Looking for science ideas for Valentine’s Day? Or even just something to do with all that left over candy? Try your hand at some candy science with this dissolving conversations hearts experiment.
Dissolving candy hearts is a quick and easy comparison experiment that will get children exploring how fast conversation hearts dissolve in different water temperatures. This experiment does not require scalding hot water and to keep this experiment safe to play with please keep water temperatures under 100°F (38°C).
Materials Needed for Dissolving Conversation Hearts Science Experiment:
- Conversation Hearts
- Water (cold, warm, hot)
- Clear Plastic Containers (ours are paint cups from Melissa and Doug)
- Fine Motor Tools
- Kids Crafting Trays (optional)
If your child is showing an interest in writing {even if they are scribbling just to scribble} provide your child a sheet of paper to record their observations. With Meatball he loves to color just to mark up the paper. His scribbles probably mean nothing, but it does encourage a conversation that helps associate the idea that we can put our thoughts on paper. If your child shows no interest in writing don’t stress it. This is a great activity for working on prepositions, noun-verb combinations, commands/following directions, and even just echolalia (repeating a word or phrase over and over).
How to Set Up Melting Hearts! Observation Experiment:
- Fill your containers with equal amounts of water at different temperatures. We did three containers at cold (34°F), warm (72°F), and hot (100°F).
- Make predictions! Which temperature will dissolve the hearts the fastest? Why?
- Add conversation hearts to your containers using whatever tools the child wants to use.
- Record start time.
- Observe.
- Come back and check up on the hearts every so often. Discuss or take notes what your child sees.
- Record how long it takes for each container to melt your hearts!
Continuing Play with Melted Hearts!
Observations complete? Play doesn’t need to stop there!
Pull out the crafting trays and have kiddos gather up their water tools! One of the things that I love about using our Melissa and Doug cups for our science experiments is that I can hand them to Meatball to work on unscrewing giving me enough time to make sure I have enough towels and other protective measures in place…
Dump! Pour! Splash! Water play can be a ton of fun for making more observations and building vocabulary.
And the half dissolved hearts make a fun texture for little hands to explore! We had a blast with this simple observation experiment and I know your kids would too!
[Tweet “Melt some #hearts with this fun #ece observational science experiment! #ShareScience”]
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