3 Fun-filled experiments for kids with a scientific explanation

Keeping the kids occupied during the lockdown is a herculean task therefore we keep on giving you ideas and ways to keep them busy productively thereby minimising their screen time as already they are spending too much time on screen with their online classes and assignments.

It’s very easy now to send secret messages to your friends with this DIY invisible ink. All you  need is some household items like lemon juice  and water. You can try this experiment easily at home. 

Procedure-

1. Squeeze some lemon juice into the bowl and add a few drops of water.
2. Mix the water and lemon juice with the spoon.
3. Dip the cotton bud into the mixture and write a message onto the white paper.
4. Wait for the juice to dry so it becomes completely invisible.
5. When you are ready to read your secret message or show it to someone else, heat the paper by holding it close to a light bulb.

Lemon juice is an organic substance that oxidizes and turns brown when heated. Diluting the lemon juice in water makes it very hard to notice when you apply it to the paper, no one will be aware of its presence until it is heated and the secret message is revealed. 

Kids will be super happy with this creation of theirs when they will serve homemade butter at the table and of course you will also feel super proud. What you need is just a few things available at home. Children love this project.

Procedure-

1. Pour cold heavy whipping cream into a glass jar with a tight lid (eg. Mason jar).
2. Secure the lid and begin shaking vigorously.
3. About halfway through, you’ll begin to hear a difference in the shaking sound.
4. Once you feel like there’s a solid mass shaking around in the jar, the butter should be done.

As the cream is shaken, the fat molecules get out of position and clump together, eventually clumping so much that butter forms.

Procedure-

1. First of all, take 1 cup of milk and warm it in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes. It should be hot, not boiling.
2. Stir 4 tablespoons of vinegar in the milk.
3. The milk will start to clump as the acid in the vinegar breaks down the protein in the milk. Stir for about 1 minute
4. Then, strain the milk through a strainer. All the clumps will stay in the strainer and really push on them to get all the liquid out.
5. Finally, transfer it to some paper towels and continue to press all the liquid out of the plastic milk. You can then shape it and colour it if you wish.
6. You can use a cookie-cutter and food colouring to shape and colour it.

When milk is heated and combined with an acid, such as vinegar, the casein molecules unfold and reorganize into a long chain. Each casein molecule is a monomer and the chain of casein monomers is a polymer. The polymer can be scooped up and molded, which is why plastic made from milk is called casein plastic.