Dissolve an eggshell? Yes! Did you know that preschoolers, even toddlers as young as my son (2.5) can participate and be wowed by science? Start early and these science concepts will ingrain themselves in your child’s brain for a lifetime.
Get Your Free Science of Electricity Download Activity Sheet!
It is never too early to introduce science, right? Dissolving an egg shell is a perfect early science experiment. The experiment is simple; you can watch what is happening, and there is something very fun to explore at the end of the experiment.
Dissolve and Eggshell and Wow Your Kids
We used this approach from the Exploratorium. All you need are a few eggs, white wine vinegar, a container, a spoon and time. Simply cover the egg with vinegar and place it into the refrigerator. Immediately you and your child can observe bubbles forming on the shell, beginning the vinegar’s reaction with the egg. You will notice the shell begin disappearing within an hour or two. Try to be patient. The longer you wait, the sturdier the outside of the egg becomes for your child to handle.
We observed the bubbles form. This happens quickly, which is always good with preschool science!
The texture was unique. Kind of like a hard gelatin, if that makes sense. The texture was smooth and firm. Kids love to explore the texture of the shell-less egg.
The egg did end up bursting. Immediately my son’s feet went into the mixture. I acted quickly by grabbing my son, washing his hands and feet, then moping up the egg substance. Sounds messy and dangerous but really it was very manageable.
We did this experiment a few weeks ago and he still talks about it. We can’t wait to do it again with some great extension activities to see how the shell-less egg responds to various substances.
Thanks for visiting.
Marnie