Are you looking for an activity to show children why it's important to use soap when they wash their hands? This pepper + soap STEM experiment is a favorite among early childhood and elementary school teachers and shows children exactly why they need to use soap. It requires very few materials and... chances are... you already have them in your kitchen. Keep reading to learn more!
STEM Activity
No matter how many times we tell children what they need to do, we need
to find ways to help them visualize what we are asking them. This
STEM activity is a good way to do that. To complete this
activity, you will need:
- dishpan
- water
- dish soap
- black pepper
First, fill the bottom of the dishpan with approximately one inch of water. Cover the entire surface of the water with black pepper. The black pepper represents the germs our hands come into contact with.
Second, cover one of your fingers with dish soap. (You could cover
several fingers or your whole hand if you really want to.) Once your finger is covered with soap, stick it into the water. Notice how the 'germs' move away from your finger.
When you swirl your finger through the water, the 'germs' will move away
from the soap!
What did we learn from this demonstration? We learned that we need to use soap to keep the germs off of our hands. We also learned to
ALWAYS use soap when we wash our hands!
(To understand how this demonstration works, watch the video by
DaveHax below.)
Did you enjoy reading about this Pepper and Soap STEM Experiment? If so, check out these blog posts for more STEM experiments and children's books:
- Book: Germs vs. Soap by Didi Dragon
- Collection: 10 Children's Books About the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Book + Craft: Lucy's Mask by Lisa Sirkis Thompson
- STEM: Sink or Float STEM Experiment with Oil and Water
- Book + STEM: Dragon's Breath by Michael Gordon + STEM Activity
- STEM: Dancing Popcorn Science and STEM Experiment
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