Rainy day science

As my son's interest in science has increased, I bought a book to help him do experiments in our home.  Since then, we have periodically been doing fun science experiments, especially on really hot or rainy days.

For the most part these experiments go seamlessly.  But there have been some hiccups.  Since I purchased the book in the US, I've struggled with getting some of the required materials.  For example, just the other day we decided to test what happens when you mix baking soda with various liquids.  We had to run to the store because I only had a partial box of baking soda in the house.

Page from Usborne's "365 Science Activities"

In the US, a partial box could mean I still had close to a cup of baking soda, but in Japan it meant I had 2 teaspoons!  Boxes of baking soda sold in Japan contain about 2 heaping tablespoons of baking soda in them.  That's it.  And when you are doing science experiments, that means you need several boxes.

The next ingredient I needed was vinegar.  Regular white vinegar is actually very difficult to find in Japan.  After searching the regular grocery store, import stores, hardware stores, Costco, and more, we wound up ordering it online.  Since I use vinegar for cleaning, it was a real pain not being able to easily find it. 

The final ingredient that I didn't have in the house was food coloring.  It was easy to find in the baking section.  I found it interesting that there wasn't a set of colors to purchase, but I was fine buying the primary colors individually.  It wasn't until I got home that I really found out the difference between American and Japanese food coloring.  The basic US food coloring is liquid, while the Japanese version is powdered.

Once we got everything situated, my son got busy.  First he mixed baking soda with cold water and realized it doesn't dissolve easily.  Next he mixed it with hot water to find that it makes a fun noise when first mixed together and then forms bubbles.  Then he combined baking soda and lemon juice to get lots of bubbles.  Suddenly, things were getting very interesting!  The last mixture was adding baking soda to vinegar with a scoop of food coloring and a squeeze of dishwashing soap.  The foam created fascinated my son.  Soon he was playing merrily with foam and mixing colors.

Although it can be a pain making sure we have everything, it is so worth it to see the joy on my kid's face.