Homeschool science is definitely giving me some stuff to write about for Kids in the Kitchen on Fridays! We didn’t actually do this experiment because my sink was full of dishes, but it can be done in a large bowl, your kitchen sink, your bathtub…anywhere you can hold some water. Learn below how to make a soap powered boat.
Soap Powered Boat: Kids in the Kitchen
Ingredients
- 1 index card or bread tag
- scissors
- Sink of water or large bowl or baking dish
- Liquid Dish Detergent
Instructions
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Cut out your index card in the shape of a boat with a small notch made at the back.
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Place the "boat" gently on the water in the baking dish.
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Pour a little detergent into the notch at the end of the boat if using paper.
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If you are using the bread tag, take a small amount of dish soap on a toothpick and touch it to the water in the whole of the tag.
If you wish to repeat the experiment you need to wash out the baking dish or sink carefully each time you use detergent, or your boat won’t go.
What you’ll learn
Your boat should zip across the water. Water molecules are strongly attracted to one another and stick close together, especially on the surface. This creates a strong but flexible “skin” on the water’s surface that we call surface tension. Adding soap disrupts the arrangement of the water molecules and breaks the skin, making the boat move forward.
Come join my co-hosts, Melinda of LookWhatMomFound, Kate of Busy Bee Kate. Jeannette of EcoIncognito and Sara at Sensibly Sara, each week linking up a post, new or old, that feature the theme Kids in the Kitchen. It doesn’t matter what you are doing as long as you are doing it together, enjoying it and learning something along the way.
- preparing healthy snacks
- blending a smoothie
- packing a lunch
- discovering a local restaurant that your kids love
- shopping at the farmer’s market
You’ll find so many more ideas on the #KidsintheKitchen Pinterest Board.
That is such a cool idea. My boys would absolutely love that.
Science in action! That’s really cool. Love it!
I love this… what a fun way to embrace science and kids… will have to try this with the kids. Thanks for sharing
What a fun idea! My boys love doing science and crafts!
That’s really neat! I’ve never seen this before. I’ll have to try this with my daughter.
Love science and I love that your family is enjoying how fun it can be!! That is so awesome–this is exactly the kind of thing more parents need to do with their kids, so they can inspire them to learn more about how things work (and down the line consider working in the field).
~Cathy~
OurMiniFamily.com
That is really cool! What a fun science lesson to do with the kids.
How fun and cool is that. Going to have to try it out with my 7 year old.
I think we will use this for a home school lesson next week. it would at least give us a fun break.
What a clever idea! So simple and fun to watch. My little one would get a kick out of this!
What a great idea! I love it. You had packing a lunch on your list. I just took my kids to the park for a picnic yesterday. I packed their lunch for them. It would be so much more beneficial if I had let them help and figure out what to pack on their own.
That’s so fun! I will have to try this with my son. He LOVES boats!!!
Okay, this is so cool! My kids would have so much fun with this!
Such a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing with the #pinitparty. Have pinned 🙂
So clever, my kids would be so fascinated by this! Thanks for the idea!
This is so cool! Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop! We hope you stop by again next week!
Wow, what a cool project! I never heard of these, but they are so neat! Thanks!
This is such a cool project. I will have to show this to my friend that has younger kids.
That is a very cool science project. It is so neat when kids can see science in action. I think it really helps them grasp the concept so much easier.