Lately we have done some workshops at home with friends and have had a great time, even when the little ones have come, and I am going to propose some of these activities so that you can do them with the children from four years. Today I propose an afternoon of experiments with eggs.
These scientific workshops, even when children still do not assimilate theoretical explanations, they serve to begin to develop the pleasure for knowledge, the enjoyment of discovery and the development of theories. In addition, if we do them with playful intent they can allow us to organize very fun activities.
For today's experiments we will need eggs (raw and cooked), matches, a wide-mouth bottle, vinegar and alcohol. Since we are talking about young children, manipulation should be done with the most dangerous things, but there are always things that will help us and I assure you that they will enjoy it a lot. Of course, you must explain that they cannot make them alone and that these eggs will no longer be able to eat them.
Rubber eggs
For this experiment we need a raw egg, vinegar and a bowl. In the end we get an egg without a shell and with a consistency like rubber, so much that it can even bounce a little, although we have to be careful not to make it too strong.
This experiment will take a couple of days to complete, but from the beginning we can observe the effect of the vinegar that dissolves the shell when the acid reacts with calcium carbonate. Gradually the shell will be covered with bubbles, leaving a viscous substance floating and in the end, increasing the size egg. After two days, changing the vinegar a couple of times, we will observe how the egg bounces as if it were a rubber ball.
Fried eggs without fire
Fried eggs are a dish that little ones love. Soon they understand that it is the heat to which we put the oil that changes the structure of food, but we can do this curious experiment in which it is the different PH that gets us cold an egg without fire. The explanation must be adapted to the child's level, but even with simple words they can get used to scientific concepts because science precisely explains the experiences with the subject they will have in their day to day.
We need a raw egg, a bowl and a bottle of alcohol from the medicine cabinet. When the egg is cracked (it is sure that children are encouraged to try it) and add alcohol we will see how the egg becomes white and compact, with the same appearance as fried in oil, but, of course, inedible.
Eggs inside a bottle
Is it possible to put an egg cooked in a bottle that has a narrower neck than the egg? Surely, if you let them, they will try. Squeezing and even crushing the egg. No matter staining a little, what counts is the intellectual work that comes with the understanding of sizes.
But once you give up you can show them how it can be done, although, in this case, they should be spectators since we are going to use a glass bottle and matches. Light the matches and put them inside the bottle, covering the entrance with the cooked egg (without shell).
The fire consumes the oxygen creating a vacuum inside the bottle, vacuum that produces an intense attraction to the cooked egg, which will enter, squeezing, into the narrow neck attracted by the intense pressure.
With this experiment we can explain something you already know, that the air is not a vacuum although it cannot be touched, but that it has a gaseous matter that also exists. The concept of gas, vacuum and pressure, within your means, will help you understand what has happened. And of course you will be amazed.
Peeled eggs without hands
It is fun peel an egg without your hands, even if the children can't blow so hard to get it at first, they will love to see how the egg is shot with the power of the air jet from your mouth.
I hope that with these ideas you can prepare your playful science workshop and do your first experiments with eggs in your own home, making learning a fun time with children. There will be more science workshops that I will propose.
