Playing chemistry games together will make your child's study of chemistry fun. Whether doing a hands-on chemistry experiment or just playing a game, your kids will remember what they've learned if they have a great time doing it. Here are some ideas for fun chemistry activities to do with your child.
Adventures in Miscibility
Try this fun game to help your children understand the concepts of miscibility and immiscibility. Fill a jar with water. Add a few drops of food coloring, and sit back and watch as the colors swirl through the water. While watching the colors blend with the water is entertaining in itself, you can help the process along by gently swishing the water. The food coloring will blend into the water, because those two things are miscible. Next, add some cooking oil to your jar. Have your child try to get the oil and water to mix, and observe the way the oil and water continue to separate, no matter how hard your child tries to mix them. This is because oil and water are immiscible.
From Liquid to Solid
This next activity takes a few days to complete, but it is a great way to teach your kids how certain chemical compounds can change. Fill a small bowl with warm water, and fill a small cup with salt. Point out that the water is a liquid, and the salt is a solid. Ask your child to examine the water and salt, and to predict what would happen when the two are mixed together. Have your child add the salt to the water, stirring until it's completely dissolved. Next, set your bowl in an out-of-the-way location, and observe it for a few days. As the water evaporates, the salt will again be a solid in the bottom of the bowl. Don't forget to ask your kids where they think the water might have gone.
Periodic Concentration
Do you want to try a fun chemistry game with your kids, but you don't want to make a big mess in the kitchen? Then try challenging your kids to a game of Periodic Table Concentration. This game will not only help them learn the basic elements, it will also help them to memorize the symbols of the elements. Make two sets of cards, one featuring the names of the elements on the periodic table, and another set with the symbols of the elements. Shuffle the cards, and lay them out in rows. Players take turns turning over cards, trying to find matching sets. The player with the most matches, wins.
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