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Fall Science Experiments Round-Up

  • Writer: Amy Wung Tsao
    Amy Wung Tsao
  • Jul 3
  • 5 min read

The fall season is a great time for weather science, hibernation science, germ science, and more! (Stay tuned for Halloween science experiments, I’ll be posting about that separately.)


Collage of photos of kids science experiments. The collage is titled “Science Experiments for Fall” The photos are laid out in groups, labeled “weather science”, “worm science”, “germ science”, “hibernation science”, and “fungi science.”

Keep reading for easy, hands-on science experiments and STEM/STEAM activities to use in your home or classroom this fall.



Weather STEM/STEAM Activities for Fall


Learning that clouds are made from evaporated water is one thing, but what if you could see it all happening inside a plastic baggie? Follow these instructions, and you can! (For teachers, this activity supports NGSS standards K-PS3-1 and 2-PS1-4.)


Photo of a young boy holding up a jar lid excitedly, as white whisps come out the top of a glass jar filled with cloudy white air.

Make a Cloud in a Jar from Playdough to Plato

This activity needs grown-up support, but it’s definitely a memorable one! In the sky, water vapor condenses onto dust particles to become clouds. For this demonstration, you can use matches or hairspray to act as that dust, and hot water to provide the water vapor. 



Worm Science Activities for Fall


Go outside and summon some worms! 

Since worms prefer dark, moist places, try looking under rocks or digging in the dirt. 


But if you’d rather not dig, the UK Natural History Museum has a pretty magical way to “summon” worms out of the ground by pouring a mustard water solution (1 large tablespoon of ground mustard seed with 1.5 litres of water) into the ground. 


If you want to go a step further, get your kids nature journaling about their worm encounters. Kids can draw what they see, hear, and feel. They can write down any questions they have or funny things they observe. (Teachers, have your students look for patterns in their observations like “there are more worms in dark places than sunny places” to align with K-LS1-1.)



Earthworms lying on top of a wet paper towel and dry paper towel laid out next to each other on a flat surface.

by Inspiration Laboratories 

Want to get even more hands on? This simple experiment gets kids making a hypothesis about whether worms prefer a wet or dry environment. Then let them come up with their own ideas for how to test their hypothesis! If they need some ideas, here’s a simple experiment setup using just wet and dry paper towels. (Teachers, this experiment aligns with K-LS1-1.)


And if your kids aren’t satisfied with just one worm experiment, then this next book is for them.



Cover illustration of two kids, one is holding a worm and smiling. The title reads “This is a Book to Read with a Worm.”

by Jodi Wheeler-Toppen, illustrated by Margaret McCartney

Calling all kids who want to play with worms all day! This book is an instruction manual specially for kids to find a worm and gently interact and experiment with it.


There are instructions to shine a flashlight through a worm’s body, observe how it reacts to the smell of rubbing alcohol, and listen to the sound of a worm’s bristles scratching on paper. This one book is an entire classroom or homeschool science lesson on its own! (Teachers, the activities in this book aligns with K-LS1-1.)


Build a Worm Farm from Brave Wilderness  

If you want to keep some worms around for a couple weeks, here’s a video to show you how to make a temporary worm hotel. In the first 5 minutes of this video, the host Coyote handles some worms for some up-close video of worm poop, where they store worm eggs. You can even kind of see through their skin to where they’re digesting! If you’ve got a kid who is fascinated by up-close nature videos, this is for them!  The last 5 minutes of the video he shows you how to make a worm farm in a clear plastic container. I love his enthusiasm, even if I admittedly am too squeamish to do this activity with my own kids.  


Note that this isn’t the same as building a worm composter, which is a bit more involved. If you’re up for that challenge, check out these instructions to set up a small worm composting science experiment in a plastic container. This would make a great homeschool science project! 



Hibernation STEM Activities for Fall


Illustration of a brown bear looking down at a colorful title that reads “About Fat Bear Week”}

Watch the Fat Bear livecams and vote in Fat Bear Week! from Explore.org

Watch Alaskan brown bears catching salmon live on Katmai National Park’s webcams. These bears are eating as much salmon as they can before the winter. Or watch this highlight reel from 2023, including clips of a mama bear that adopted her nephew!

Starting in October, you can vote for your favorite bear too. 

There are also classroom lessons plans for Grades 3-5. If an entire lesson plan is too much, here’s a small bite-size activity: See if you can tell the bears apart from each other by observing animal traits. You can also discuss with older kids which traits are inherited (head shape, ear shape, fur color) and which are acquired (scars, salmon catching techniques). 


Germ Science Experiments for Fall


This activity is so easy to set up. You'll use black pepper as your "germs." Water alone will make the pepper stick to your fingers, but with soap the black pepper will swim away from your finger! 


from Science Buddies

With washable paint, kids can see just how well they’re really washing their hands. A hands-on and super visual way for preschoolers to "see" germs! 



Photo of two slices on bread in separate zipped clear plastic sandwich bags. One bag is labeled “Clean hands”, and the bread slice looks clean. The other bag is labeled “Dirty hands” and this bread slice is quite moldy. The text reads “Invisible Germs Experment: Grow your own germs to demonstrate the importance of hand-washing!”

from Whizz Pop Bang Magazine

Watch germs grow on bread inside a sealed plastic bag over several days. This one isn’t for the super squeamish, but clean up is pretty easy since the mess is contained inside sealed plastic bags.  


Some of my favorite science book read alouds for kids are all about germs! Find them here!

Fungi and Mushroom Science Experiments for Fall


Photo of white paper with dark marks that look like a shadow of a mushroom’s gills. 

Make mushroom spore prints

from Chicago Botanic Garden

This print was actually made from the spores falling out of a mushroom’s gills. Just snip the stem off of a mushroom, and leave it on a piece of paper overnight!


Full disclosure, I haven’t tried this myself because I prefer not to think about the spores inside my yummy mushrooms. But it does look pretty cool! Let me know if you try it out!



Two small jars, one with clear water and a deflated red balloon covering the jar mouth, and one with bubbling yeast and an inflated yellow balloon covering the jar mouth. Title “How Yeast Works —--> kid science” and the logo Playdough to Plato in the bottom corner. 

Experiment with Yeast! from Playdough to Plato

Did you know the yeast that makes your bread is a living fungi? And its ability to create carbon dioxide gas is how we get bread to rise in the oven. If you have some yeast and balloons on hand, this is a pretty quick  and satisfying science experiment! 


Fall is peak season for mushroom foraging, so it’s a great time to check out these mushroom science books and videos too!


I hope your fall season is full of curiosity and experimenting with science! 


Amy Wung Tsao

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