Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!

E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!

Discover

Science Experiments I Do With My Kids That Actually Keep Them Off Screens

33 items

Kennedy Blair

Rainy Saturdays used to mean three kids glued to tablets while I scrolled my phone feeling guilty about it. Then I started pulling together simple science kits and kitchen experiments, and now weekends look completely different. If you have kids betw...

Sections

Invisible Ink and Secret Message Supplies

Color-Changing Chemistry Experiments

Crystal Growing Kits

Magnifying and Observation Tools

Slime and Polymer Science

Volcano and Eruption Experiments

Invisible Ink and Secret Message Supplies

This is the one that started it all. My 7-year-old wrote a secret note with lemon juice, we held it over a warm lamp, and her face when the words appeared was priceless. Now they leave hidden messages around the house every week.

Grab this instead of squeezing actual lemons. Way less mess, and one bottle lasts through dozens of secret messages. My kids go through phases where every surface gets a hidden note.

ReaLemon 100% Juice, Lemon, 15 fl oz, 1 Count

Use these for writing with the lemon juice on paper. Thin enough for actual letters but sturdy enough that my 5-year-old doesn't snap them in half mid-sentence.

Crayola Assorted Colors Crayola Paint Brush Set 5 Count

Hold the paper about 4 inches from the bulb and wait. The words slowly turn brown and my kids lose their minds every single time. Worth having a dedicated lamp so nobody burns themselves on the stove.

Mainstays LED Architect Desk Lamp Black Metal

Color-Changing Chemistry Experiments

My son dumped baking soda into vinegar once by accident and I realized we could turn that chaos into an actual lesson. These supplies let you do pH reactions that change color, which basically makes you a wizard in kid world.

Keep a box just for experiments. We mix it with cabbage juice indicator and watch it turn green. My daughter now explains pH to her grandparents at dinner like a tiny professor.

ARM & HAMMER, Baking Soda, 1 lb Box

Pair this with baking soda and food coloring for volcano reactions that never get old. We've done it probably 40 times and my 4-year-old still screams with excitement every eruption.

Great Value Distilled White Vinegar, 64 fl oz

Toss a few drops into your vinegar before the reaction and suddenly it's not just fizzy, it's fizzy AND colorful. Makes the whole thing feel like real lab work to little kids.

McCormick Kosher Neon Food Colors & Egg Dye, 1.5 fl oz

Crystal Growing Kits

We started growing crystals on a snow day when school got canceled and I had zero plan. Three days later my kids were checking their jars every morning like they were raising pets.

Set this up on a Sunday and by Wednesday you've got actual crystals forming. My 9-year-old brought hers to show-and-tell and her teacher asked where we got it.

National Geographic Glow-in-the-Dark Crystal Grow Lab

Simpler than the big kits, which is perfect if your kid is 5 or 6. Fewer steps means they can actually do it themselves instead of watching you do everything.

4M Crystal Growing Science Model Kit with 7 Experiments

Toss these in water and a creature fizzes out. Not technically crystal growing but scratches the same itch. Great for younger siblings who can't wait three days for results.

Learning Resources Beaker Creatures Reactor Pods 6 Pack

Magnifying and Observation Tools

Once my kids started doing experiments they wanted to look at everything up close. A dead bug, a leaf, their own fingernails. Having real tools made them feel like scientists instead of just kids messing around.

Switch this on and suddenly a grain of salt looks like a boulder. My son spent 45 minutes looking at different fabrics. Forty-five screen-free minutes. I nearly cried.

Microscope by National Geographic

Keep this in your bag for nature walks. My daughter found a weird mushroom at the park and we examined it right there. Small enough for kid pockets, tough enough to survive drops.

Carson MicroBrite Plus 60x-120x LED Pocket Microscope

Perfect for kids under 6 whose hands are too small for regular magnifying glasses. Wide lens, chunky grip. My nephew used it to inspect every rock in the driveway for an hour straight.

Learning Resources Primary Science Binoculars

Slime and Polymer Science

I resisted slime for two years because I thought it would destroy my house. Turns out if you set up a designated slime station with a plastic tablecloth, it's actually manageable and the kids learn about polymers without realizing it.

Grab this for your first batch. Everything's included so you're not hunting for borax at 8pm. My kids made glittery green slime and played with it for three straight hours.

Customer reviews for Elmer's Cloud Slime Kit

Use clear glue when you want see-through slime that looks like alien goo. Add food coloring or glitter and suddenly your kitchen table is a laboratory. Washes out of clothes too.

Elmer's Clear School Glue, 9 oz

This works as a slime activator and you probably already have it. A few tablespoons mixed with glue and you've got stretchy slime. Saved me a trip to the store more than once.

Tide, Free & Gentle Laundry Detergent Liquid, 63 fl oz

Volcano and Eruption Experiments

Every kid wants to build a volcano at some point. I fought it because I imagined vinegar all over my ceiling. But with the right setup it stays contained and the reaction teaches real chemistry.

Comes with the mold and paint so your kid actually builds the whole thing. My son painted his to look like a Hawaiian volcano and then erupted it in the backyard for the neighbors.

National Geographic STEM Build Your Own Volcano

Use these to decorate homemade volcanoes from clay or papier-mache. Washable means your table survives. My daughter painted flames coming down the sides and it honestly looked amazing.

Crayola Washable Kids Paint Set, 10 Count

Mold this into a volcano shape in about ten minutes, let it dry, then fill the crater with baking soda and vinegar. Lighter than clay so it won't crack, and little hands can shape it easily.

Crayola Model Magic Modeling Dough, 4 Oz White

Weather and Water Cycle Experiments

My daughter had a test on the water cycle and was totally confused until we built a mini one in a plastic bag taped to the window. She got a 95 and now asks to do weather experiments every week.

Tape a bag with water and blue food coloring to a sunny window. Within hours you see condensation forming. My kid literally yelled 'IT'S RAINING IN THE BAG' and I felt like a genius parent.

Ziploc® Storage Bag Gallon Mega Pack, 75 CT

Hang this outside and have your kids log temperatures every morning. Sounds boring but my 8-year-old made a whole chart and started predicting weather. Screen-free AND educational.

AcuRite, Indoor Digital Thermometer & Hygrometer

Fill these with water, oil, glitter, whatever. Seal them up and kids can watch liquids separate and mix. My toddler shakes hers like a maraca while the older kids actually discuss density.

Learning Resources Primary Science Sensory Tubes

Electricity and Circuit Building

My son asked how a light switch works and I realized I couldn't really explain it. So we got a circuit kit and figured it out together. Honestly I learned as much as he did.

Snap pieces together and suddenly a fan spins or a light turns on. No soldering, no danger. My 7-year-old built a working alarm by himself and set it outside his sister's room.

Snap Circuits, Electronics Explorer Kit, SC100, 100+ Projects

Stock up because circuit kits eat batteries and you never want to be caught without them on a rainy afternoon. Learned that lesson when my kid's project died mid-build and tears followed.

Energizer MAX Double A Alkaline Batteries (24 Pack)

Stick copper and zinc into a potato and it powers a clock. My kids could not believe it. Then they tried a lemon, an apple, and a tomato. The tomato worked and we all cheered.

Customer reviews for 4M Green Science Potato Clock Kit

Space and Stargazing Activities

Bedtime used to be a fight until we started doing ten minutes of stargazing before going inside. Now my kids actually ask to go to bed because they want to check on the constellations first.

Pointed this at the moon and my daughter saw craters for the first time. She got so quiet I thought something was wrong. She was just amazed. Worth every penny for that moment alone.

Customer reviews for National Geographic 50mm Refractor

Hang these planets from the ceiling and they glow after lights out. My son falls asleep staring at Saturn every night. Took 20 minutes to set up and it's been up for six months.

Great Explorations Glowing 3D Solar System Lifetime

Use black sheets to make constellation maps. Poke holes with a pin, hold it up to a lamp, and stars appear on the wall. My kids made the Big Dipper and Orion in one sitting.

Crayola Construction Paper, 240 Sheets Per Pack, 3 Packs

Nature Collection and Outdoor Science

Getting my kids outside used to require bribery. Then I gave them collection jars and a magnifying glass and told them to find ten different leaves. They were gone for two hours. Two. Hours.

Tiny shovels perfect for digging up soil samples and worms. My son now has a worm habitat in a jar on the porch and checks on his ‘pets’ before school every morning.

Hyper Tough 40-Piece Household Tool Kit, Seafoam

Bring these outside for leaf rubbings. Put a leaf under paper, rub a crayon over it, and the veins show up like magic. My daughter filled an entire notebook and calls it her field guide.

Crayola Crayons, 96 Count, 96 Crayons

Use these for collecting bugs, water samples, rocks, whatever your kid drags home. Clear glass so they can see everything. We labeled ours with tape and now have a whole shelf of specimens.

Mainstays Mason Jars 16 oz Regular Mouth 12 Pack

Lab Coats and Scientist Dress-Up

Sounds silly but the moment I put a lab coat on my 6-year-old she stood up straighter and said ‘I’m ready to do science now.' Costumes turn playtime into something they take seriously.

Comes with a coat, goggles, and a badge. My daughter wears it every single experiment day and refuses to start without it. The goggles actually fit small faces, which most don't.

Melissa & Doug Scientist Role Play Costume Set (X pcs)

Grab a pack so every kid at the playdate gets a pair. Nothing makes a group of 7-year-olds focus faster than putting on safety glasses. They suddenly act like real researchers.

Gamma Ray Kids Protective Safety Glasses, 12-Pack

Throw one on before slime or painting experiments and toss it when you're done. Saved me from scrubbing glue out of school clothes at least a dozen times this year.

25/50 Pcs Disposable Aprons Home Kitchen Painting