Fun with colorful bubble science in kindergarten

As I have mentioned many times before, I love all the ideas you can find on other blogs but there are times that I will read an idea but not really give it a chance.

Sometimes, it isn’t that the children aren’t ready to try something new or different – the problem is that we as teachers aren’t always ready to try something new or different.

I can’t tell you how many times I have read about using vinegar and baking soda for simple science fun in preschool but I simply didn’t give it any thought. And then I came across this post by The Mother Huddle, and suddenly I can’t wait to give it a try!

Perhaps it was the way she set it up or explained it or added color that made it more appealing to me. Or perhaps I am growing as a teacher and realizing that I need to branch out of my comfort zone a little more. Or perhaps I knew that this was a perfect idea for this particular group of children. In any case – I just couldn’t wait to give it a try. It is so fun to be excited about what you are planning!

I didn’t do this exactly as described by Mother Huddle because I had too many children and not enough time but we did pretty close to the same way. I started by gathering clear plastic cups, spoons, vinegar, baking soda, food color, and water. I filled one cup with just a little bit of water and the rest of the cups I filled with just about 1/2 cup or less of vinegar. Next, I set out the spoons and put a few drops of food color in each one then covered them all with the baking soda. You can get more specific directions from Mother Huddle.

Then I demonstrated for the children what we were going to do. I asked the children to make a hypothesis about what they think will happen when I put the spoon into the cup.  We talked about what the word “hypothesis” means – one of our Kinders already knew the answer to all my questions!

The children were surprised to see that the water turned blue! I let the children smell the water and they noticed it really had no odor. Then I gave each of the children a cup of vinegar instead of water and asked them to smell their liquid. “Did it smell the same?” I asked. “No – they yelled – it’s gross!”

Each child took a spoon and mixed it in their liquid. Before they took their turn, they made a hypothesis about what they thought would happen to their powder and what color they thought it would be. They began to see that if they looked carefully, some of the color showed through on the spoons and they could use this as a clue for their hypothesis.

When the children stirred their spoons in their liquid, the bubbles were produced! OH BOY – did they love this!!  They didn’t know that was going to happen. We noticed that water did not have the same effect as the vinegar on the powder mixture.

Once everyone had a turn, we let them continue to add more baking soda “powder” to their colorful cups of vinegar and watch it bubble up again.

We continued until everyone had several turns and spoonfuls of powder to mix in – then I ran out of powder! I used up one full box of baking soda and 2 jars of vinegar. Once we were out of baking soda – we talked about the cause and effect of the mixture. We had only one spill over because I put too many cups in one container and one of the cups spilled over the edge of the cup and the container – oops!

It was a super fun day and experience for me and the children! Yes – this is a keeper to share again with another group of children soon!

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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