Welcome back for another Saturday Science! It seems everywhere I turn I am seeing Christmas this and Winter that. I wasn’t really ready for any of this talk until after Thanksgiving, but now I am embracing it full force. Knowing how much my kids love it, I decided it was time to try some Christmas Science for Kids. This simple experiment seriously took 2 minutes to set up and was super fun. Both boys (ages 7 &9) loved dissolving candy canes and we were all a tad surprised by the results.
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Simple Christmas Science for Kids
Set-Up For Dissolving Candy Canes
Materials:
Water
Oil
Vinegar
Candy Canes (We are used both Small and Large)
Timer/ Stopwatch (we love using our phone)
Set Up:
Fill 4 cups up with the same amount of liquid in each glass.
Place the candy canes in a bowl near the glasses for easy access.
Conducting the Dissolving Candy Canes Experiment
As with all of our experiments we began with observations and predictions. Because the boys a slightly different in ages (7 and 9) this looks a little different for each child. For this experiment, both boys chose to measure the candy canes before they started and they both drew the jars of liquid.
Legoman (9) wanted to test how long it would take the candy canes to dissolve in each liquid, but Bones (7) wanted to test which liquid dissolved the candy canes the fastest. While these tests are very similar, they have slightly different predictions and outcomes.
After the boys were done making their observations, drawing, measurements and predictions, we ere ready to get started. The boys put the candy canes in the jars and started the timer. What happened next surprised us all.
As you can see in the picture, not even 30 seconds in, and the candy canes immediately started to dissolve. The candy canes (both large and small) in the hot water didn’t stand a chance. They were changing before our eyes.
It was actually even hard to get photos of the candy canes before the changes occurred. The boys were fascinated by the changing water and the mixture of the sugar and liquids as the candy canes were broken down.
Making Observations and Noticing Dissolution of the Candy Canes
The boys watch in awe as the candy canes quickly changed. They were so excited to see it happening so fast and right before them.
With help, they each got to lift the jars with the candy canes in them. By far the most fascinating one, was the candy cane in the warm water. Not only was it dissolving, it was also melting and changing shape by the second.
Super B (18 months) was so interested as well, but because of the warm liquids, we didn’t want her to get hurt. So we made her an observation jar that she shook, turned and observed. It was great to be able to involve her in our learning. She loved this so much, that we turned her project into a candy cane sensory bottle. (Which we hope to share soon).
Pretty cool, huh?
There are so many variation to this experiment. The boys are already talking about changing up the liquids, testing what happens when you shake the containers, changing the temperatures, and changing the candies.
I love how they are always questioning and looking for new ways to try things out.
Do you have a favorite Winter or Christmas Science Experiment? I would love to know! Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram or subscribe by email. I can’t wait to hear your ideas.
ARE YOU READY FOR MORE SCIENCE FUN?
TIME FOR SATURDAY SCIENCE BLOG HOP!
Every Saturday we will get so many wonderful ideas linked up from around the web that we have decided we want to feature some of these great ideas. That’s why every Saturday, I will pick from the posts linked up and feature my absolute favorites. This might be a hard choice to make, luckily you can always head over to last week’s post and check out more great science resources!
This Week’s Feature: Winter Science for Kids
Borax Crystal Snowflake Experiment | Mama Teaches
VISIT THESE GREAT BLOGGERS FOR MORE FUN SATURDAY SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS TOO!
Soda Can Submarine | Diving and Surfacing from The Science Kiddo
Follow Dayna :: Lemon Lime Adventures’s board Learning: Science Lessons on Pinterest.
Thanks so much for the feature! =) Love this candy cane experiment idea!
Of course! Great post!
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Awesome idea!! I am sending these home with my students as little Winter Break Challenge experiments. Thanks so much for the great post!!!
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Can’t wait to try this! And the sensory bottle sounds amazing too! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Hope you love it!
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I’m really intrigued… what were the results?
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