We Do 'Holly & Jolly Elf 's Candy Cane Disposal" Science Experiment

My youngest has been asking to do this science experiment ever since I created it.   Yesterday was the day and it was super fun! 

I didn't have many glass containers and only plastic glasses.  I have collected shot glasses for years and that is what we chose to use.  Perfect size for the miniature candy canes we used.

We read the story of Holly & Jolly Elf and why they needed our help. The boys filled in the first part of their pages. 

Time to fill up the 1st 3 glasses with the cold water, vinegar, and hot water.

Time to put the candy canes in and fill out their "predictions"  and half of the "experiment" sections.

Experiment with cold water, vinegar, and hot water.

Next, the boys got to pick 5 different liquids they wanted to try:

dish soap, pickle juice, Worcester sauce, Italian dressing, whole milk, Windex, rubbing alcohol, Lime Away, Sea Breeze face wash, and orange soda.  They also needed to fill in the "blank Observation" worksheet. 

BubbyDooDooBear's results

We were amazed at how the Worcester sauce seemed to elongate the candy cane.  The Italian dressing did nothing! The pickle juice won hands down but did NOT dissolve the candy cane as much as the hot water did. 

 *Interesting side note - We left these out so Dad could see them when he got home.  Mr. Man noticed that the candy cane that was put into the Italian dressing hollowed the candy cane out! He set it aside to take a picture of it, but Dad accidentally threw it out.*

Mr. Man's results:

We were surprised at how little the alcohol, Lime-A-Way, and face wash did.  The Windex did well, but the orange soda shrunk it down.  Still, the hot water did  better than any of Mr. Man's picks, too. 

We had a very fun time doing this experiment.  I loved watching the boys get excited as they got to picked out the liquids they thought would dissolve the candy canes.   The excitement built each time the timer went off to check the progress. 

If you would like to do this science experiment with your kiddos head over to my "Holly and Jolly Elf - Science Experiment - Candy Cane Disposal" to get the worksheets.