method with a series of egg-based experiments that explore chemistry, physics, and biology.

When you hard boil an egg, molecular chemistry is at work. Eggs are made up mostly of two kinds of molecules: protein and water. The proteins in a raw egg are like twisted and folded strings, floating in a watery soup. They’re held that way by weak chemical bonds within the protein (and by the water, which pushes on different parts of the protein).
 When you heat up the egg, though, the proteins start moving and shaking. They shake so much that they break their weak bonds and unfold. As they unfold, the proteins end up making new, stronger chemical bonds between each other. That turns the egg into a latticework of protein, with water trapped in between. This is what’s going on when the boiled egg turns from transparent to white.
 
Once the boiled egg cools down, the proteins settle and the bonds solidify to make the rubbery egg we’re familiar with. When they’re still hot, though, the bonds between the proteins are moldable, kind of like clay. What would happen, then, if you molded an egg before it cooled down? Try it out in this project and see for yourself!

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Make a 1 ½-inch square box out of the cereal box. Fold it together inside out, so the waxy outside of the cereal box is on the inside. Tape the box together. 

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Place two eggs in the bottom of the pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a rolling boil. Continue boiling for 10 minutes. Then, remove from heat. You may need a grown-up to assist you. 

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Use the slotted spoon to remove one egg from the pot, and set it aside. Then, remove the second egg and use paper towels to peel it. 

The eggs will be very hot! Be careful when handling them. 

Dip the peeled egg back in the pot to remove any remaining egg shell. 

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Place the peeled egg into the box, pointy end down. 

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Carefully close the box and wrap a rubber band around it. Then, leave the box in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. 

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After two hours, take the box out of the refrigerator. Remove the rubber band, and take out the egg. 

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Peel the first egg. Then, cut into both eggs and compare them! What other shapes can you make? 

There are lots of other egg-citing projects you can do with eggs! See what happens when you leave an <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/Science-Projects-for-Kids/3/project/Egg-in-Vinegar-Experiment/2765" target="_blank">egg in vinegar</a>, or search “egg” above for more ideas!

eggs (2)

water

stove

slotted spoon

paper towels

knife

Scissors

Ruler

cereal box

Tape

rubber band

Square Egg

science project

art-science projects

candy

If you have more candy than you know what to do with, try this experiment with your little ones. Sometimes playing with food is inevitable, but with sweet science comes knowledge!Want to learn more about chemistry without the hassle of gathering materials? Explore 11 fun chemistry experiments with a <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/chemistry-play-lab-project-kit/3971" target="_self">Chemistry Play Lab</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Place the Skittles in a circle around the edge of the plate.

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If you’re feeling adventurous, add some Skittles to the center of the plate too! 

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Fill the measuring cup with warm water. Then, pour the water into the center of the plate until the Skittles are halfway submerged in water. Be careful to not to disturb the Skittles!

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The colorful rainbow effect comes as the candy coating dissolves into the water. The coating is made up almost entirely of sugar with a little bit of food coloring. When the coating dissolves, the sugar and food coloring mix into the water to form a solution, or a chemical mixture with the water.

Solutions like this like to be balanced — if there’s a lot of sugar and food coloring in one part of the water, but not a lot in another, that’s unbalanced. To get balanced, the solution will gradually spread out from areas with more of it (around the candy) to areas with less of it (in the center of the dish) so all parts of the water have about the same amount of sugar and food coloring. That’s what you see happening as the rainbow starts to move away from the candy! Scientists call this process diffusion.

But as you saw, the colors will spread towards each other and then stop, forming a line where they meet. That’s because the spots where they meet have the same overall amount of sugar and food coloring, even though the colors are different. Diffusion won’t mix those solutions together. Well, not right away, at least. Eventually, the food coloring will separate from the sugar to diffuse on its own, and the whole dish will become the same brownish color.

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There are lots of variations you can try to explore what's going on is this experiment. Try placing a single candy in a dish of hot water and one in a dish of cold water. Which candy coating dissolves first? How does the color spread?

Or, try placing just a few candies in the dish, and see where the color goes. How long does it take for the colors combine if you don't disturb the dish? You can also try the same experiment using something other than water, like rubbing alcohol or vegetable oil.

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Have some fun and play with other confectioneries like M&M's or peppermints, for some holiday-themed fun!

skittles

plate

measuring cup

peppermints - optional

Skittles Science Fair Project

learning activity

at-home learning

Did you know that with only a couple of small tweaks, you can turn ordinary Jell-O, into a ghoulish, glow in the dark treat? Read on to check out this simple, but awesome trick, and learn a bit about the science behind fluorescence in the process!<h3>How to Make Glow in the Dark Jello</h3>

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Gather your glow in the dark jello ingredients.

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Mix 3/4 cup of boiling water with 1 packet of Jell-O powder.

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Whisk until the Jell-O powder is completely dissolved.

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Pour your Jell-O mixture into a tray or bowl and place it in the refrigerator until it sets (about 1 hour).

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Remove your glow in the dark Jell-O from the refrigerator and place it under a blacklight. You should see a ghoulish blue glow! How it works: Tonic water contains a chemical called quinine that causes it to fluoresce under UV light. Your blacklight emits UV radiation, which is not visible to the naked eye but is absorbed by the quinine. The quinine then re-emits the energy it absorbed in the form of visible light. This is the blue glow you see! Bonus project! This same recipe can be used to make a glowing glaze for frosting on cupcakes or cake! Simply drizzle the Jell-O mixture on top of white frosting before the mixture has solidified. To get the best glow, you'll want to drizzle or dip your frosting several times. Happy baking!

tonic water

lime jell-o mix

bowl

whisk

blacklight

tray or mould 

Glow in the Dark Jello

Brew up some magical color-changing, flavor-changing potions!

1. Freeze a few different flavors of Kool-Aid or your favorite fruit juices in an ice cube tray. 

2. Fill a clear cup with the frozen juice cubes. (Make your Kool-Aid double-strength by adding half as much water for extra bright frozen juice cubes that will add some real punch to your potions!) 

3. Fill the cup 3/4 full with soda water. 

4. Give your magic potion a minute or two to brew. 

Kool-Aid or fruit juice

ice cube tray

soda water

Clear Cup

Magic Potions

peppermint

crystal

winter crafts

Christmas

This crystal chemistry experiment is not only fun to do, but is fun to eat as well! Learn how to make your own, edible peppermint sugar crystals, while learning about the science behind supersaturated liquids. Once you've mastered the basics, there are plenty of variations you can do to share with friends and family! See how we did it and check out the video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcS_zEnSJSY">here</a>!

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Pour 1 cup of water into your pot and bring it to a boil. Gradually add 2 cups of sugar to your pot, stirring continuously. Keep the mixture at a boil.

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Once all the sugar is dissolved, take your mixture off the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Then pour the mixture into your mason jars.

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Add a small splash of peppermint extract to each of the jars.

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Add a few drops of food coloring to each jar and stir.

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Dip a lollipop or cake pop stick into each of the jars and then roll each one in sugar. 

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Suspend each stick in one of the jars using a clothespin. Make sure the sticks aren't touching the walls or the base of the jars. 

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Your crystals should start growing over the next couple of days. Once you're happy with the size of your crystals, remove them from their jars and let the excess liquid drip off. The top layer of the jar may get a bit crusty with excess crystals. You can break these off with a fork

Growing sugar crystals can be a bit tricky. If you aren't getting any crystals after a few days, try re-making the solution using a bit more sugar. If you're getting too many crystals, try using less.
Once you've found a formulation that works for you, there are many different variations you can do with this experiment. You can try different flavors like orange, vanilla, or maple, and you can also change the color.

What's going on?
You created the solution for growing your crystals by dissolving sugar into boiling water. Hot water can dissolve more sugar (and other materials) than cold water can. You can see this for yourself if you try to dissolve the same amount of sugar in the same amount of cold water. No matter how much you stir, you'll still have some sugar left at the bottom of the cup.
So, when the sugar-and-water solution to room cooled to room temperature, the water was holding onto more sugar than it can comfortably. This is called a supersaturated solution. This supersaturated sugar solution is great for growing crystals because the sugar wants to fall out of the water - it just needs a place to start.&nbsp;
That's what you did when you rolled the cake stick in sugar crystals and dipped it into the mixture. As the little bits of sugar in the solution encounter the sugar crystals, they start to fall out of the solution and stick to the crystals. Over time, more and more sugar lands on the crystals, growing to form the large sugar crystals you saw - and tasted!

sugar

peppermint extract

small mason jars

clothespins

lollipop sticks (or cake pop sticks)

food coloring

spoon

Peppermint Sugar Crystal Sticks

sculpting

building

engineering

craft

3 material crafts

easy craft

indoor project

Your kids will enjoy themselves with the prospect of eating marshmallows while improving their spatial, creative, and geometric skills.  Creating these sculptures is an easy activity that allows the kids to learn and have fun!

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Use the marshmallows as connectors to hold toothpicks in place

22 at-home edible experiments projects for kids

Screen-free fun!