Homeschool Science Tip of the Month - Don't be afraid of doing science in your kitchen.

You don't have to have a full-on, dedicated lab in order to teach science at home. You just need a flat work surface, a sink nearby, access to chemicals, and protective gear, if necessary.

The good news is that all this can be found in your kitchen! (Here are a few kitchen chemicals we regularly use for science.)

But I know what you are thinking - you won't want to mess up your just-cleaned kitchen with science experiments. And I get it, art mess makes me twitch - don't even talk to me about glitter!

So, here are a few ways you can get around having a constant kitchen science mess:

1. Raid the kitchen cabinet for supplies, but then use an alternative location for the actual experiment. We like to head outside near a hose or use the bathtub for those really messy experiments.
2. Do all your hands-on science experiments once a month, so you have plenty of time to wrap your mind around the idea that it will be messy for a bit of time. (Bonus Tip - Invite your friends and neighbors to join in!)
3. Get a large deep pan, like the one you cook a turkey in, to do all your science experiments in. This way, you'll only have one thing to clean up. Better yet, get a disposable aluminum one that you can recycle at the end of each session and you won't have to clean up a thing!

So, don't be afraid to pull out a few kitchen chemicals and let your kiddos get dirty as they play with science! Here are a few kitchen science experiments you can test out:

• How you can use kitchen science to send a secret message
• How to perform your own kitchen acid test
• How to make a bioplastic in your kitchen