ACS Kids Zone

ACS Kids Zones are free public events featuring themed facilitator-supported activities, for children and their families. ACS members, including local chemists, college chemistry students, in addition to volunteer chemists of the ACS Committee on Community Activities (CCA), support interactive investigations, so children can experiment with actual chemists.

ACS Spring 2025 Kids Zone

March 22, 2025 | 11 AM - 2 PM PST | San Diego, CA

On Saturday, March 22nd, ACS President Dorothy J. Phillips will sponsor a complimentary public event at Logan Memorial Educational Campus. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on science activities, meet professional chemists, and receive educational giveaways.

Here are the planned activities: 

  • Snap, Crackle, Pop! Glaciers sizzle and hiss as they thaw in seawater. Compare the sounds Nerds and Pop Rocks make as they fall into water. One of these candies has something in common with a glacier! What could it be?
  • Ice Cores Count: Layer models of summer snow, winter snow, and volcanic ash according to “weather cards.” Then use your model ice core to figure out the age of the glacier it came from.
  • Icy Lakes and Oceans: There is a surprising difference between a glacier melting on land, in a lake, or in the ocean! Do an activity with water (representing a lake), saltwater (ocean), and ice water (the melting glacier) to find out what happens.
  • Ice Melt Race: Meet the competitors—Plastic and Aluminum. Both will attempt to melt an ice cube in under a minute using the power of thermal conduction. Who will win? What does this mean for snow hoping to become a glacier?
  • Slime: A Model Glacier: Glaciers are famous for moving slowly. So does slime. The similarities do not end there. In fact, scientists consider both to be non-Newtonian fluids. Make your own slime to use in the Glaciers on the Move activity. You will be able to take your slime home.
  • Glaciers on the Move: Select slime add-ins, to represent rocks and sand, and arrange them on a ramp. Place your slime at the top of the ramp to watch (and wait) as your slime moves downhill. How will it move? What will happen to the add-ins? How is slime like a glacier? There is only one way to find out!
Kids Zone logo over the illustration of a mole drilling into a glacier

Past Events

ACS Fall 2024 Kids Zone

On Saturday, August 17th, ACS President Mary K. Carroll and the ACS Office of Science Outreach held a free public event at the CU Denver Lola and Rob Salazar Student Wellness Center from 11:00 a.m.– 2:00 p.m. (MDT). Participants engaged with real chemists, for an afternoon of chemistry, giveaways, and fun!

Even if you missed the event, you can download the activities here: 

  • Imagine Imaging (PDF): Can you complete a puzzle when all the pieces are face-down? Using a magnet as a probe, along with your senses of touch and hearing, you can!  
  • Laser-Focused on Chemistry (PDF): Use a simple model of an atomic force microscope to determine the arrangement of objects on a hidden piece of cardboard.
  • Rainbow Spectroscope (PDF): Compare colorful stripes, known as spectra, to known patterns, and identify which element is in each of the three tubes. 
  • Solar Protector Detector (PDF): Make your own UV-detecting wristband so that you can tell when to wear sunglasses, sunscreen, or other sun protection.
  • Light Prints (PDF): Choose a stencil and make a print, called a cyanotype, with a UV flashlight on special paper like those used in the early days of photography.

ACS Spring 2024 Kids Zone

On Saturday, March 16th, ACS President Mary K. Carroll sponsored the free public event at New Orleans’s historic Xavier University. Participants enjoyed hands-on science activities, the opportunity to meet real chemists, and educational giveaways! 

Even if you missed the event, you can download the activities here: 

Watch the video highlights from ACS Kids Zone Spring 2024:

Vimeo ID: 924344245

Kids Zone logo