Skip to main content

Trick Your Fingers

See whether your kids can figure out this scientific trick. Why is one hand cold and one hand hot in this experiment?
By: Trish Kuffner, author of The Children's Busy Book

Trick Your Fingers


This trick has a scientific twist, and most kids will think it's pretty neat.


Materials
  • Three bowls
  • Water
  • Ice cubes

Directions

  1. Fill one bowl with cold water and ice cubes.
  2. Fill a second bowl with hot tap water (hot to the touch, but not hot enough to feel uncomfortable or burn your child's skin).
  3. Fill a third bowl with room-temperature water.
  4. Put one of your child's hands in the bowl of ice water.
  5. Put the other hand in the bowl of hot water.
  6. After a minute, put both hands in the bowl of room-temperature water.
  7. Although both hands are in the same bowl, the water will feel cold to the fingers that have been in the hot water and hot to the fingers that have been in the cold water.

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe