Silly science illusions to make kids laugh
April Fools Science Projects with Water
- Turn water into gelatin
- Poke holes in a screw top water bottle to it turns into a shower
- Use water beads to make things float in water
Water is an easy go-to for April Fool’s science projects. If you have kids that aren’t interested in peeing blue or having something pop out at them, their morning glass of water may be the way to go.
Here are three fun April fool’s science projects that involve water.
1. Fill your kids’ cups of water with ultra clear gelatin.
We have a morning requirement to drink a glass of water, so it will be easy to fill their glasses with clear gelatin the night before.
I tried using agar agar to create the ultra clear gelatin but found that it ended up being cloudy – even after long cooking times. To get the best April fool’s response to this science project we really want nothing to look different. We want the raindrop cake type of clear, not a murky clear.
Instead of agar agar, I’m going to use Knox clear gelatin and sugar.
Now that I think about it, it could be even more fun to put a fake spider at the bottom of the glass. Then when they freak out about it they can’t actually pour it out!
Project Ingredients
Clear gelatin
Sugar
Water
2. Poke holes in a closed water bottle.
This is a great follow up to gelatin water. Kids will laugh and shrug of the gelatin, go grab a new glass, and fill it with water, right? Except by poking holes in a plastic bottle, like a 2L will turn it into a shower when your kids open the bottle.
This is because when the bottle is closed there is no way for air to fill in the space that water would leave (assuming you always poke holes below the waterline). Once you open it air can go in through the top, and gravity pulls the water out of the holes with no issues.
This April fool’s science prank might make your kids angry though – it depends how they handle an impromptu shower in the morning.
Project Ingredients
Water bottle (like a plastic 2 liter)
3. Make things ‘float’ in water using water beads.
3. Make things ‘float’ in water using water beads.Clear water beads are perfect for creating interesting optical illusions. Since the water balls are mostly water they are nearly invisible when mixed into a glass of water. This allows you to rest an item, say a fake spider, on the balls in the water making it look like it is hovering.
Depending what you choose to put in the glass with the water balls this could be a super silly April fool’s prank that opens the door to talking about polymers and what water balls really are! Fill your glass with water to just above the water beads, which will make it so kids don’t know how or why things are floating – the water beads in this image are just to show you!
You can also use these water beads to create a water microscope!
Project Ingredients
Clear water beads
Water
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