Your kitchen isn’t just a place to cook—it’s a science lab waiting to be discovered! Everyday ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring offer endless opportunities for hands-on learning. With a few simple supplies, you can turn snack time, meal prep, or clean-up into a fun STEM adventure for kids ages 2–8.

Here are some easy, safe, and engaging STEM experiments you can try right at your kitchen counter:

🧪 1. Fizzy Color Reactions

What You’ll Need:

• Baking soda
  

• Vinegar
  

• Food coloring
  

• Small cups or muffin tin
  

• Eye dropper or spoon
  

What to Do:
Sprinkle baking soda into a few sections of a muffin tin. In separate cups, mix vinegar with different food coloring drops. Then let your child use an eye dropper or spoon to add the colorful vinegar to the baking soda and watch it fizz!

STEM Concepts:

• Chemical reactions (acid + base)
  

• Cause and effect
  

• Observation and prediction
  

🧂 2. Dancing Raisins

What You’ll Need:

• Clear cup
  

• Carbonated water or clear soda
  

• A few raisins
  

What to Do:
Pour carbonated water into a clear cup and drop in the raisins. After a few moments, watch the raisins "dance" up and down as bubbles attach and release.

STEM Concepts:

• Buoyancy
  

• Gas release
  

• Experimentation and observation
  

🧊 3. Ice Cube Melting Race

What You’ll Need:

• A few ice cubes
  

• Salt
  

• Sugar
  

• Warm water
  

• Small plates
  

What to Do:
Place ice cubes on different plates. Sprinkle salt on one, sugar on another, and pour warm water over a third. Time how long it takes each to melt and compare results.

STEM Concepts:

• States of matter
  

• Testing variables
  

• Measurement and comparison
  

🍬 4. Rainbow Skittles Experiment

What You’ll Need:

• A white plate
  

• Skittles or other colorful candy
  

• Warm water
  

What to Do:
Arrange Skittles in a circle on the plate. Slowly pour warm water into the center, just enough to touch the candy. Watch as the colors spread and create a rainbow pattern!

STEM Concepts:

• Color mixing
  

• Dissolving and diffusion
  

• Observation and pattern recognition
  

🥛 5. Magic Milk Swirl

What You’ll Need:

• A shallow dish
  

• Whole milk
  

• Food coloring
  

• Dish soap
  

• Cotton swabs
  

What to Do:
Pour milk into the dish. Add drops of food coloring in different spots. Dip a cotton swab in dish soap and gently touch the surface of the milk. The colors will burst and swirl like magic!

STEM Concepts:

• Surface tension
  

• Chemical interaction
  

• Artistic expression through science
  

💡 Tips to Get the Most Out of Kitchen STEM:

• Ask “What do you think will happen?” before you begin.
  

• Encourage repeat experiments—with small changes to test new ideas.
  

• Let kids record their results with drawings or simple notes.
  

• Talk about the “why”—even if you don’t know the answer, wondering together builds curiosity!
  

🧠 Learning Through Play

The best part about kitchen STEM is how natural it feels. Kids don’t need to sit at a desk—they’re learning through wonder, messes, laughter, and curiosity. Dolls like Maria the Mathemagician® and Astro the Astronaut® can join the fun too, helping kids role-play as little scientists or mathematicians while they explore.

🔗 Explore STEM Dolls Codie the Coder®, Vera the Vet®, Astro the Astronaut®, and Maria the Mathemagician®

🔗 Download Our Free Early STEM Activity Guide