The Ultimate Science Cookbook for Kids: 75+ Edible Experiments

Gr 3 Up–This colorful hands-on guide provides instructions for 75 experiments that explore a wide variety of scientific topics through food. Each experiment is described in a spread with step-by-step instructions (sometimes with accompanying photos or drawings), photos of the finished product, and a description of the scientific principle involved. “Did You Know?” factoids (did you know bananas are berries?) appear throughout. The experiments are divided into nine sections, including “Build It,” “Taste It,” and “Play With It.” Some projects allow kids to explore a scientific concept directly; building a truss bridge out of pretzels and royal icing explores how architects handle compression and tension through the use of abutments and piers. Others involve following the steps for making a snack, then reading about a related science fact, e.g., making candied apples and learning why some foods are sticky. Still others involve making a snack while carrying out a scientific experiment, like making fruit kabobs and using some of the strawberries to extract and study DNA with a magnifying glass. Many of the experiments involve baking, broiling, or boiling, and will require a fair amount of adult assistance—but there are a number of “Quick & Easy” ones marked in the table of contents that kids can likely handle alone. In general, the projects and their accompanying snacks will have a lot of kid appeal.