Give kids the experience of being just like a real scientist! After years of teaching science in elementary school, I have found that kids love using ‘real’ science materials. From microscopes and test tubes to petri dishes and pipettes, they’re always keen and excited to use these materials. For this simple science experiment for kids, children will explore how to use pipettes with a fun, hands-on activity.

This is a great activity to introduce the use of pipettes. Children will need to be careful, focused and precise, just like a real scientist. Children will create beautiful pages as they test out how to use pipettes.

Use the free printable pages to make the activity easy to set up and prepare. For another similar activity, but with a focus on calm and relaxation, visit Play Learn Inspire’s Calming Activity for Kids with free printables.

For more science activities, check out 81+ Science Experiments for Kids and 45 STEM Challenge Ideas.

Simple Science Experiment for Kids – Materials

You only need a few materials for this simple science experiment for kids.

• Free Printable Fill the Dots Pages
• Pipettes/Eye Droppers
• Food Coloring
• Water/Tray or Cups

If you plan to use the pages over and over, it is best to laminate the “Fill the Dots” pages. However, you can also use page protectors.

Provide children with as many colors of colored water as you wish. The more you provide the better. Children tend to be more engaged if they have lots of beautiful colors to create with.

Add water to each cup and then several drops of food coloring. If you don’t have food coloring, you can also use a bit of paint to color the water. I suggest at least providing kids with yellow, red and blue water so that they can mix and create a rainbow of colors.

Each child will also need an eye dropper/pipette.

Simple Science Experiment Set Up

Once your pages are ready, you have colored water and pipettes, you’re ready to start!

Encourage children to test out how to use the pipette in the cup of colored water. Have the squeeze the end and put it in the water, let go to suck up water up and then carefully press the end to release a drop. Challenge children to carefully drop, and count ten drops into a cup before starting on their page.

Once kids are able to only drop one drop, they can start on their page. The challenge is to fill all of the circles on the page, without going outside of them. Some circles will only need one drop, others need several to fill.

Children can mix colors to create different colors, and to create rainbows of colors!

If you care able to offer all of the free printable pages and let children choose, that is best. Kids tend to be most engaged when they have choice. Let children use the pipettes to fill their pages with colorful drops!

If some of the water goes outside of a circle, challenge children to use their pipette to squeeze the excess off the page. This helps reinforce how to use the pipette and helps avoid big messes!

Eye Dropper Activity Pages

Each of the pages has a different focus, but all of them will help reinforce using a pipette. This is also a great way to work on fine motor skills. Children can start by making small drops and building to fill large circles on the page below.

Another one of the pages is fun just to fill in and create a colorful page of what looks like bubbles. Although this page is just for fun, children are still working on their fine motor skills and precision by filling the different sized circles.

Children found this activity very calming. Even my own, older children at home enjoyed creating and using the eye droppers.

If you are looking to extend this activity or want to continue the science learning from it. Below are a few ideas.

You can choose to print the page on different paper, such as cardstock. Drop several drops of water onto the page and see what happens. Children will notice that the water begins to soak into the paper.

You can also try putting different material over the page and dropping water. For example, set a sheet of waxed paper and drop water. How does the water react on the paper? Is there surface tension?

You can even have children try dropping water drops onto other materials, such as paper towel to test the different effects. On paper towel the water will immediately soak in and spread out. You can try a variety of different materials. It is fun to watch the difference each materials makes.

The Science Behind the Experiment

As children use their eye droppers to fill in their page, they may notice that the water holds a circle/bubble shape. It doesn’t soak into the page (because of the laminating or page protector). Different surfaces will behave differently with a drop of water, but on the laminated page the water holds together because of surface tension.

Surface tension is like a cover around the water that makes it stay together in a bubble/round shape instead of running out over the plastic. Surface tension holds the drop shape.

Children can also learn about volume as they notice that the smallest circle holds about one to two drops, whereas the large circles hold a lot more.

This experiment mixes some art into it because the end result of children’s focus and precision is a beautifully colored page. However, as children create they are working on fine motor skills and being careful and exact like scientists. If kids aren’t careful with their eye droppers, and squirt many drops on the page, then they will not properly complete their page. Slow and steady is the purpose.

Free Printables Pages

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