Kids can discover chemistry, biology, and physics in their kitchen at home. Kids can do experiments for many different science projects in their kitchen. Cooking is a fine example of chemistry, mixing ingredients, heating and freezing ingredients, and adding bases to acids in recipes to create delicious dishes. Kids can make ice cream by heating milk, sugar, and vanilla, then cooling it to freezing while mixing thoroughly, soon trapped air bubbles react with the milk fat to change the milk to smooth and yummy ice cream. Kids can do biology experiments as live bacteria runs amok in the kitchen, which is why it is so important to keep the kitchen as clean as possible. Bacteria can be found on raw chicken, beef, and shellfish, in the kitchen drain, and on the bottom of kids’ shoes. Kids can take bacteria samples and examine them on homemade bacterial culture plates. Yeast is a type of fungus that causes bread to rise. Thousands of years old, ancient Egyptians were using yeast to bake their bread. Yeast microbes are single celled organisms that reproduce quickly, eating starch when added to warm, moist bread dough. When yeast releases carbon dioxide, gas bubbles are trapped in the dough and expand when the bread dough is left overnight, causing the dough to rise. Kids can do a physics experiment and produce an electric current which is created when electrons flow from one electrode to another. Kids can put a galvanized nail and a penny into a lemon and connect them with two copper wires to send an electric current to the base of a flashlight bulb and produce a light. Kitchen science is a fun way for kids to discover the amazing world around them.
Cooking Magic for Kids 