Simple & Budget-Friendly Science Projects for Kids

When science fair time comes around, parents and students may feel overwhelmed with the idea of choosing an experiment. Science projects don't need to be based on expensive materials or challenging ideas and experiments. Projects can be made using simple household items that don't cost you a lot of money.

The Mentos Geyser

Use diet soda for the best eruption.

The geyser experiment is a fun science project that requires only a full soda bottle, a handful of Mentos candy and a funnel. According to Science Fair Adventure, diet soda is preferable, since the soda eruption will be higher. This project allows you to show what happens when carbon dioxide is combined with the candy, as well as estimating how many candies it will take to cause the geyser eruption. For an alternate experiment, you can use other forms of candy to determine if a similar eruption will occur.

Lava Lite

The lava lite uses a jar, vegetable oil, salt, water and food coloring to construct an experiment based on density and volume. When oil is added to the water, the oil will float because it's denser. When salt is added to the mixture, your experiment will show the effects of how salt is heavier than water. The food coloring will show whether the coloring stays afloat or if the coloring disperses.

Crystal Growing

You can use a variety of materials such as salt.

You can grow crystals using a variety of materials, such as salt or sugar. However, salt crystals grow faster than sugar crystals. Using yarn or twine can also produce different sized crystals, as well as using different containers (plastic or metal). This allows you to observe the rate of growth, how different materials can form different sized crystals and how crystals can grow from using ordinary products.

Volcano Experiment

The idea of creating a volcano experiment may seem daunting. However, according to Kaboose, you can create a simple experiment using a paper plate, a disposable cup, aluminum foil, tape and scissors. You can create the funnel of the volcano by wrapping the foil around the cup and the base of the plate. A volcano explosion can be created using water, baking soda and vinegar.