Science doesn't have to be complicated to be educational. This simple preschool activity takes only minutes, but it will introduce your child to the scientific concept of acids and bases.
What You Need:
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Two small bowls
- Small scoop
- Small pitcher
- Two craft sticks or spoons for each child
- Towels
- Bucket for waste liquid if there is no sink nearby
What You Do:
- Put baking soda in one bowl and vinegar in the other. Make sure that your child can see and touch the bowls.
- Give your child two craft sticks, one for baking soda and one for vinegar.
- Remind your child that he should never taste something unless he knows what it is or an adult who he trusts says it’s safe. Assure him that you would never give them something to taste that could hurt him.
- Then, invite your child to take tiny tastes of each substance using the craft sticks. Do they taste the same or different?
- Invite him to feel the dry baking soda and wet vinegar. What does he think will happen if you mix them together?
- Make a list of the words your child uses to describe the baking soda and another for the vinegar. If you'd like, you can use these descriptions to explain that acids (like vinegar and citrus juices) are sour and bases (like baking soda and flour) are the opposite.
Science is, indeed, simple with this fun low-cost experiment. As you and your child do this easy experiment, remember that you can find scientific concepts everywhere you look.
By Peggy Ashbrook
Adapted with permission from "Science is Simple: Over 250 Activities for Preschoolers." Copyright 2003 by Peggy Ashbrook. Used with Permission of Gryphon House, Inc., Maryland. All Rights Reserved.
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