Gift Ideas: Make Your Own Science Kit
I love to kill two birds with one stone and with this little project you’ll be killing four!
1) Keep your kids entertained over the summer.
2) Get your Christmas shopping done.
3) Preserve memories of some of your summer fun.
4) AND teach your kids about science!
Last year I had a blast with the kids doing science experiments and baking up some of our favorite recipes. And I loved hearing my two year old lisp “experiment.” Adorable! While we did the activities I was ready with my camera to snap photos. I then had my kids pick some of their favorites and we compiled them into a book.
We had a blast making it and we’ve been able to share some of our favorite things with family and friends. If you have a lot of long distance family, it is a great way for cousins to get to know each other better and share family memories.
And if you want to, you can even use the book to make a “science kit.” What family wouldn’t want some ready-made activities for their kiddos to enjoy?
Making the Science Book:
To make the book, I just used an online service like snapfish.com and shutterfly.com. They often come out with good deals around the holidays or you can sometimes find an amazing deal on Groupon. Having my book ready ahead of time helped me jump on the deals when they came up.
I either did a full bleed of a photo on one side of the spread or a collage and then the other side is the recipe or the instructions. Easy peasy. Often you can even find a recipe book template on the site.
Making the Science Kit:
Thank heavens for Dollar Tree! Most of the kit can be bought at your local dollar store. I included things like dish soap, glue, vinegar, baking soda, balloons, and soap that I used in my recipes. I then made a vinyl sticker to label the bin.
If you are looking for some ideas for recipes and experiments, here are a few of our favorites.
- Marry Me Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Mom’s Zucchini Bread (allrecipes.com)
- Bathtub Lava
- Gak (stevespanglerscience.com)
- Colorful and Edible Play Dough (allrecipes.com) – This is one of our favorite play dough recipes!
- Ivory Clouds and Treasure Soaps
- Frozen Yogurt Alphabet Bites (uvpediatrics.com)
- Frozen Water Ball Experiment
- Fruit Freezies