*Disclosure: Affiliate links may be included. All opinions are my own.*
I let the kids take turns deciding what science topics {or really any topics} they want to learn about. Recently my ten-year-old choose chemistry and I knew we would have fun with it! From books, games and hands on activities I’m sharing today what we did to put our chemistry unit together while having lots of fun! First off, grab some vinegar and baking soda…okay, maybe that’s just us! My eight-year-old loves baking soda and vinegar and creates his own experiments so he was completely on board with this topic. A lot of the time, I pull out some materials to let the kids get interested in. Then sit down with them and talk about it or play. I use The Good and the Beautiful as more of an order to go through things so I don’t get distracted and forget things I wanted to discuss. Sometimes I use the lessons and experiments, sometimes I don’t. Read on to see what we used for our chemistry homeschool unit. {For those wondering, my kids are 12, 10 and 8} Don’t want to do the reading – skip to the bottom for a video about all of this.
Let’s start with books!
Solids, Liquids, Gases and Plasma. This was such a fun book on exploring the different states of water.
Splat!: Wile E. Coyote Experiments with States of Matter. This book was so fun, the kids absolutely loved it!
Matter. This book has some fun activities to do and you can easily break this book into multiple lessons.
Experiments with Chemistry has different experiments to do.
Fun with Chemistry in Action also has different experiments to do.
DK Eyewitness Books: Chemistry. I like these to just set out and let the kids page through on their own to decide what they are interested in.
Explore Atoms and Molecules: 25 Experiments. This books is awesome and has fun activities and experiments as you read.
The Way Science Works. I pull this out periodically and we page through whatever fits our current topic but it also inspires them to learn about something else which helps in picking our next topics.
Atoms. This is a great way to introduce an atom and how small an atom is. This book is a little more textbook style with hands on activities as you go. I left this out for the kids to page through if they were interested.
Super Science Concoctions. This has hands on experiments and activities. We used it for just whenever they picked it up and wanted to do something in it.
The Elements Book. This is a great way for kids to discover elements one at a time and learn little bits about them. Sometimes we used this to just pick and read about a few elements.
The Kids Book of the Elements. This is similar to The Elements Book so you probably don’t need both.
The Boy Who Invented the Popsicle. I like this one because it talks about how the popsicle was invented accidentally which is a great way to discuss how things are discovered in the scientific world. This was a fun storybook.
I Am Marie Curie. I love having a book or two that discuss different people in history who had an impact on what we are learning about.
Stolen Science. I was looking for a book about Alice Ball but not having luck so I picked this up to read the section about her.
Lift the Flap Periodic Table. Every flap tells you more about the exciting world of chemistry.
See Inside Atoms and Molecules. Learn why atoms are so vital to the entire world around us, including us!
Activities
A Little Everyday Chemistry is a fun introduction to chemistry in a coloring book/activity book style. Sometimes we kickstarted our lessons learning something simple from this book like how soap works. 
Molecular Model Kit. This is a great, hands-on way for your kids to build their own atoms. It has a color coated chart or they can just create to understand how molecules are constructed.
Snap Together Periodic Table Tiles. I got this as a hands-on activity for the kids. They had free rein over how they used it but it was a fantastic visual for why the elements are where they are on the periodic table. They also used the picture of the periodic table to put it together on their own. The tiles show the atomic weight and number. Once we had it put together, we also used it to see who could find the elements I named first.
Science Lab Kit. There are a bazillion of these that you can buy. I like this one because it had the safety goggles, beakers, test tubes, a book of experiments with all of the necessary things included. This was a blast and there were a few we did over and over again. 
Games
We love games and play them almost daily so I try to find games for every single topic we learn about. The games we picked for chemistry are a blast!
Science Ninjas Valence Plus. This game takes a few minutes to set up but is a lot of fun to play. We enjoy playing this a ton and it’s one of my eight-year-olds most requested games. You combine elements from the periodic table. With some twists to add to the excitement, you decide how best to get to 16 points to win the game.
Periodic A Game of the Elements. This is my twelve-year-olds favorite of all of the science games. This one takes more time to set up and to play than the others but is a lot of fun. It’s a bit much for my youngest so he never quite finishes the game but we all have fun playing it. In this game, you move around the periodic table to complete research and earn goal cards of varying difficulty. As you go, try to complete the tasks on your agenda for bonus points.
Ion A Compound Building Game. This is a card game that is easy to travel with and play. You play a card from your hand, then pass your hand and repeat with the hand you receive. Repeat this process until there are only 2 cards left in every hand. As you go, build compounds to score points. Use the extras like play two, play from center or rxn to change up your turn and hopefully help your hand. This is a quick game so great when you don’t have time for a longer game.
I’m adding a few more games that we didn’t get but considered. I can’t give you an opinion on these games but if you have one, I’d love to hear it!
{You can learn more about each game in the next day or so in a separate post about them.}
I’d love to hear from you – we had a blast learning about chemistry! What are your favorite activities to include? What did we miss that should have been included? Let me know in a comment below and as always, we love shares of our posts!
