Spooky season is here, and you know what that means – Halloween! Halloween is so much fun because you get to dress up in costumes, go trick-or-treating with your friends, and eat lots of candy. But candy isn't only for eating – it can be used to build pumpkin pyramids and make Skittles science experiments. Ask a parent to help you with the activities below, and start creating with candy!
Pumpkin Pyramids
What You'll Need:
5 pumpkin candies
8 wooden toothpicks
Directions:
1. Insert a toothpick into the side of a pumpkin candy.
2. Add another pumpkin candy to the other end of the toothpick.
3. Repeat Steps 1 & 2 until you have a square base.
4. Insert one toothpick into the tops of each of the four pumpkins.
5. Carefully insert the ends of each of the four toothpicks into the bottom of the fifth pumpkin candy.
Skittles Science Experiment
What You'll Need:
2 plates
1 "Share Size" 4 oz. bag of Skittles
1 cup of cold water
1 cup of hot water
A stopwatch
A pencil
A piece of paper
Directions:
1. Arrange the Skittles around the edges of the first and second plates, making a circle.
2. Pour just enough cold water into the center of the first plate so that the water is touching the Skittles but not covering them.
3. Time how long it takes the Skittles' colors to run into the center of the plate. Then, record the time on your piece of paper.
4. With your parent's help, carefully pour just enough hot water into the center of the second plate so that the water is touching the Skittles but not covering them.
5. Time how long it takes the Skittles' colors to run into the center of the plate. Then, record the time on your piece of paper.
6. Compare the two times. Which plate was faster, the one with cold water or the one with hot water? Why do you think that is? The answer is that the dish with hot water is faster because heat dissolves the Skittles' sugar and food coloring coating, making the colors run into the center more quickly.