STEM Water Projects and Science Experiments For Kids
50+ STEM Water Science Experiments and STEM Projects for Kids in Elementary – play, educate and grow with nature’s favourite drink
Water is one of the greatest mediums for exploring science. It’s easy to work with, it’s readily available, it’s safe and kids love playing with it. It is impossible not to have fun while learning with water. Are you looking for some great ideas for water projects in your class, homeschool or home? Find inspiration on this list of over 50 fun science experiments and water projects for kids!
The Best Water Science Experiments for Kids
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To make navigating this resource easier, I have divided all of our water projects and STEM activities into some general categories.
CHEMISTRY WATER EXPERIMENTS
Bath Bombs or Bath Fizzies are the ultimate in bath time fun! They are also an exceptional chemistry experiment. You can simply make a bath bomb and see how water is the magic ingredient to trigger the reaction, or do a science experiment exploring the effect of water temperature on bath bomb reactions.
Water Lab Exploring Safe Drinking Water is a science experiment that turns students into water testers with an eye for safety. Using water sources around your home or school you can easily set up this activity and in the process learn a valuable lesson about how precious safe water is for families everywhere. For more testing ideas you can check out this article.
What’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder? Learn the answer in this experiment. Take water and add sodium bicarbonate or baking powder. Watch the results to see something spectacular!
Super Simple Chemistry is a kid favourite activity that explores how different substances mix with water. Not everything dissolves, start exploring these ideas with this simple activity.
Learn about pH (acidic and basic) properties with this fun fluids experiment that uses items from your kitchen to create a fascinating lab study.
Elephant Toothpaste might not seem like a water science experiment at first, but this activity is actually really cool because one of the by products of the chemical reaction is water!
WATER PROJECTS EXPLORING DENSITY
Skittles Experiments require only two things – Skittles and Water. It may be simple, but this is one water experiment that is stunningly gorgeous and will have kids begging for more science time! With our study we brought in Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night as a way to see fluid dynamics in action.
The classic oil and water experiment is a fascinating way to introduce students the density, and in this experiment the results are beautiful!
Marble Run Density Project is a simple activity that explores the density of different liquids using marbles. It’s fun and accessible for all ages. Everyone loves a good race!
Does It Float – Pop Can edition is a fascinating activity that demonstrates how the density of different canned drinks affects whether they float or not. The results are fun and this makes for a great activity during camp outs.
Teaching The Scientific Process With Water Balloons – This is a fantastic idea for learning how to create scientific proof by exploring the science behind the “does it float pop can edition” experiment.
COLOURFUL WATER PROJECTS
Chromatography Flowers is a super easy activity that even little kids will be able to do with minimal adult help. Watch how water helps colours travel through the coffee filter making pretty designs. For older kids, take the challenge up a level and light up your flowers with a simple circuit building activity.
Walking Rainbow – This was our attempt at the walking rainbow experiment but when things went wrong it became a whole new and exciting water science lesson.
WINTER THEMED WATER PROJECTS FOR KIDS
It’s time to get chilly with this mind bending experiment. In Snow and Ice Simple Science – Melting Magic we ask kids to predict the outcome of a test that will have them saying WOW! when they see the outcome.
Why does salt melt ice? This STEM activity dives into some great winter science as it explores how salt affects ice.
Live somewhere cold? Explore the Mpemba Effect in a spectacular way as you create snow.
Bottle Crush is a project that will have kids asking to go outside on a cold winter day over and over again. Like magic, kids will learn how to crush a plastic bottle without touching it, astounding their friends and family.
Ice Fishing Science Experiment – What is more winter than Ice Fishing? In this fun, hands on science, kids learn how salt and water interact as they go fishing for the big catch! A great challenge for a classroom or summer camp.
SWEET WATER SCIENCE
Slurpee Science Continue exploring the power of salt and water with states of matter changes with this experiment that ends with a tasty treat.
Layered Lollipops is a fascinating study into density. Makes a beautiful experiment that smells amazing!
Lego Gummy Mummies is a project that explores what happens when water is removed, also known as desiccation which is part of the mummification process. It’s also an experiment using candy minifigs, so kids love it!
ENGINEERING WITH WATER PROJECTS
Build A Water Clock and learn a bit about history with this easy STEM project. This project can be scaled for use by kids of all ages.
Ice STEM Projects explore all the amazing things you can do when water enters a solid state, better known as ice! The dinosaur ice sculpture is just too cute and kids will love engineering their own ice creations.
Build a Compass and embrace your inner Einstein! Witness the invisible forces that captured a young Einstein’s imagination and led to a lifetime of incredible discoveries.
Build a Heart Model filled with water (aka blood) and explore how the blood moves around the heart.
Engineer An Ice Lantern, perfect for the holidays.
WATER PROJECTS THAT ARE LIKE MAGIC
Chasing Hearts – This science experiment is like magic as you explore science and physics principles, all while playing a fun game!
Keep it Dry – A slight of hand activity that kids of all ages love to take a turn at. Become a magical scientist!
Why Does Water Rise? is an activity that is like magic! Kids love this STEM Activity that involves a little tech in the investigative process.
Build a Leak Proof Bag that is filled with water and pierced through with tons of pencils? Sounds impossible, but it’s not if you know the science!
ENVIRONMENTAL WATER PROJECTS FOR KIDS
Students get hands on with a major threat to our marine environments in this Oil Spill Cleanup Experiment.
Learn about the Water Cycle in this simple science experiment in a jar. Perfect for students or as a classroom demonstration.
In this experiment, explore how acid rain affects plant life. It is a simple experiment with powerful results.
Next, we explore how water pollution affects plants. This is a simple experiment exploring the effects of water pollution in two different ways. Students learn about osmosis, pH and the scientific method.
The Water Desalinization Project is a interesting activity that explores how to remove the salt from salt water making it safe to drink.
This Fish Diving Activity is a neat way to explore how fish use air to help them move around underwater. A similar activity involves creating a Cartesian Diver.
SENSORY WATER PROJECTS
DIY Play Dough Bubble Bath is not a water project exactly, but it’s an inexpensive way to create some bubble bath play dough. Perfect for doing water projects with kids in the bath tub or at a water table.
Oobleck is a captivating activity to explore the difference in liquids. With the addition of one ingredient to water you create the most bizarre substance. Oobleck projects are an excellent addition to the study of states of matter and the senses. We LOVE playing with Oobleck and have created dozens of fun ways to explore this non-Newtonian Fluid.
DIY Soap Projects, especially Soap Jellies are a fantastic sensory experience that will encourage kids to get clean! They are so much fun, and super easy to make. For an incredible cross study, make our DIY Layers of the Ocean soap and learn about the ocean with this gorgeous and easy soap making project.
More Water Science Experiments
Explore why the Sky Changes Colour in this fascinating and simple science project demonstrating how the skies change colour during sunrise and sunset.
Another great project is the Rainbow Rain Project. Students will create a stunning display of colour in a jar to explore how clouds (made with shaving cream), hold and release moisture, creating rain! This project is GORGEOUS and so simple.
Magic Glitter is a cool experiment that is also a powerful demonstration on how soap works and why it is so important to wash your hands with soap.
Have fun learning with nature’s most valuable liquid – water!
