Pucker Up! 3 Exciting Experiments for Summer Learning With Lemonade

The summer sun may be winding down a bit, but that doesn’t mean our warm weather fun has to end yet. The boys and I have turned to some summer time favorite flavors to both quench our thirst and inspire some hands on summer learning ideas. Read on to see how much fun we’ve been having learning with lemonade, and find out how to perform the same experiments with your own family!

This post is not sponsored!

SUMMER LEARNING INSPIRED BY LEMONADE!

Erupting Lemon Volcanoes

Supplies: 

• Whole lemons/limes.
• Lemonade.
• Baking soda.
• Knife.
• Tray.
• Liquid dish soap.
• Food coloring.
• Spoons.

Instructions: 

1. Cut a small portion off the bottom of your lemon or lime to allow it to sit flat.*
2. Cut a small hole (1-2″ in diameter) from the top of your fruit.*
3. Use a spoon to muddle some of the lemon flesh. You want to release some of the juices and make room to add materials, without completely destroying the shape of the fruit. (Allow the juice to collect within the fruit.)
4. Add a splash of lemonade into the fruit.
5. Place a few drops of food dye in the fruit.
6. Squeeze some liquid dish soap into the fruit.
7. Make sure your fruit is sitting on a tray or protected surface before proceeding!
8. Spoon baking soda into each lemon or lime. Observe the reaction that occurs. Stir the contents to bring on more eruptions!

BONUS! What happens when you stir a small amount of baking soda into a cup of lemonade? Give it a shot and see! Do a taste test as well! Do your kids prefer the classic or the fizzy variety?!

Lemon Taste Test + Data Collection

Supplies: 

• Free printable data collection page. (Scroll down to grab yours!)
  • You’ll need one page for each child participating in the taste test.
• A collection of 6 lemon flavored edible goodies to taste.
  • We chose lemonade, lemon cookies, lemon pudding, lemon frosting, lemon cakes, and raw lemons.
• Pen or pencil (1 per child) to record data.
• Drinking water. (Optional, but helpful if you have picky kiddos!)

Instructions: 

1. Gather all materials. Distribute data pages + pens to children.
2. One by one, encourage children to sample each lemon flavored item and record their reactions and thoughts.
   1. Kids can use the data page to record the strength or lemon flavor, degree of tartness, and overall preference for the food.
3. After tasting and recording data for all 6 items, encourage the kids to discuss their findings. Did everyone like the same foods the best? Did they disagree on which was the least lemon-flavored? Noting differences and similarities is a great way to get young learners thinking like scientists.
4. Finally, have children answer the conclusion questions at the bottom of their data pages. These questions are a great way to have the kids look back at the evidence they gathered, and use it to synthesise final ideas.

Lemonade Invisible Ink

Supplies: 

• Plain white or lined paper.
• Small cups/bowls.
• Lemonade.
• Iron.
• Thin towels.
• Small paintbrushes.

Instructions: 

1. Provide each child with paper, a small dish of lemonade, and a paintbrush.
2. Allow the iron to begin heating up. I used mine on the cotton setting, with no steam.*
3. Encourage the child to use the paintbrush to paint ‘invisible’ messages or drawings on the paper.
4. Allow the lemonade to dry entirely on the paper. Be sure to observe how difficult it is to see the images.
5. Place a towel over the dried paper.
6. Press the iron to the towel, allowing the heat to reach through to the paper underneath.*
7. After several minutes of pressing, peel back the towel to reveal the change to the hidden messages! Kids will be amazed, and want to try this over and over again!

*Knives and hot irons should be handled by adults, or used only by older children under close adult supervision.

>>> Don’t forget to grab your free Lemon Taste Test Data Sheet! <<<

BONUS: Sweet Coloring Activity!

Just because my kiddos can’t get enough of anything art related, I put together a simple coloring activity inspired by our lemonade lessons. Grab some crayons, your free printable pages, and see what sweet image develops!

>>> Free Lemon Coloring Page <<<

Do you have special ways to make summer learning extra fun? Tell me about them in the comments below!