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February 27, 2011

Ivory Soap Experiment

Science Experiments for Kids

I have mentioned before that Kaleb loves science experiments.  When I came across numerous videos on youtube all about the ivory soap experiment, I knew we had to try it.  This is one of the simplest experiments that you can do with your kids, and it is virtually mess free.

Ivory Soap Experiment {in the microwave} ~ Simple Science for kids. All you need is Ivory Soap and a microwave!

 This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

Ivory Soap Experiment Supplies:

  • a microwavable plate
  • fresh bar of Ivory Soap
  • a microwave

Ivory Soap Experiment {in the microwave} ~ Simple Science for kids. All you need is Ivory Soap and a microwave!

We started our experiment by dropping our Ivory soap bar into water.  The kids were amazed that a full sized Ivory bar floated and an almost used up bar of a different brand sunk.  It would have been better to have another full sized bar, but that was the only other of bar of soap I could find in a hurry.  We are more a liquid soap family.  If you are interested in why Ivory soap floats, you can find one explanation here.

Ivory Soap Experiment

We placed the Ivory soap bar in the center of a plate and into the microwave.  All the kids stood on a bench so they could have a good view of what was happening in the microwave.  You will want to make sure everyone can see before you begin because it is amazing!

Ivory Soap Experiment {in the microwave} ~ Simple Science for kids. All you need is Ivory Soap and a microwave!

Experiment

Cook the bar for 2 minutes on high in the microwave.  Ours started to change after about 20 seconds and continued for the full 2 minutes.  When your soap cloud is finished, let it cool before letting the kids touch it.

Ivory Soap Experiment {in the microwave} ~ Simple Science for kids. All you need is Ivory Soap and a microwave!

The kids were totally amazed by the soap cloud.  Our Ivory soap totally transformed.

Ivory Soap Experiment {in the microwave} ~ Simple Science for kids. All you need is Ivory Soap and a microwave!

I didn’t want to waste a whole bar of soap, even for a cool experiment.  So instead of throwing the soap cloud in the garbage, we decided to use it in a fun new recipe that will incorporate our soap “cloud”.  We did our experiment one day and let it sit on the counter overnight before we created our Fluffy Bath Tub Paint.   Click on the link for the recipe.

Ivory Soap Experiment ~ Fluffy Bathtub Paint

For more simple kid experiments, check out our:

Walking on Eggs

Packing Peanut Experiments

Exploding Peep Geysers

Shooting Water Experiment

Related posts:

  1. What Happens If You Microwave An Egg?
  2. Fluffy Bathtub Paint
  3. Volcano Easter Egg Experiment
  4. Closed System Science Experiment
Posted in Experiments, Kid Projects and tagged Experiments, Kid Projects, Microwave, Science.

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I would love for you to grab a cup of coffee and stay a while. You can read more about us or catch up on our favorite experiments, projects + art activities.

Related posts:

  1. What Happens If You Microwave An Egg?
  2. Fluffy Bathtub Paint
  3. Volcano Easter Egg Experiment
  4. Closed System Science Experiment
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42 thoughts on “Ivory Soap Experiment”

  1. Jeanie Prince on February 28, 2011 at 2:04 am said:

    So cool! We are so trying this one tomorrow after school.

    Reply ↓
    • Tammy on February 28, 2011 at 2:22 am said:

      This was one of the kids favorite things we have done so far! The kids even gave a demonstration to everyone tonight. So fun.

      Reply ↓
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    • jennifer on March 9, 2012 at 2:29 am said:

      one thing you can do with the soap is to make laundry soap with it

      Reply ↓
      • Tammy on March 9, 2012 at 4:09 am said:

        Great Idea! I love making my own laundry soap.

        Reply ↓
  3. Shauna-lee on February 28, 2011 at 6:15 pm said:

    fun! Definately will try this one with the kids!

    Reply ↓
  4. Rachel on March 8, 2011 at 9:30 pm said:

    I featured this post and a couple of others on my blog today. You can find it here:
    http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/03/scholarly-inspirations.html

    You can grab a featured button from my side-bar if you’d like to post it on your site.

    Thanks for such a fun idea!!
    :)rachel from SunScholars.blogspot.com

    Reply ↓
  5. Melissa @ The Chocolate Muffin Tree on March 9, 2011 at 5:07 pm said:

    O.K. I’ve seen so many great things! I am following you!!!!

    Reply ↓
    • Tammy on March 9, 2011 at 5:21 pm said:

      I just had a peek at your creative blog. Great ideas! I love seeing what kiddos create, thanks for sharing!

      Reply ↓
  6. katie A on March 14, 2011 at 2:21 am said:

    So I found to post and thought it was a great amazing experiment but as a college student I didn’t have a bar of ivory soap so my roommates and I tried this with Zest and Dial . They only need little bit over an minute and didn’t get as big but This is a sweet experiment that I will remember when I have my own classroom in the future! Tomorrow we are going to compared Ivory soap to our other two soap clouds.

    Reply ↓
    • Tammy on March 14, 2011 at 3:27 am said:

      I would love to hear how your experiment goes. We have only tried Ivory soap, but I am curious what the other brands look like. Thanks.

      Reply ↓
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  8. Lorie on May 23, 2011 at 2:12 am said:

    I think my favorite part of this post is when your daughter asked, how did WE do that. You can tell that you do a lot of fun things with them and they enjoy taking ownership of them!

    Reply ↓
  9. Our Scott Spot on July 23, 2011 at 1:43 am said:

    What a fun project!! Can’t wait to try this with my boys! I loved this so much I shared your page on my blog: http://our-scott-spot.blogspot.com/2011/07/fun-find-friday-family-activities.html

    Reply ↓
  10. Joanna on August 19, 2011 at 5:43 pm said:

    So I had seen this post, but didn’t have any Ivory soap (we’re a liquid soap family too). But then last night i saw that I had some old bars still wrapped up in my bathroom. It just so happened to be Ivory! I was excited. Well as I unwrapped the soap I saw that it was from 2003…..just a little old. Apparently the age of the soap affects the experiment becuase it didn’t work….So my kids are now begging me to make a special trip to the store go get some soap that isn’t too old and try again. Thanks for peaking our interest 🙂

    Reply ↓
  11. babyplanet on November 17, 2011 at 3:43 am said:

    Hey there, You have done a great job. I will certainly digg it and individually recommend to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this website.

    Reply ↓
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  13. Renee on January 3, 2012 at 4:41 am said:

    That is a pretty cool experiment. The kids cracked me up with their reactions.

    Reply ↓
  14. fan page builder on January 17, 2012 at 8:13 pm said:

    What i do not understood is if truth be told how you’re now not actually much more neatly-appreciated than you may be now. You are so intelligent. You realize thus considerably in the case of this topic, produced me individually consider it from numerous numerous angles. Its like women and men aren’t involved unless it is something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your individual stuffs great. All the time care for it up!

    Reply ↓
  15. Amber on January 17, 2012 at 8:57 pm said:

    This is so amazing! I am a preschool teacher and do a “SCIENCE WEEK” each year with my class- I will DEFINITELY be adding this experiement to my list for next week when explaining “heat”! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

    Reply ↓
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  18. linda.mays@st-marys.org on March 10, 2012 at 1:07 pm said:

    Very neat! Where can I find your follow up soap recipe?

    Reply ↓
  19. Stark Martin on March 13, 2012 at 8:06 pm said:

    Is there a way I can make this a poster board science project? I thought I would take photos of the floating and the “melting” and tie it into the density and bouncy etc. How do I do this?

    Thank you for any help. =))))

    Reply ↓
  20. Sandy on March 19, 2012 at 9:43 pm said:

    Anyone know what soap properties/ingredients are needed for this to work? I can’t get Ivory soap in Australia and the kids would LOVE to do this experiment! I’m not keen on buying one of everything, to try, so any suggestions would be great!

    Reply ↓
  21. sybell15 on April 18, 2012 at 3:09 pm said:

    sup awesome expanding soap it is so fun to do

    Reply ↓
  22. sybell15 on April 18, 2012 at 3:10 pm said:

    awesome soap

    Reply ↓
  23. Hope Elizabeth on May 17, 2012 at 2:28 pm said:

    Oh wow! This is what i did for my science thingy!

    Reply ↓
  24. MIchelle on May 27, 2012 at 9:05 pm said:

    I found your website on Pinterest. I LOVE all the creative ideas you have for kids – art & experiments. This will keep us busy all summer! Thanks for the inspiration!!!

    Reply ↓
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  33. dawn on June 10, 2013 at 9:32 am said:

    I want to try this, but will it make ny microwave smell like soap and food taste like it?

    Reply ↓
    • Tammy on June 10, 2013 at 10:16 am said:

      Our house did have a soap smell that lingered for a few hours. But I did not notice the microwave smelling or the food cooked in it tasting like soap. I would be interested to hear others thoughts as well.

      Reply ↓
  34. Jean on June 11, 2014 at 11:45 pm said:

    Thanks so much for sharing 🙂

    Reply ↓
  35. cynthia on June 20, 2014 at 8:54 pm said:

    hello, I dont live in the USA, we dont have Ivory soap bars here.
    Does it have to be Ivory or it can be Dove as well? Why Ivory? (maybe it its because of some specific ingredient, i can look up what we have here that might be similar to the Ivory bar). The idea is excelent, i know my 4 year old will absolutely love it ! i really wish i can make this , please send some suggestions!

    Thank you

    Reply ↓
  36. Rachel on February 28, 2015 at 11:26 am said:

    I have tried this with Dove today with the children and it didn’t work :-(. Back to the drawing board! Thankyou for sharing though.

    Reply ↓

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