Are gingerbread man cookies a staple in your house around Christmas time? Personally, I love a soft gingerbread cookie any time of the year. This time we set up a dissolving gingerbread men science activity to enjoy a tasty treat while we learn. Dissolving food is a super simple science activity that’s a must try for young kids. Celebrate your holiday with Christmas Science and STEM activities!

Dissolving Gingerbread Man Science and Christmas STEM ActivitiesPin

Explore Gingerbread Science This Festive Season

Science is so important for young kids! Exposing kids to simple science activities like our dissolving gingerbread man experiment below encourages curiosity.

Kids have a lot of questions and setting up simple science experiments is a cool way to encourage science skills like observing, testing, and questioning.

Keep this experiment simple with younger kiddos, and simply talk about they think will happen, and what they can see happening, and why they think that is.

For older kids, grab the free printable science worksheet to record their results, and write down their conclusion. Learn more about applying the scientific method below.

Want more fun gingerbread man theme ideas? Check out our list of gingerbread STEM activities!

What is the scientific method for kids?

The scientific method is a process or method of research. A problem is identified, information about the problem is gathered, a hypothesis or question is formulated from the information, and the hypothesis is tested with an experiment to prove or disprove its validity. Sounds heavy…

What in the world does that mean?!? The scientific method should be used as a guide to help lead the process. It’s not set in stone.

You don’t need to try and solve the world’s biggest science questions! The scientific method is all about studying and learning things right around you.

As kids develop practices that involve creating, gathering data evaluating, analyzing, and communicating, they can apply these critical thinking skills to any situation. Click here to learn more about the scientific method and how to use it.

Even though the scientific method feels like it is just for big kids…

This method can be used with kids of all ages! Have a casual conversation with younger kiddos, or do a more formal notebook entry with older kiddos!

Read more…

Helpful Science Resources To Get You Started

Here are a few resources that will help you introduce science more effectively to your kiddos or students and feel confident yourself when presenting materials. You’ll find helpful free printables throughout.

Get your FREE printable Gingerbread Man Science Activity!

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Dissolving Gingerbread Man Experiment

Supplies:

  • clear cups
  • different liquids – eg. oil, corn syrup, water, juice or milk, vinegar
  • timer
  • printable science worksheet to record your observations (see further down)

Instructions:

STEP 1: To get started with a dissolving gingerbread man experiment, fill clear plastic cups with different liquids.

STEP 2: Have your kiddos predict what they think will happen to the cookies in the different liquids. Go ahead and even have them draw the cookie!

STEP 3: Place a cookie into each cup. Note the characteristics of the cookie before you add it to the liquid. Is it hard, soft, bumpy, rough, smooth? A good scientist is always making observations!

STEP 4: Wait and watch! Are there any immediate changes to the cookies? Set a time of 5-10 minutes for this experiment.

STEP 5: At the end of the selected time, make more observations about the cookies! Did a specific liquid or temperature liquid have more or less of an effect on the cookie? What are the characteristics of the cookie now?

STEP 6: Remove the cookie (or what’s left) from the liquid and observe it more closely. Kiddos can touch the cookie as well and record the new characteristics of the cookie! Squishy, I bet!

STEP 7: If you had the kiddos draw a picture of the cookie to start, have them draw a picture of what the cookie looks like now!

STEP 8: Draw some conclusions! What do the kiddos think about what happened to the cookies and were their predictions correct?

Dissolving Cookie Science

The process of dissolving cookies in different liquids involves a combination of physical changes and chemical changes. Let’s break down the simple science behind it for kids.

Learn more about physical changes, chemical changes, and phase changes!

Ingredients of Cookies: Cookies typically contain flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and baking soda. Various bonds hold these ingredients together.

Liquid Interaction: When you place a cookie in a liquid, like water, milk, or juice, the liquid interacts with the cookie’s ingredients.

Dissolving Sugar and Salt: Sugar and salt are soluble in water, which can dissolve. As the cookie absorbs the liquid, the water interacts with the sugar in the cookie, causing it to dissolve. This is a physical change.

Fats and Oils: Butter in cookies contains fats. Fats are hydrophobic, which means they don’t mix well with water. Instead, they repel water. This is why you might observe the cookie becoming greasy when it absorbs a liquid. This is also a physical change.

Chemical Changes: Baking soda in cookies is a leavening agent. It reacts with acids (which might be present in certain liquids) to produce carbon dioxide gas. This gas gets trapped in the cookie, making it rise and giving it a light and fluffy texture.

Changing Texture: As the cookie absorbs liquid, it can become softer. This change in texture is due to the hydration of ingredients like flour, which swells as it absorbs water.

Experimenting with Different Liquids: Different liquids can have varying effects on cookies. For instance, water might make the cookie soggy, while milk could add a creamy texture. Some liquids may also enhance flavors.

This simple experiment helps kids understand the concepts of solubility, hydration, and the effects of different substances on the properties of food. It’s a fun and hands-on way to introduce them to basic chemistry and the science of everyday items like cookies.

Try These Gingerbread Activities

More Fun Dissolving Experiments

Printable Christmas STEM Project Pack

200+ PAGES OF HOLIDAY THEME STEAM, STEM, Science, and Art!

  • 25+ Christmas theme science and STEM activities with printable sheets, instructions, and useful information all using easy-to-source materials perfect for limited-time needs. Includes a holiday theme engineering pack with fun, problem-based challenges for kids to solve! NEW observation sheets included.
  • Try a Santa’s Letter airplane challenge or take the gingerbread house-building challenge! 
  • Explore the five senses with a specially designed Santa’s Lab pack.
  • Try a mini nature study with your favorite type of Christmas tree.
  • Try your hand at building shapes with gumdrop structure challenge cards or build shapes with jingle bells. Or try the Christmas-themed paper chain challenge!
  • Christmas Screen-free Coding activities include algorithm games, binary code ornaments, and more!
  • Explore 6+ Christmas Art Projects with famous artist-inspired activities that combine art history, process art techniques, and more with simple to-do ideas. 

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