Cooking & Food Science STEM Activities for Kids (38 results)

Make Boba for Bubble Tea

STEM Activity

24 reviews

Ever wondered how the boba in bubble tea are made? Bubble tea or boba tea is a sweetened drink made of flavored tea, milk and bubbles. The translucent, squishy bubbles called boba are remarkably easy to make. You only need three ingredients: tapioca flour, water, and brown sugar. The skill lays in one little detail: the temperature of the water used. Curious? Try it out and make bubble tea from scratch! Read more

Maple Syrup Candy

STEM Activity

25 reviews

Have you ever cooked up homemade candy, maybe from chocolate or table sugar? Maple syrup is not only deliciously gooey and great on breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles—you can also turn it into maple candies with an amazing range of textures! It can be made into sticky maple taffy, or hard, molded maple sugar candy. In this science activity, you will investigate how the temperature of heated maple syrup affects what types of candies can be made from it. Read more

Pass the Cranberry….Volcano!

STEM Activity

4 reviews

While you might enjoy cranberry sauce, if you’ve ever tasted a real cranberry you were probably surprised by the taste – definitely not as sweet as the sauce! Cranberries and cranberry juice are very tart to eat, but they can be delicious when combined with other ingredients (such as orange zest and sugar, or cranberry muffins!). Cranberries add tartness to these foods because they are acidic, similar to lemons or limes. Foods that are acidic will usually taste sour or tart,… Read more

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Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

225 reviews

Did you know that the seaweed you've seen in the ocean or even eaten as a snack is inspiring innovators to imagine new materials? Large brown algae, like kelp, contains polymers—long chains of molecules—that are more environmentally friendly than the ones in most plastics. These natural polymers (alginates) could eventually be used to create sustainable everyday objects. Try your hand at using a bit of chemistry to turn biodegradable polymers from algae into your own custom… Read more

Salty Science: Is There Iodine In Your Salt?

STEM Activity

2 reviews

Have you ever noticed that the salt you’re using says it’s “iodized”? Iodine is a micronutrient, which means we need it in small quantities to be healthy. Because iodine is relatively rare in many people’s normal diets, it’s added to table salt. Then when people salt their food, like tasty turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, they’re also getting some iodine. In this science activity, you’ll use some kitchen-friendly chemistry to investigate… Read more

Scrumptious Science: Great Globs of Gluten!

STEM Activity

3 reviews

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving dinner dish? Maybe it’s an aunt’s special cranberry sauce, or mashed potatoes combined with perfectly-seasoned gravy. Or perhaps you enjoy sinking your teeth into a succulent roasted turkey the most. Dinner rolls, biscuits, corn breads, muffins, pastries and pies may also be baked for this special meal; the foods in this group typically all contain a substance called gluten. In this science activity, you’ll explore why some foods, all made… Read more

Scrumptious Science: How Much Baking Powder Does Cornbread Need?

STEM Activity

Have you ever wondered about the purpose of each of the ingredients in your favorite recipes? For example, why is baking powder used in some muffin recipes? How does the baking powder affect how the muffins look, feel and taste? In this science activity, you will use a scientific method to make some cornbread muffins to find out. And then you can decide on the best recipe to use if you want to make some cornbread for New Year’s Day, which is part of a Southern tradition where the… Read more

Shattering Sugar – Make Your Own Hollywood Sugar Glass

STEM Activity

6 reviews

You’re watching an action movie, and suddenly the hero dives through a glass window! Or a car window shatters as the hero navigates an exciting car chase! The glass looks so real, but believe it or not, Hollywood movie sets rarely use real glass for those scenes. Can you guess what they use instead? If you guessed candy…you’re right! Instead of using real glass, which is expensive and difficult to replace for multiple shots, Hollywood movie sets use Sugar Glass! This cheap,… Read more

Solidifying Science: Which Fruits Can Ruin Your Gelatin Dessert?

STEM Activity

Have you ever noticed that if you’re making a gelatin dessert, like JELL-O, it’s not recommended to use certain fruits, like pineapple? Why is this? It’s because these fruits may prevent the gelatin from solidifying. In this activity you’ll get to determine if certain enzymes in some fruits are preventing the gelatin from solidifying, and whether there’s a way to still include these fruits without ruining your gelatin dessert! Read more

St. Patrick’s Day Science: Brew up Some Green Soda Pop!

STEM Activity

4 reviews

Have you ever wanted to make your own soda pop? Even if you haven’t, maybe as a treat on a relaxing afternoon you like to open a can of your favorite carbonated beverage and take a deep drink. The bubbles in the soda tickle your tongue’s taste buds and propel the ingredients to your palate and nose so that you get a kick of flavor. But how do the bubbles, fizz and taste get into the water? In this tasty science activity, you will work with baking soda, citric acid and sugar to… Read more

Sweet as Sugar: Comparing the Sweetness of Sugar & Sugar Substitutes

STEM Activity

7 reviews

Picture your favorite treats: chocolate fudge cake, vanilla ice cream, pink lemonade… Yum! Can you imagine what these might taste like without the sweet flavor of sugar? Your sweet tooth might be aching without the chemical compound of sucrose that is so appealing. Much of the food we eat contains sucrose or natural sweeteners such as honey. There are of course other sweetening options. Have you ever seen "zero-calorie and sugar-free lemonade" at the store and wondered how it… Read more

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