7 Fun Water Experiments for Kids

Water is the first element with which children come into contact from the first moments of life. From the water the baby is raised, embraced, rocked. This is why water is considered by everyone a true friend of children. In addition to being a source of life, in fact, it is also an important natural element that promotes psycho-motor development, sociability, intelligence. In the water children learn to swim and do physical exercises, with water they can play fun games together with other children and thanks to the water they can do scientific experiments useful to know what surrounds them.

In fact, preschoolers are very curious creatures and we parents can help them understand important concepts in a fun and tangible way. The science experiments that can be done at home or outdoors are so many. Today I will suggest some that have water as their main element.

Water experiments for children

Experiments with water for children are very simple to do. Often they require only a few elements easily available at home (such as containers, transparent glasses, spoons, paper, sugar, salt, oil, syrups, colors) and a few minutes to set everything up.

Among these experiments with water I chose some very easy but at the same time interesting and full of food for thought (and I dare say that they are also an excellent stimulus for us parents to review laws and principles that we no longer 😉 remember)

Magic water

This is a nice experiment to start studying the refraction of light and lenses. For this experiment you have to put a container full of water in front of a sheet of paper with arrows drawn. Looking through the glass the phenomenon of the refraction of light will show the arrows in reverse.

Discover the cold with ice and salt

This is a very simple sensory experiment but useful for making children understand the concept of cold and the freezing point. Just fill three containers of water with different quantities of ice and only one of these containers will also add salt. By immersing their hands in the basins, children will be able to understand the various temperatures of the water and that if the water is salty, the freezing point is lowered and the temperature drops.

Guess who floats

Here’s a great super simple science experiment as well as a great summer outdoor activity. In fact, for this experiment you need a rather large container of water and then fruit and vegetables. The children will have to throw the fruit on the water and guess who among them will float. This experiment gives parents a chance to explain that an  object floats when there is air in it . In fact, by opening and eating the fruit, children will be able to see, for example, that strawberries and peppers float because they contain empty spaces inside them.

The water that walks

This experiment with water is one of those that make children remain open-mouthed and with which we can explain the principle of communicating vessels and how colors can be combined with each other. To make this experience you need 3 glasses, two make you half filled with water and one left empty. After putting dye on two containers and paper straddling the containers, children will be able to see that the water rises on the paper going to fill the empty container.

Ballerina grapes

Very interesting and also this experiment in which children can see raisins go up and down inside a bottle thanks to the help of gas, which, lighter, rises to the surface. The raisins thrown into the water will settle after a few minutes on the bottom and then rise, descend and rise again thanks to the help of gas bubbles. Example →dancing raisins

Look at the lava!

Here is another experiment to do with water very scenic and that allows you to create a sort of fake lava and to deepen topics such as the reactions of mixing the density of the elements. Prepare a mixture of water, oil, dye and effervescent granules and see what happens! The effervescent preparation reacting with water will form small gas bubbles. These bubbles will tend to rise to the surface raising the colored water towards the layer of oil generating a movement very similar to that of lava.

Because the sky is blue

Here’s a very simple, super-fast and highly effective experiment that will be able to explain why We see the sky blue. To do this you will need water, transparent detergent, a flashlight, a dark room and follow suit.

Children’s books with experiments with water

If you want to deepen the topic on experiments for children to do with water, here are also two useful books

That said, I still advise you not to perform the experiments as if they were a simple game of magic, but to use them as a valuable method to stimulate children to learn through direct experience. Observing phenomena and stimulating children with questions and reflections is certainly the best approach to explain things.