Scented Science Experiment for Kids

As always, I am excited to be back for another Saturday Science. Science is such a staple in our house and guides the rest of our lessons for the week. If you are a regular here, you know about our 12 months of Sensory Dough Series. If you are new, you definitely should check it out. Anyways, today I am excited to share our scented science experiment for kids. It was a must for creating our rainbow scented cloud dough.

Experimenting with Smells

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Scented Science experimentWhat You Need for Your Scented Science Experiment

  • Vegetable Oil (any oil would work, we used this because it had the least smell)
  • Candy Flavoring Oils or Extracts (We used apple, cherry, peppermint, cinnamon, vanilla and almond)
  • Containers for oils (I wrote with dry-erase on each glass to help with identification)

Guess that Scent

Science Experiment with Scents

Next, we smelled each oil and described what we smelled.

How would you describe the smell? Is is sweet or sour? Is it strong or light? Is it spicy? Does it remind you of anything?

The boys (ages 6 & 8) both guessed similar things for each scent. They recorded their predictions and the letter of each liquid.

Teacher Tip: I like to teach my boys to be scientist and work like real scientist. This means teaching them how scientist never sniff with their noses directly into something. Instead they use their hands to fan the air towards their noses.

This is a safety precaution that is extremely helpful to teach at a young age.

Matching scents experiment for kids

After the boys thought they knew all the scents (they could not figure out almond or cinnamon), I brought out the containers.

I really wanted to have the real items for them to match, but we were short on time. If I did this again, I would definitely have the real items on hand to compare. In fact, the boys want to try this again, so we will probably try a few different scents next time and I will be more prepared!

Adding Scent to Oil Cloud Dough.jpg

Finally, we matched the scents to the different oils. Now we were ready to mix in the color and make our Rainbow Cloud Dough!

Mixing Oil and Coloring Cloud Dough experiment.png

But something unexpected happened. Oh No! The two didn’t mix. In fact it created beads within the oil and the boys were fascinated.

Can you guess our next science experiment?

Rainbow Scented Cloud Dough.png

Be sure to check out our Rainbow Cloud Dough!

Are You Ready for More Science Fun?

Saturday Science Blog Hop

Time for Saturday Science Blog Hop!

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Fizzy Planet Earth from Little Bins For Little Hands

Chromatography for Preschoolers from P is for Preschooler

  Follow Science Experiments for Kids on Pinterest.


What is your favorite science activity? I would love to hear! Follow me on FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestInstagram or subscribe by email. I can’t wait to hear your ideas.

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8 thoughts on “Scented Science Experiment for Kids”

  1. BTW I LOVE that you are teaching them to waft and not shove noses in! Fantastic science technique!

  2. I can’t say enough good things about this experiment! I love that you showed them the right technique for smelling things, too. My 6 year old is now begging to try this out…..along with the rainbow dough, of course!

  3. Pingback: Essential Oil Play Recipes For Kids! Fun and Easy! - Baby Candy Land

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