Happy Halloween! Round-up of Candy Science Experiments and Labs

Is your home town celebrating Halloween?  Even if your area is not celebrating Halloween, I’ll bet you have extra candy on hand.  Today, I want to share labs and experiments you can do over the next few weeks.  First Candy Chromatography with Skittles or M&Ms.  Next try Dancing Gummy Worms.  Use the same procedures with baking soda and vinegar or carbonated, clear soda with raisins, Sour Patch, Sweet tarts, jelly beans, Juicy fruit, and gummy bears.  I recommend using similar masses.  Place each sample in a different glass.  Let’s use gummy worms, gummy bears, Swedish fish, and juicy fruit for Osmosis experiments.  Try different solutions: tap water, distilled water, salt water, sugar water, vinegar, baking soda, vinegar and baking soda, and lemon juice.  Check the results each day for several days.  Let’s use any citrusy candy and Test for Acids: Airheads, pixy sticks, Nerds, lemon candy, etc.  order Benedict’s solution and test for Glucose.  HST recommends trying lollipops.  Next lab calls for Wintergreen Lifesavers, Lightning in Your Mouth.  Here is Candy Lab: Dissolving.  See if the candy dissolves in water, oil, or alcohol.  You could use just about any candy for Dissolving. What about Candy Bar Density?  This is a good lab for a child allergic to chocolate.  Put on gloves and test those mini-bars.  Lastly, try HST’s Candy Coating Science.  Whew!  The experiments are more fun if the kids eat a bit of candy as they experiment.