Food is a great way to learn! For one thing, let’s be honest: kids love to eat! This makes food a great addition to any task that you want to get your learners excited about. Food also involves tactile elements that make lessons more memorable and hands-on. And when you get right down to it, food is all about science and chemistry! There’s no better way to introduce complex science concepts than to model them with food. So, what are you waiting for? Get your kids prepped to test out these 44 edible science projects—ready, set, eat!
1. Ice Cream in a Bag
In this science project, your students will learn how ice cream is made from milk, cream, vanilla extract, ice, and salt. Working in groups, they can “churn” the ice cream in a plastic bag, while an outer bag filled with ice works to freeze the ingredients. They’ll be learning about chemistry, working off some energy, and finishing with a sweet treat—what could be better?
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2. Pop-Rock Science Experiment
Attach a balloon filled with pop rocks candy to the cap of a one-liter soda bottle. Let the pop rocks fall into the soda and have your students watch (and try to explain) how the balloon inflates.
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
3. Glow-in-the-Dark Jello
Have your students ever wondered how to make something glow in the dark? Have them try this experiment where they’ll make Jello that glows under a backlight; all achievable just by adding tonic water to regular Jello powder- who would’ve thought!
Learn More: Instructables
4. Making Fizzy Lemonade
In this experiment, your students will make their lemonade fizz by adding baking soda to the recipe to create a chemical reaction. Refreshing and enlightening!
Learn More: Learn with Play at Home
5. Edible Butterfly Cycle
This simple activity will help your kids visualize and better understand the life cycle of a butterfly by modeling it with treats! Give them all of the edible components and challenge them to create, and learn, a model before munching it away.
Learn More: Science Sparks
6. Animal Cell Cookies
No more boring textbook learning for your students! Instead, let them eat cookies to explore animal cells! Simple chocolate chip cookies will become memorable visual aids in helping them grasp the structure of an animal cell.
Learn More: Adventures in MommyDOM
7. Skittles Rainbow Density
Help your students make their own rainbow water with Skittles! This colorful experiment involves dissolving Skittles in water at different concentrations. Then, you’ll carefully put the colored water into a container so that your kids can see how the number of Skittles affects the water’s density.
Learn More: Gifts of Curiosity
8. Microwave a Peep
Learn about what heat does to marshmallow candies! For this experiment, you’ll simply place a marshmallow Peep in the microwave for a few seconds. First, have your students predict what will happen to the candy—then, conduct your experiment and see if they were right!
Learn More: LA Times
9. Exploding Watermelons
Help your students learn about kinetic and potential energy by making watermelons explode using only rubber bands! Your kids will wrap rubber bands around a melon until the pressure becomes too great and it explodes! Remember the safety goggles and helmets for this one.
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
10. Will It Melt?
Your students can improve their understanding of heat and melting points by leaving candies in the sun and seeing which of them melt! This is a good opportunity to have your kiddos practice making hypotheses before an experiment—and a creative way to use up any leftover candy that you have lying around!
Learn More: Playdough to Plato
11. Hot Cocoa and Melting Snowman Marshmallows
Your students can continue to learn about heat and melting in this experiment. Help them make hot chocolate with cold, warm, and hot water and give them different-sized marshmallow “snowmen”. Next, get your little scientists to predict and test which marshmallows will melt the fastest!
Learn More: Arts and Crackers
12. Edible Glass
Edible glass made from molten grains of sugar is a clever way to show your kids how real glass is made from molten grains of sand. Help your students create their own sheet of “glass” to illustrate the process.
Learn More: Go Science Kids
13. Gumdrop Bridge Challenge
Do your students think they can build a bridge with only gumdrops and toothpicks? Let them test their understanding of gravity, shapes, and materials in this hands-on experiment.
Learn More: Little Bins for Little Hands
14. Sugar Cookie Solar System
Invite your kiddies to learn about the solar system with sugar cookies! Get your students to decorate sugar cookies with different colors and features to replicate the planets in our solar system. This is a sweet way to help them remember the order of the planets!
Learn More: Simply Living Creative Learning
15. Solar Oven S’mores
Put the sun to good use in this illustration of solar power! Guide your students in making solar-powered ovens by lining pizza boxes with aluminum foil and sheet protectors. Then, have them place s’mores inside their “ovens”, place them outside, and watch them start to melt.
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16. Earth Structural Layer Cake
Want an interesting way for your students to understand the layers of the Earth? Bake a layered cake! A hemispherical cake with different-colored layers is a perfect illustration of the inside of our planet. Making the cake is a bit involved and does require some special baking pans, but it will result in a visual representation that your kids are sure to remember forever!
Learn More: Cake Crumbs
17. Gummy Fossil Experiment
Learn about fossils with food! Get your kiddos to make layers of “rock” by placing candies between layers of bread. Place books on top and leave for a few hours. Later, have them remove the books and see what has happened!
Learn More: Teach Beside Me
18. Sink or Float Candy
Gather up a range of candy bars and have your kiddos predict whether they will sink or float. Then, have them place the bars in water to test their theories!
Learn More: Reading Confetti
19. The Biology of Yogurt
Have your students ever wondered how yogurt is made? In this experiment, let them make their own yogurt and compare its taste to store-bought versions. This is also a great way to introduce the idea that “bacteria” isn’t necessarily all bad!
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20. Growing Gummy Bears
Think your students will enjoy watching gummy bear candies grow? In this experiment, your students can learn about osmosis by placing gummy bears in salted water and seeing what happens over time!
Learn More: Playdough to Plato
21. How to Grow Lettuce
Get green-fingered in class and grow some lettuce! It couldn’t be easier—your students will simply place a lettuce stalk into water and watch new lettuce roots form; an experiment that can easily fit into just about any natural science lesson on the plant life cycle.
Learn More: Laughing Kids Learn
22. Seeds in a Bag
Teach your students about seed germination—without even getting your hands dirty! Have them place beans and other seeds into a bag with wet paper towels. Over time, your kids will love watching them sprout.
Learn More: Life Over C’s
23. Edible Slime Extravaganza
Can you imagine the delight on your students’ faces when they get to eat the slime that they’ve just created? Whip up a few batches of these edible slimes using marshmallows and cornstarch. As your kids stretch and munch, share how this transformative process mirrors the changing states of matter in the universe around them!
Learn More: Taste
24. The Banana Aging Saga
Nature’s magic unfolds with the enzyme-powered journey of ripening bananas! Have your students predict and observe the intriguing differences that occur when a banana is placed in a bag alone or placed inside with different fruit. Through this, they’ll be able to delve deep into ethylene gas and its effects on fruit.
Learn More: Inspiration Laboratories
25. Candy Helix Wonders
Transform your classroom into a genetics lab, where colorful candies and toothpicks become the building blocks of life! Have your students create a DNA model using licorice and different colors of candy. They’ll get a chance to test themselves and reinforce their learning along the way—with a sweet treat to reward themselves at the end!
Learn More: ThoughtCo
26. Edible Geological Magic
Earth’s story, written in layers of rocks, is about to get a Starburst makeover! Guide your students to mold and meld these candies to replicate sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rock formations. With every bite, they’ll taste the wonders of the rock cycle.
Learn More: Simple Living Creative Learning
27. Marshmallow Constellation Creations
Transform your class into a cosmic playground! Invite your students to construct constellations using mini marshmallows and toothpicks. As they join these sweet stars, they’ll also be exploring the vast expanse of astronomy.
Learn More: YouTube
28. Zesty Power Stations
Help your kiddos unearth the electric potential of citrus fruits! Your students can use lemons or oranges to produce an electric current that they can measure using zinc and copper materials and voltmeters or multimeters.
Learn More: Jennifer Findley
29. Jelly Bean Sensory Odyssey
Embark on a blindfolded taste voyage where different jelly bean flavors become tantalizing mysteries. Through this sensory journey, your students will uncover the intricate connection between taste and vision; gaining a newfound appreciation for their palate.
Learn More: Childhood 101
30. Butter-Churning Chronicles
Travel back in time as your students shake heavy cream in a jar until it transforms into butter. Through this creamy adventure, they’ll unravel the magic of emulsion and come to an understanding of how ancient civilizations turned liquid to solid gold (or at least, buttery gold).
Learn More: Steamsational
31. Geode Culinary Artistry
Merge geology with culinary arts as your students craft shimmering, edible geodes using sugar, food coloring, and gum paste. As they savor their creations, lead them through a discussion on the wonders of crystal formations and nature’s artwork.
Learn More: STEAM Powered Family
32. Chocolate Chip Earth Extravaganza
Venture deep into the Earth, using chocolate chip cookies as your terrain! As your students excavate chocolate chips from cookies, representing mining for ore, they’ll discover the environmental intricacies and impacts of mining.
Learn More: The Science Site
33. Popcorn’s Popping Mysteries
Your students have probably all had popcorn before—but have they ever treated it as a science experiment? As a class, talk about how and why popcorn kernels pop. Then, get your kids to form and write down hypotheses about how the popping process will unfold—does all popcorn pop the same way and at the same time? Will the same amount of kernels yield the same amount of popped corn each time? Lastly, pop away! Make a few batches of popcorn together and get your students to record their results.
Learn More: Little Bins for Little Hands
34. Taffy Transformation Tales
Join your students on a candy-making escapade- demonstrating the fascinating changes in physical properties. Making salt water taffy with your kids is a simple, and fascinating way to observe the effects of temperature and torsion. Mix up sugar, water, and corn syrup to make the candy. Then, let your kids pull and fold the mixture until you get the desired results!
35. Amber Time Capsules
Transport your students millions of years back with edible amber fossils crafted from Jell-o and gummy insects placed inside plastic egg shells. By inserting the “insect” into partially set Jell-o, they’ll be replicating prehistoric creatures getting trapped in soft tree sap.
Learn More: Education
36. Bagged Bread Bakery
Transform your classroom into a bustling bakery! As your students knead and observe their homemade bread rising in a bag, they delve deep into the magic of yeast and the ancient art of fermentation. Once complete, bake the dough and invite your kiddos to savor the taste of fresh bread.
Learn More: Chapman University Blogs
37. Spaghetti Skyscrapers
Challenge your students to don their architect hats! Using uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows, let their creativity shine as they construct towering skyscrapers and sturdy bridges; all while delving into the heart of engineering principles and the physics of balance.
Learn More: Make Fun Creating
38. Sweet vs. Sour Sensory Exploration
Dive deep into a taste-testing adventure with your little learners! Using sweet, sour, bitter, and salty liquids, your students will learn about taste buds and where they’re placed on our tongues. They’ll be amazed at the underlying science of taste!
Learn More: ThoughtCo
39. The Stretchy Secrets of Bubble Gum
Gum is fun, inexpensive, and easy to find—and lends itself well to plenty of experiments! Get your students to hypothesize, and then conduct taste tests, bubble-blowing contests, and flavor-staying tests. This is an easy way to get them to practice making scientific predictions and observations.
Learn More: Sciencing
40. Cheese Making Chronicles
With this experiment, your learners can explore what turns liquids into solids. Guide them on a culinary expedition where they can watch acidic citrus juice curdle milk, revealing the fascinating science hidden behind one of everyone’s favorite dairy delights- cheese!
Learn More: Cool Science
41. The Melting Moments of Chocolate
There’s more to melting chocolate than meets the mouth! Gather a variety of types of chocolate—bars, candy-coated chocolate, wrapped, unwrapped, etc—and have your students predict which ones will melt first. Then, place the chocolate under a heat source and have your kids record their observations to test their hypotheses.
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42. Marshmallow Density Dilemma
Challenge perceptions of weight and size with this next idea! Using marshmallows and various liquids, your students will be able to investigate density principles as they make scientific predictions along the way.
Learn More: How Things Work Science Project
43. Celery’s Colorful Capillaries
Nature’s drinking straws revealed! By placing celery stalks into colored water, your students will witness the wonder of capillary action, observing how plants absorb and transport nutrients. Afterward, have them enjoy a healthy snack that’s colored differently from how it would normally appear!
Learn More: YouTube
44. Chocolate Geology Gems
Turn chocolate chips, white chocolate, and milk chocolate into a geological gourmet experience! Help your students use chocolate to model the rock cycle, with melted chocolate symbolizing lava and chocolate shavings representing erosion and sedimentary rock.
Learn More: YouTube
Christmas STEM Activities For High School: Model Building, Experiments, Crafts, And Games