Halloween Candy Experiments
Not sure what to do with all that Halloween candy you won’t let your kids eat? I found this fun resource for doing basic science experiments with candy! Now, what better way to use that candy you won’t eat than to put it to good learning use!
So here are some photos and insights into our endeavor in Candy Experiments:
We started with one called Color Separation (Chromatography): We started with some Crazy Skittles but did not find that they were separating. Then we followed the advice of the experiment and used a brown M & M. That was where we hit the jackpot! The brown M & M separated into faint color distinctions: starting with red, then orange, yellow, and maybe a faint green/blue.
In the photo below you can see the red, orange, and yellow separating out.
Next we decided to give Sink/Float a try: Before putting any of the candy in I had each one of the children write down what they thought would happen and why. Here is what they thought:
Chloe: Cherry head and Smarties will sink because they have a LOT of sugar. Kit Kat, Whoppers, and Milky Way will probably float…not sure why.
Jayden: I think the Whoppers will float because they don’t have sugar.
What Happened: Only the Kit Kat and the Whopper floated, although we believe that the Milky Way should have as well due to air being trapped inside the chocolate like the Kit Kat and the Whopper.
November 30, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
Whoppers have no sugar.. nice try..
December 1, 2010 @ 12:28 am
Brown M&Ms are the most fun for color separation (that’s what we used at the Festival in DC), but I think we’ve also seen separation in green and purple Skittles and green M&Ms.
I always think Milky Ways should float, too.
Thanks for trying the experiments!
December 1, 2010 @ 10:01 am
Loralee, thank you for posting them. The kids really enjoyed seeing what the candy was going to do. We plan on trying some more of them in the future!
December 5, 2010 @ 10:20 am
That’s an awesome idea! What fun you have!
May 7, 2013 @ 2:42 pm
What a waste of perfectly good candy.
May 7, 2013 @ 3:42 pm
Sorry you feel that way. There was something to be learned from the sacrifice of very little candy. 😉 Besides the kids didn’t see it as a waste.