Are you looking for reading recommendations for kids? We can help! Use these book lists created by our staff to find new and favorite books for kids of all ages covering a variety of topics and interests. Would you like to see more? Browse all of our staff recommendations for kids. Would you prefer one-on-one help? Call or ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email ask-a- librarian. For next step reading suggestions you can also browse What We’re Reading Teens.

Recommendations from Our Staff – June 2023

Kids Love Butterflies!

Spring is arriving early this year. Soon butterflies will flutter through the air, inspiring children to dream of spreading their wings.

Title - A Butterfly Is PatientTitle - The Butterfly DanceTitle - The Butterfly HouseTitle - Butterfly Child

Heroes of Space for Little Astronauts

For hundreds of years, people around the world have been studying and exploring outer space! After the the launch of Sputnik (the first satellite) in 1957, animals and then people were sent to the moon and beyond. But the astronauts who landed the rocket ships aren’t the only heroes; thousands of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers worked their hardest to make space travel a reality! Learn more about the men, women, and animals who all played a part in exploring space! #indyplkids #IndyPLSRP2023

Title - ClassifiedTitle - LaikaTitle - Counting on KatherineTitle - The Boy Whose Head Was Filled With Stars

Heroes of Space

Learn more about the people who have traversed the cosmos – and the ones who made it possible and inspired others to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible! Here you can find books about (and by) space heroes, and all you need to inspire you to reach for the stars! #indyplkids #IndyPLSRP2023

Title - Find Where the Wind GoesTitle - EnduranceTitle - The Woman in the MoonTitle - To Boldly Go

Graphic Novels About Space

Get ready for space camp! These fun and informative graphic novels will entertain even the most stubborn rocket scientist. #IndyPLKids #IndyPLSRP2023

Title - Sanity & TallulahTitle - Solar SystemTitle - The Great Space CaseTitle - Zita the Spacegirl

A Trip to Our Moon and Stars for Little Astronauts

We’ve all looked to the stars and dreamed of what life is like beyond our atmosphere. If you’ve got a kid that’s currently dreaming of life as an astronaut, these books will transport them to our moon and around the stars. These books are perfect for preschool-aged kids, but could be enjoyed by all ages! #IndyPLKids #IndyPLSRP2023 This list is just a sample of the many, many books about stars and the moon that we have in our collection. For more picture books recommendations, please ask your local librarian!

Title - Touch the Brightest StarTitle - How to Catch A StarTitle - A Big Mooncake for Little StarTitle - Moon!

3, 2, 1… Blast Off Books for Little Astronauts!

Have a kid that dreams of going to space? These are my favorite picture books about space, rockets, aliens, and astronauts! The books on this list are perfect for preschool-aged kids, but could be enjoyed by all ages. Are you ready to blast off?! #IndyPLKids #IndyPLSRP2023 These are just some of the hundreds of books available about space for young children! For more recommendations, please ask your local librarian.

Title - My Rainy Day Rocket ShipTitle - Life on MarsTitle - Field Trip to the MoonTitle - Astronaut

Space Books for Future Astronauts

Calling all astronauts (ages 8-12)! Here are some fiction and nonfiction suggestions to get you prepared for your future launch. #IndyPLKids #IndyPLSRP2023

Title - Space CaseTitle - Astrophysics for Young People in A HurryTitle - A RoverTitle - What Is NASA?

The Best Dads in Picture Books

They teach, play, protect, tease, feed, and adventure from dawn to dark. These picture book dads show how it’s done from sweet to ornery to laugh out loud! They are great fun for Father’s Day and every day!

Title - My Papi Has A MotorcycleTitle - Dad by My SideTitle - Across the BayTitle - Dad and the Dinosaur

Children’s Fiction Celebrating Gender and other Diversity

Celebrate the diversity of gender expression and acceptance of all people with these books for young readers.

Title - What Riley WoreTitle - Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine DressTitle - JacobTitle - What Are your Words?

All Kinds of Families!

This list features materials for children that celebrate the uniqueness of ALL families!

Title - Families, Families, Families!Title - Are You Eating Candy Without Me?Title - A Crazy-much LoveTitle - Kitchen Dance

An Elephant & Piggie Biggie!

These colorful and funny friends are always up to something silly. If you’re looking for your next favorite series after Elephant & Piggie, look no further!

Title - NarwhalTitle - Baloney and FriendsTitle - Donut Feed the SquirrelsTitle - Fox & Rabbit

Magic Tree House Collection

Adventure! Time travel! Magic! If you love the “Magic Tree House” series, try one of these series next.

Title - Lost Treasure of the Emerald EyeTitle - I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912Title - Attack of the PlantsTitle - Dinosaurs Before Dark

Have you seen one of our IndyPL Bookmobiles driving around Indianapolis? We have two that visit neighborhoods and schools all over the city delivering books to people who don’t have a library branch nearby. Kids love trucks, books, and cozy little spaces – our Bookmobiles are all three! Watch this video to meet one of our book cruising teams, ride on the bookmobile with Emilie and Bruce. Our Bookmobiles are filled with both great books and great people! Happy National Library Outreach Day to Miss Emilie, Mr. Bruce, and all our staff in Outreach!

Bookmobile History

A librarian in Maryland in the early 1900s is credited with coming up with the idea of the first bookmobile. That first one was a horse-drawn wagon. No one had ever seen one of those before! Soon book wagons were appearing in other parts of the country, and by 1922, the book wagon idea was very popular. The bookmobile was born!

  • Bookmobiles: Then and Now – A Fascinating timeline of the evolution of bookmobiles, including the features, technology, and vehicles responsible for bringing library services to the public. Note: green entries on the timeline are bookmobile history in general. Purple entries in the timeline are IndyPL Bookmobile history.
  • 50 Vintage Photos of Libraries on Wheels
  • Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections: Bookmobiles

We’ve picked our favorite photos from our Digital Collection for this Bookmobile photo gallery. It’s fun to see how our Bookmobiles have changed over the years!

To learn even more about bookmobiles check out one of the books below. Each one tells the story of a bookmobile. You can ride on the bookmobile with Emilie and Bruce or ride a lot of other things to deliver books! Some of them are from a different part of the world where it makes sense to deliver books by boat, burro or camel!

Bookmobiles: On the Road for Reading All Over the World

Book lovers and librarians have loaded up books and taken them on the road for decades. What people use to transport the books depends on where the books need delivered. Bookmobiles can be trucks, boats, bikes, or pack animals! Which animal is chosen depends on where in the world the books are being delivered. Horses, burros and camels are all excellent at book transportation. Here are some of our favorite stories about how mobile libraries get books to people who don’t have a library building nearby.

Title - The Library BusTitle - My Librarian Is A CamelTitle - That Book WomanTitle - The Book BoatTitle - Waiting for the BiblioBurroTitle - Library on WheelsTitle - Miss Dorothy and Her BookmobileTitle - My Librarian Is A CamelTitle - BiblioburroTitle - That Book WomanTitle - The Library BookTitle - Librarian

Picture book read along stories play like a movie and are great for listening practice as well as really fun! You can stream picture book videos free with your IndyPL library card. Illustrations move as you watch the narrated stories. Video picture books are especially convenient for car trips. You can check out several at a time and play them multiple times while you have them checked out. They are perfect for “read it again!”

To stream these videos for kids you will need a Hoopla account. Hoopla is the service the Library uses to deliver these videos to you.

Get Started Streaming Picture Book Videos on Hoopla

Here are a few favorites to get you started, or see Hoopla’s complete list of picture book videos for kids.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

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Comic books and graphic novels for kids are all-time favorites. Like Dog Man. He’s a policeman, he’s a crimefighter, he’s a dog! He’s the best of both, a canine and a crimefighter doing his best to outsmart his archnemesis, an evil cat, who does TERRIBLE things like plotting to destroy all books to make the world “supa dumb”! Read the whole series or have fun with these Dog Man Activity Sheets. These stories definitely aren’t just about superheroes anymore! In this list you will find a diverse cast of characters whose stories are set in different and interesting places. Also try Read Right Now: Superheroes.

Graphic Novel Reading Recommendations from IndyPL Staff

Browse our featured book lists and then find even more recommendations from our staff.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian.

The water on the earth is in constant motion. Water falls to the earth as rain and then evaporates back up into the air forming clouds. Evaporation is the process that changes liquid (like water) to gas (water vapor in the air). Water vapor in the air forms tiny droplets. When there are a bunch of these droplets clouds form. When a bunch of the droplets stick together raindrops form and fall back to earth again. After the rain falls, some of it soaks into the earth, and some of it evaporates into the air again. This cycle is call the hydrologic or water cycle. You can build construct a DIY terrarium and observe the water cycle in it.

Make a DIY Terrarium

To see how the hydrologic cycle works you can make your own miniature model of the earth in a terrarium. A terrarium is a little garden inside a clear, sealed plastic or glass container. A canning jar is a common glass container with a lid that might be easy to find at home. You can probably find the other things you need for your terrarium in your own backyard: small stones go in the bottom of the container, dirt, and a small plant or two. Look in shady areas for moss, it grows really well in a terrarium! You can also plant seeds and watch them grow.

Here are two videos that will help you. One explains how the water cycle works and the other will take you through step-by-step directions for building your own DIY terrarium.

What You Need

  • a Clear Plastic or Glass Container With a Lid
  • Stones
  • Soil
  • Plants
  • Water
  • Little Toys for Decoration (optional)

Instructions

After planting, add enough water just to moisten the soil. You don’t want to flood your garden. You don’t want standing water in the bottom of the container. When you poor water into your terrarium you are starting the water cycle. Eventually, it will “rain” in the little glass world you have made! When you set your terrarium in the sun the water inside the terrarium will heat up and turn into water vapor in the air. This is called evaporation. When the water cools back down, it turns back into a liquid. You will see condensation – water droplets – sticking to the lid of your terrarium. If the drops get large enough, they will roll down the sides of the container or fall from the lid – rain!

The close-up on the left shows the condensation that began to form on the inside of the jar after only 1 hour sitting in the sun. If there is too much water just open the lid and let some of the water evaporate into the air outside the container. If your plants look wilted or dry, try adding a little more water. It might take some trial and error to get the amount of water needed just right.

Science Experiment Idea

Make three identical terrariums. You have to use the same kind of container, the same amount of soil & the same plants. Make your variable (the thing you are going to test) the amount of water you put into the terrariums. Measure a different amount of water into each terrarium. Close the lids and watch the terrariums over several days to see which amount of water made the best environment for your plants. A terrarium with too little water will have dry plants. A terrarium with too much water will have plants with yellow leaves and maybe even mold growing on the soil!

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about plants at any of our locations, or check out plant e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Little Indoor Gardens for Kids – Terrariums & the Hydrologic Cycle

To see how the hydrologic (water) cycle works you can make a miniature model of the earth in a terrarium. A terrarium is a little garden inside a clear, sealed plastic or glass container. After making one, you can watch how water evaporates, condenses and rains. Here are some books to help you learn about the hydrologic cycle and put together a terrarium of your own.

Title - A Family Guide to Terrariums for KidsTitle - DropTitle - Water CyclesTitle - The Water LadyTitle - WaterTitle - WaterTitle - How Long Is the Water Cycle?Title - The Water CycleTitle - From Raindrop to TapTitle - Fairy Garden DesignTitle - The Water CycleTitle - The Nitty-gritty Gardening Book

Take a backstage tour.

Learning about puppets is a great first step to get the skills you need to make your own puppets. You can get an inside look at puppets by taking a video tour of Peewinkle’s Puppet Studio in Indianapolis. For even more behind-the-scenes inspiration watch this video to learn how the Sesame Street puppeteers bring Elmo, Big Bird, Mr. Snuffleupagus, Abby Cadabby, and Rudy to life!

Watch a puppet show.

Tune in to the Edmonton Public Library on Youtube to see these puppet shows:

Watch a video tutorial with your IndyPL Library card.

Learn how to make your own puppets by watching this video tutorial for kids from Creativebug. Just enter your IndyPL library card. Creativebug Kids is a collection of crafting video tutorials just right for preschool and elementary makers. Other videos include drawing, origami, sewing, holiday decorations, and more. If you have never used Creativebug before, start here.

Make your own puppets and put on a show!

There are several workshops available online from puppet theatres all over the country. A wonderful one comes from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Watch Fort Wayne Youtheatre’s video and use their workshop guide to learn how to create your own shadow puppet theatre and shadow puppets.

Also try New Victory Theatre’s Arts Break at Home Puppetry Week.

Still looking for puppet activities? The Jim Henson Foundation is providing links to online performances and workshops provided by grantees from their Foundation.

Are you ready to create yet? Here are some printable patterns and templates to get you started!

Puppet Project Ideas from Old Socks to Paper to Clay!

Upcycle items from your craft bin or trash can, add your creative storytelling, and put on a puppet play!

Title - Ashley BryanTitle - LotteTitle - Puppets Unlimited With Everyday MaterialsTitle - Nick and Nack Put on A Puppet ShowTitle - Puppet PlayTitle - Paper Puppet PaloozaTitle - The Strange Case of Origami YodaTitle - Darth Paper Strikes BackTitle - The Surprise Attack of Jabba the PuppettTitle - One-person Puppet PlaysTitle - How To Create And Animate A Clay Puppet With Stop Motion ProTitle - Night of the Puppet People

There are lots of stories kids can rattle off without even thinking very much. The Three Little PigsThe Three Bears, and Cinderella are examples of some commonly told stories children all over the world often know. Told in different places, the stories take on interesting differences that reflect a country’s environment or culture. Fairy tale variants like these can be great introductions to new places and new people!

Sometimes storytellers like to have fun with a traditional story too. Cinderella plays in a hockey game instead of going to a ball. The Big Bad Wolf tells HIS side of the story. The story happens in a new or unique place. Try one of these for a unique twist on classic tales!

title - The Twelve Dancing Princessestitle - Jacqueline and the Beanstalktitle - The Ninjabread Mantitle - The Egyptian Cinderella

Have fun with fairy tale variants – unique spins on these classics!

Hispanic Retellings of Classic Tales

Here are some favorite classic tales and traditional stories told with details and cultural traditions of the American Southwest, Mexico, Central or South America.

Title - AdelitaTitle - Paco and the giant chile plantTitle - The Runaway TortillaTitle - La Princesa and the PeaTitle - The Pot That Juan BuiltTitle - The Three CabritosTitle - Rubia and the Three OsosTitle - The Three Little JavelinasTitle - Señorita GorditaTitle - The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden StirredTitle - Chachalaca ChiquitaTitle - The Party for Papá Luis

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text, or email Ask-a-Librarian. The Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

I’m sure you’ve heard people say that dogs are man’s best friend. When you read some of these books, you’ll discover that there are a lot of animals that have been man’s best friend as well as best friends to each other! Who would have thought that a deer and a dog or a dog and a duck could be friends? Some of these animals just have the best life stories. Some are famous, like Koko the gorilla who learned American Sign Language. Or the 21 elephants that walked across the Brooklyn Bridge when it was built, just to prove it was safe! Or Eclipse, the dog that learned how to catch the bus to the dog park all by himself! Theses are true animal stores and they are amazing!

Can We Be Friends: Unexpected Animal Friendships from Around the World tells the stories of five unlikely animal friendships:

  • a hippo and a tortoise
  • an elephant and a sheep
  • a gorilla and kittens
  • a cheetah and a dog
  • a dog and dolphin

Check out even more books that tell the true animal stories of some special members of the animal kingdom!

Amazing and True Animals Stories for Kids

Read about the 21 elephants that walked across the Brooklyn Bridge when it was built, just to prove it was safe, or about Eclipse, the dog that learned how to catch the bus to the dog park all by himself! Check out some of these books for amazing stories about some special members of the animal kingdom.

Title - Twenty-one Elephants and Still StandingTitle - Elizabeth, Queen of the SeasTitle - IvanTitle - Bob the Railway DogTitle - Dog on BoardTitle - ClaraTitle - DozerTitle - Ellie

Need help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

For kids who love to draw, two illustrators offer online classes for hours of creative fun! Start drawing today by tuning in to these drawing shows or by checking out an e-book with your IndyPL library card.

Mo Willems

Mo Willems, creator of Knuffle Bunny, the Pigeon books, and the Elephant and Piggie books, hosted a daily writing show called Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems. See the Lunch Doodles Playlist.

Jarrett Krosoczka

Jarrett Krosoczka, author of Hey Kiddo as well as the graphic novel series Lunch Lady and Jedi Academy is hosting Draw Every Day with JJK. Browse his YouTube page for all kinds of drawing tutorials and prompts.

Drawing Books:

We have a lot of drawing books for kids at the library. You can find one for just about any interest you have. Learn to draw NASCAR, forest animals, sea creatures, cartoon characters, buildings and much more. Some of the books feature simple cartoon style drawings and others, for more experienced artists, go into great detail. Each one includes step-by-step directions though, so even if you are a beginner you can create some pretty amazing pictures!

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out drawing books at any of our locations, or check out drawing e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Video Read Alouds about Drawing

Just click on one of the book covers to hear the story.

title - Blank Entrytitle - Blank Entry

How to Draw Favorite Book Character Printables

We have thousands of audiobooks for kids on various platforms. All can be checked out instantly with a library card. Each audiobook platform is unique. You can learn how to use each platform below.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Audiobooks for Kids from OverDrive/Libby

You can borrow up to 20 titles using your IndyPL Library card from OverDrive Kids. If you have never borrowed from OverDrive before both app directions and browser directions are available as well as a video tutorial and Overdrive Support.

Here are some quick shortcuts to OverDrive’s audiobook collections for kids.

Skip the Wait!

Hold lines can get very long for new and popular titles. Here are two helpful links for young readers: No Wait, No Problem Audiobooks for Kids and No Wait No Problem e-Books for Teens.

Audiobooks for Kids from Hoopla

You can borrow 10 Items each month using your IndyPL Library card. If you have never borrowed from Hoopla before directions are available as well as a video tutorial.

Here are some quick short cuts to some of Hoopla’s audiobook read along collections:

Skip the Wait!

Hoopla Bonus Borrows Logo

You don’t have to put Hoopla titles on hold, you are allowed to borrow whatever titles you want, up to 10 per month.

However, if you’ve already read your 10 monthly borrows, Hoopla frequently offers Bonus Borrows. Bonus Borrows don’t count against your monthly borrowing limit – look for them on Hoopla.

Audiobooks for Kids from Kanopy Kids

Kanopy Kids has one collection of read along picture books in their Story Time collection. Read them in a computer browser or in the Kanopy app. Videos from the Kanopy Kids section do not require any play credits to view. Feel free to watch as many videos from Kanopy Kids as you’d like without seeing a reduction in your play credits! If you have never borrowed from Kanopy before here are some directions and a video tutorial.

Audiobooks for Kids from Tumblebooks

You can read Tumblebook read alongs in a computer browser or the Tumblebook Library app. If you have never borrowed from the Tumblebook Library before here is a video tutorial to help you get started. Here are three examples of the read along stories you can find in the Tumblebook Read Along Library. See the full list of Tumblebook read alongs here. The best thing about Tumblebooks – there are no loan limits and no waiting!

title - Biscuittitle - I Love My Pursetitle - Lola at the Library

VOX Audio Enabled Print Books

If your kids like e-book read alongs try our VOX audio enabled books. You can check them out at any of our locations. VOX books are print books that have an audio player permanently attached to them. You don’t need a computer, tablet, CD, or the internet. Children simply push a button to listen and read. The next time you visit one of our libraries, ask where the VOX book shelf is! See the list of VOX books you can check out here.

Free Audiobooks that Don’t Require a Library Card

World Book Day Free Audiobooks
World Book Day’s World of Stories audiobook collection get refreshed frequently. Audiobooks are taken down after 6 months and then are replaced with new ones so check back often for new stories.

Audible’s Free Audiobook Library for Kids
Audible, Amazon’s audiobook library, offers free audiobook streams on a select number of children’s stories. See the Free Audible Library. The books are separated into six categories: “Littlest Listeners,” “Elementary,” “Tween,” “Teen,” “Literary Classics” and “Folk & Fairy Tales for All.” Books are available in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Italian.

Free Video Read Alouds Online
Children also shouldn’t miss these outstanding opportunities to hear old classics like Where the Wild Things Are or a newer favorite like Little Jumbo, often read aloud by the book’s author or a celebrity reader. It isn’t library story time…but you will still hear “I want to hear it again!”

Sometimes when atoms come together to form a molecule, one end of the molecule has a positive charge and one end of the molecule has a negative charge. When this happens the molecule is called a polar moleculeMolecules that do not have two different electrical poles are called non-polar molecules. For today’s demonstration you will make a lava bottle to observe polar and non-polar molecules.

This experiment will show you how polar molecules and non-polar molecules behave when added together. If two kinds of molecules are added together that are both polar molecules, they will mix. They are miscibleMiscible means that the two things can mix together. If two non-polar molecules are added together they will also mix and are miscible. However, if a non-polar molecule and a polar molecule are added together, they will NOT mix together. This is called imiscibleImiscible means that the two kinds of molecules CANNOT mix together.

What You Need

  • Plastic Bottle
  • Water
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Food coloring
  • Measuring Cups
  • Alka Seltzer

Instructions to Make a Lava Bottle

Fill the bottle about 3/4 of the way up with vegetable oil. Fill the bottle the rest of the way up with water. Now add some drops of food coloring. Close the cap on the bottle and shake it up. What happens?

Break the alka seltzer tablet in half. Open the bottle and drop in one half. What happens? Once the bubbles settle down drop in the other half. What happens again?

Water is a polar molecule. Vegetable oil is a non-polar molecule. These two substances do not mix together, they are imiscible (they will not mix together). That’s why you see the blobs of water bobbing around in the oil. Food coloring is a polar molecule so it WILL mix with the water. The water and the food coloring are both polar molecules and will mix together. That’s why the water blobs turn the color of the food coloring and the oil does not.

The alka seltzer just makes the lava bottle more fun because it makes the colorful water blobs move without shaking the bottle. The alka seltzer tablets dissolve in the the water and make carbon dioxide gas (like we saw vinegar and baking soda do in the Exploding Ziploc experiment). The carbon dioxide gas bubbles attach to the colorful water blobs and make them float to the top of the bottle. When the gas bubbles pop there is no gas bubble to hold up the water blob, so it slowly floats back down to the bottom of the bottle.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Atoms, Molecules and the Elements in the Periodic Table for Kids

The photographs, diagrams and creative storytelling in these books make the building blocks of the universe understandable…and fun! Find out about the scientists and discoveries which helped us find out what makes up all the stuff of the universe.

Title - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the ElementsTitle - LetTitle - How Do Molecules Stay Together?Title - Astonishing Atoms and Matter MayhemTitle - Queen of PhysicsTitle - MoleculesTitle - Periodic TableTitle - Explore Atoms and Molecules!Title - Atoms and MoleculesTitle - Mixtures and SolutionsTitle - The Disappearing SpoonTitle - Elements

Sir Isaac Newton, an English scientist born in 1642, discovered three important principles of physics that describe how things move. Consequently, the principles bear his name, Newton’s First, Second, and Third Laws of Motion. Today’s experiment demonstrates Newton’s Third Law of Motion. It says that for every action there is an equal and opposite re-action. Basically, if an object is pushed, that object will push back in the opposite direction, equally hard.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Sir Isaac Newton at any of our locations, or check out Sir Isaac Newton e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Newton’s Laws of Motion: The Science Behind How Things Move

Newton’s Laws of Motion explain force and motion, or why things move the way they do. They are great concepts to explore by doing a science experiment. These are especially good science project ideas for kids who like to move! The concepts can often be explained using sports equipment or by understanding how amusement park rides work. These books offer ideas for physics experiments that demonstrate force and motion and the laws that govern them. Some of them provide the background information needed for the report that is often required to go with projects for the science fair.

Title - Isaac Newton and the Laws of MotionTitle - Physics for Curious KidsTitle - The Gravity TreeTitle - Janice VanCleaveTitle - The Secret Science of SportsTitle - Fairground PhysicsTitle - Gravity ExplainedTitle - Awesome Physics Experiments for KidsTitle - Sir Isaac NewtonTitle - NewtonTitle - How to Design the WorldTitle - Thud!

Crystals are made when a substance has atoms or molecules that form in a very organized, repeating, 3D pattern. When we think of crystals we often think of some well-known gemstones like diamonds or rubies. But there are some very common crystals too like sugar, ice, snowflakes, and salt.

Learn more about the naturally occurring crystal formation of snow and ice by reading Curious About Snow. Find out the science behind how snow crystals form, the stories of record setting snowstorms, and an introduction to the life and work of photographer Wilson Bentley. Bentley made it his life’s work to study and photograph snowflakes. It is because of Wilson Bentley that we know no two snowflakes are alike!

Enjoy Bentley’s fascinating biography, Snowflake Bentley. You know what is really amazing about him? He made his discoveries in the 1890s! He invented and used a special device that combined a microscope with a camera to capture his microscopic pictures. The book includes some of Bentley’s actual snow crystal photographs.

You can make a scientific observation yourself or do a crystal experiment at home by growing borax crystals. Borax is a laundry detergent booster. You can find borax in the laundry room at home or in the laundry detergent section at the grocery store.

What You Need to Grow Borax Crystals at Home

Try this experiment at home! You will need:

  • Glass Jar
  • Pencil or Pen
  • String
  • Pipe Cleaner
  • Borax
  • Pitcher
  • Measuring Cup
  • Tablespoon
  • Hot Tap Water
  • Piece of Yarn or Cotton String, about 6 inches long

Instructions for Growing Borax Crystals

Fill a pitcher with 3 cups hot tap water. (Not so hot that you can’t touch it!) Add 3 tablespoons of Borax for each cup of water. We used 3 cups of hot tap water and 9 tablespoons of Borax. A mason jar was a great container for this. Stir the mixture.

If all of the Borax dissolves, add a little more Borax and stir. Add Borax until the water can’t dissolve it anymore – the mixture is saturated. That means the water is holding as much of the Borax as it can. In fact, this solution is supersaturated, that means the water is holding even more Borax than it normally would because the water has been heated. Now pour this supersaturated solution in the glass jar.

Make a shape out of the pipe cleaners and tie one end of the string to it. We made a snowflake shape out of pipe cleaners to see if we could make a snowflake crystal. Tie the other end of the string to the middle of the pen. Hang the pipe cleaner shape down in the jar with the pen across the top of the jar to keep it from touching the bottom of the jar. Watch what happens in the jar over the next few weeks.

srpboraxgrowth

Here is what our crystals looked like after growing on the pipe cleaner snowflake for about 2 weeks. The secret to growing borax crystals is having a supersaturated solution.

Science Experiment Idea

Grow three different borax crystal snowflakes. You need three glass jars that are exactly alike. Fill one with cold tap water and one with hot tap water. Get an adult to help you fill the last jar with boiling water. Now add Borax a little a time to each jar until the Borax will not dissolve anymore. The warmer the water, the more Borax will dissolve in the water. That’s because heating the water helps it become supersaturated. Now add a pipe cleaner snowflake to each jar and compare the crystals that grow over the next couple of weeks. Which jar has the most crystals? Which jar has the largest crystals?

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about crystals at any of our locations, or check out e-books and audiobooks about crystals from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Explore the Science of Crystals from Minerals to Gems to Snowflakes

Learn about the qualities and identifying characteristics of crystals, the amazing naturally occurring patterns that happen in both minerals and snowflakes. No two are exactly alike, and yet each one has a uniform and repeating pattern. You can study how crystals form by growing some of your own!

Title - All About Crystals and GemsTitle - Read All About Rocks and GemsTitle - Investigate GemsTitle - CrystalsTitle - Kitchen ChemistryTitle - Rocks and Minerals : Get the Dirt on GeologyTitle - Rocks and MineralsTitle - Growing CrystalsTitle - Cave Crystals Kitchen ExperimentTitle - Geology for KidsTitle - Geology Lab for KidsTitle - The Rock & Gem Book

A molecule is a group of atoms bonded together. Density is how close together the molecules of a substance are or how much mass a substance has in a given space. Buoyancy and density are related. Density affects how much an object might float, or be buoyant, or sink.

For example, if you have one cup of jelly beans and one cup of marshmallows, the jelly beans have more mass because there is more “stuff” compacted into the cup. The marshmallows have less mass because the molecules of marshmallows are NOT close together. Marshmallows are mostly air.

If you put each of those cups in a microwave to melt the jelly beans and the marshmallows, the sugar and water molecules that make up the jelly beans would almost fill the cup to the top. The sugar and water molecules that makes up the marshmallows would only fill the cup a little bit because marshmallows have less mass, they are mostly made of air. Materials with more density weigh more. A cup of jelly beans weighs more than a cup of marshmallows.

For an object to be buoyant, or float, it must have less density that what it is floating in, or, it has to have something attached to it that helps it float – like you with a life jacket on. You can make some interesting observations about density and buoyancy.

What You Need

  • Drinking Glass
  • Clear Soda
  • Water
  • Ten Raisins

Instructions

Fill one clear glass up with water and drop in five raisins. Fill another clear glass up with clear soda like sprite or 7up. Drop in five raisins. What happens when you drop the raisins in? What a few minutes – now what is happening to the raisins in each glass? Can you guess why the raisins are behaving differently?

Raisins are heavier than the water in the drinking glass. The raisins are also heavier than the soda in the drinking glass. At first, both sets of raisins sink to the bottom of the glass, they don’t float.

But the soda has little air bubbles in it – the carbonation. When there are enough of these little carbonated balloons (the bubbles) stuck to the raisins the bubbles lift the raisins to the surface making the raisin float. The bubbles are like little temporary life jackets! When the bubbles pop and the gas inside them escapes into the air…the raisins don’t have anything to help them float anymore and they sink to the bottom of the glass again.

Science Experiment Idea

Try putting other small objects in soda to see if the bubbles will attach to them and help them float to the surface of the soda. Try a penny, a toothpick, a peanut, or a skittle. Can you find something that the bubbles will float to the surface like the raisin?

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

The Science Magic of Floating – Buoyancy Explained

Books to help kids understand the science concept of density and how we see it at play when things float – both in the air and in water. Get ideas for science projects and information for the reports that are often required to go with them.

Title - Flying and FloatingTitle - Building Boats That FloatTitle - The Science of SeafaringTitle - Build It! Things That FloatTitle - What Floats in A Moat?Title - Hot Air BalloonsTitle - What Is Density?Title - Does It Sink or Float?Title - How Do Hot Air Balloons Work?Title - What Floats? What Sinks?Title - Scholastic

Matter can be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Matter changes when it is heated or cooled. When a substance is heated its molecules move faster. As the water in a pot on the stove gets hotter, its molecules begin to move until the water is boiling. When gases are heated the same thing happens. You can do a dramatic experiment with a bar of ivory soap to observe how heat can change matter.

What You Need

  • Bar of Soap that Floats (Ivory Soap does!)
  • Bowl of Water
  • Paper Plate
  • Microwave

Instructions

Break or cut the bar of soap into four pieces. Put the pieces on a paper plate and microwave for 1 minute. Watch the ivory soap through the microwave window.

As the soap molecules begin to heat up, the air bubbles move quickly away from each other, or expand. This is called If you roast a marshmallow, the same thing happens.

Science Experiment Idea

Choose different kinds of soap to see what will happen when they are heated up for one minute in the microwave. Heat each bar of soap up on the same kind of plate. Heat each bar for the same amount of time. The variable in this experiment is the soap, everything else has to be the same. Do the bars of soap each react the same way when they are heated up in the microwave? Why do you think so? For one soap, choose a brand that has air bubbles whipped into it, like Ivory soap. To test a bar of soap to see if it has air bubbles in it, float it in a bowl of water. A bar of soap will float if it has air bubble whipped into it.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Solids, Liquids and Gases – When Matter Feels the Heat!

What turns ice cubes into water? What makes the steam rise from a pot of boiling water? What exactly IS matter – and how can something be all three – a solid, liquid, or gas? Here some experiments to try at home to answer these questions and the science that explains what you see.

Title - Solids and LiquidsTitle - Curious Pearl Explains States of MatterTitle - MatterTitle - Experiments With Solids, Liquids, and GasesTitle - The Solid Truth About States of Matter With Max Axiom, Super ScientistTitle - Heating and CoolingTitle - Solids, Liquids, Gases, and PlasmaTitle - Gases and Their PropertiesTitle - Astonishing Atoms and Matter MayhemTitle - Measuring TemperatureTitle - Many Kinds of MatterTitle - Gases

Have you ever put a coin in one of those wishing wells that is shaped like a giant funnel? The coin rolls around and around the sides of the funnel in smaller and smaller circles until it goes down the hole in the middle of the well. That coin is demonstrating centripetal forceCentripetal force is the force that pulls a thing toward the center of rotation….like the little whirlpool that forms when you drain the bathtub or like the Zinga water slide at Holiday World! Why IS that water slide called Zinga? Because in Swahili Zinga means “to move in a circular motion”. Lots of amusement park rides work because of the laws of physics. You can do the activity hex nut balloon to demonstrate centripetal force.

What You Need

  • Balloon
  • Hex Nut

Blow up a large balloon. Before you close the balloon, put a hex nut in it and then tie the end of the balloon closed. Hold the balloon between your hands and move it in a circular motion until the hex nut starts to roll around the inside of the balloon. Now stop moving the balloon and watch what happens to the hex nut. What you are seeing is centripetal force. The hex nut is on a circular path inside the balloon. Things that are moving in a curved or circular motion will slowly move toward the center of the circle, in this case, the bottom of the balloon. What sound does the hex nut make? How about a penny? A marble? Try them all and see how they behave the same or differently.

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books and Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Move It! How Things Roll, Slide & Fly – the Science of Forces and Motion

Learn about the physics basics that explain how forces move things on earth. Speed, acceleration, push, pull, inertia, and friction are just some of the concepts covered. Find out the basics that explain how your bicycle works as well as the creative use of these same physics principles that result in the thrill of roller coasters.

Title - Why DoesnTitle - LetTitle - Move It!Title - A Crash Course in Forces and Motion With Max Axiom, Super ScientistTitle - Move It!Title - What Is Force?Title - Explore Forces and Motion!Title - ForcesTitle - ForcesTitle - How to Design the WorldTitle - The Science of A BicycleTitle - Forces

If you mix one substance with another substance you get a mixture. Lemonade would be an example. Or cookie dough! Pen ink is also a mixture. It has more than one substance in it. In this experiment you will see that it is possible to UNmix a mixture too. This is called chromatography. Chromatography is separating the parts of a mixture so that you can see each one by itself. Try this activity to observe black ink chromatography.

Watch the video below to see a demonstration of chromatography using some simple items you can find at home. Then try it yourself with paper towels and markers. In this experiment you will find out something surprising about what mixes together to make black ink!

What You Need

What You Need:

  • Paper Towel or Coffee Filter
  • Bowl
  • Water
  • Several different kinds of black markers

Instructions

Cut strips from the paper towel about 1 inch wide – one for each type of marker. Scribble across the bottom of one of the paper towel strips with each kind of marker. Scribble about one inch from one end of the paper towel strip. Tape the OTHER end of the strip to the maker you used to scribble on that strip. That will help you remember which marker goes with each paper towel strip.

Now hang the paper towel strips above the bowl of water so that only a little bit of the scribble end is in the water. Do not submerge the pen scribbles! Check on the paper towels in an hour. What has happened to the pen marks?

What you see happening on the paper towel strips is chromatography. The color of the ink in markers is made by mixing different pigments together. A pigment is a substance that makes color, like ink or dye. To make black, several pigments are mixed together. When the end of the paper towel strip is submerged in water the water soaks up through the paper towel. When the water passes through the black ink it takes the pigment colors with it. Some pigments dissolve in water easier and are pulled with the water farther up the paper. This is called chromatography – separating the parts of a mixture so that you can see them one at a time. Black ink actually looks like a rainbow!

Try a Black Ink Chromatography Science Experiment

Now set up an experiment using different kinds of paper to see what happens. Try a paper towel, a tissue, a square of toilet paper, and a piece of printer paper. Cut them all the same size. How does the ink act the same? What do you see that is different?

Or, set up an experiment with equally sized pieces of paper towels again, but test different colors of markers. Try black, purple, blue, green, and red. Can you predict what colors make up purple ink?

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about Science Experiments at any of our locations, or check out science experiment e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Books for Kids for a Stress-less Science Fair

Here are books to help you pick a science fair experiment that (1) follows the scientific method, (2) uses stuff you can find around the house, and (3) is great fun to do! The books will also help you understand what you are seeing by explaining the science concepts behind the dramatic results.

Title - Janice VanCleaveTitle - Experiment With Outdoor ScienceTitle - Excellent EngineeringTitle - The 101 Coolest Simple Science ExperimentsTitle - DadTitle - Maker LabTitle - Brain Lab for KidsTitle - Naked Eggs and Flying PotatoesTitle - Science Experiments You Can EatTitle - Science Is MagicTitle - Ada TwistTitle - STEM Lab

In today’s experiment you will be able to watch a chemical reaction. In this experiment vinegar (a substance) and baking soda (a substance) will mix together. When mixed together the molecules of the two substances will re-arrange, or change, to make new substances. Read on to find out how this chemical reaction results in an exploding ziploc!

Vinegar has acetic acid in it. The chemical name for baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. When you mix the two together you get sodium acetate and water. You also get carbon dioxide, which is a gas. The bag puffs up because carbon dioxide is a gas and takes up a lot of space. Eventually the bag isn’t big enough to hold all that carbon dioxide gas so it becomes an exploding ziploc!

You Will Need

Try it at Home! You Will Need:

  • Measuring Cups and Spoons
  • Baking soda
  • Vinegar
  • Snack size ziploc bag
  • Quart size ziploc bag

Measure one tablespoon of baking soda into a quart size ziploc bag. Measure 1/2 cup of vinegar into the snack size ziploc bag and zip the bag closed. Put the snack size ziploc bag full of vinegar into the quart size ziploc bag with the baking soda in it. Get as much air as possible out of the quart size bag before zipping it closed. Go outside! Stand in the middle of your yard. Grip the snack size ziploc bag from the outside of the quart size bag and pull it open. As soon as the vinegar starts to mix with the baking soda drop the bags into the grass and watch what happens.

If your bag inflates, but does not explode, try increasing the amount of baking soda and vinegar. If you do this, be sure to drop the bag quickly and take several steps away after you mix the two substances together – when the bag explodes it splashes vinegar everywhere…which does not feel good in your eyes. See the dog’s nose and eyes? Too close! And…it goes without saying to do this OUTSIDE. To investigate chemical reactions further – try some more experiments at home!

Websites, Activities & Printables

You can also ask a math and science expert for homework help by calling the Ask Rose Homework Hotline. They provide FREE math and science homework help to Indiana students in grades 6-12.

e-Books & Audiobooks

Use your indyPL Library Card to check out books about chemistry at any of our locations, or check out chemistry e-books and audiobooks from OverDrive Kids right to your device! If you have never used OverDrive before, you can learn how to use it for both e-books and audiobooks.

Need more help? Ask a Library staff member at any of our locations or call, text or email Ask-a-Librarian. Additionally, the Tinker Station helpline at (317) 275-4500 is also available. It is staffed by device experts who can answer questions about how to read, watch and listen on a PC, tablet or phone.

Chemistry for Kids: Projects to Makes Things Sizzle, Pop, and Explode!

Chemistry is nature’s magic. With it you can learn to do amazing things, like make erupting volcanoes and and fizzy exploding ziplocs. These books will show you how to do these things and also explain the science behind why these things are happening. You can explore chemical reactions by experimenting with things you find around the house in your kitchen, bathroom or garage.

Title - Kitchen ChemistryTitle - Mixtures and SolutionsTitle - Kitchen ChemistryTitle - Real Chemistry ExperimentsTitle - Science You Can EatTitle - 30-minute Chemistry ProjectsTitle - ReactionsTitle - Chemistry You Can ChompTitle - Backyard Chemistry ExperimentsTitle - Chemistry Projects to Build onTitle - Exploring Kitchen ScienceTitle - The Kitchen Pantry Scientist