Parents have been asking me for recommendations for a good STEM chemistry kit. Well here it is! Crayola’s Color Chemistry Lab Set has the instructions for 50 experiments from erupting volcanos, glow worms, and colorful algae to Rubber Goo, Sticky Slime and numerous experiments with color. My 12 year-old friend made glow worms, slime and his favorite was the erupting volcano that he made from Model Magic and painted with the inks he had combined in earlier experiments. He couldn’t get enough of the fizzy tabs that when combined with water caused the eruption. It was fun to see him explore different options like finding a better result when he added the tabs to the water rather than the other way around. The instructions are well done with illustrations but I especially like the explanations for the reactions such as an acid and base combining to produce gas like the eruption of a volcano. In addition, blank Lab Notes are provided at the back of the lab booklet so little scientists can record what happened and even answer some of the stimulating questions posed during the experiments such as “What two ingredients in the kitchen would be considered an acid and a base that would react to create carbon dioxide gas?” We’ve now added Language learning to STEM which is what is often required in the classroom, to describe what did or didn’t happen and interpret it.

Note: I would definitely recommend parental supervision, particularly when using the colored inks.

Available at Crayola. Click here