Young students will be amazed that they can transform a hard chicken bone into a rubbery one through a simple chemical reaction. Fill a tall glass up with vinegar. Place a long chicken bone into the glass. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the glass and place a rubber band over it so that the plastic wrap does not come off. Leave the chicken bone in the vinegar for at least five days. After the allotted time has passed, take out the chicken bone and show the students that the bone is now rubbery and flexible.
You can teach young students about chemical reactions by showing them how to create an exploding volcano. Place a pound of clay onto a jelly roll tray. Form the clay into a mound and press the edges down tightly onto the tray. Push in the center of the mound to create a deep well. In a bowl, combine 1 cup of white vinegar with 10 drops of red food coloring. Pour 1/4 cup of baking soda into the clay well. Pour the colored vinegar into the well. The baking soda will react with the vinegar and will cause large amounts of red foam to flow out of the clay volcano.
You can fascinate your students by creating glue out of simple ingredients like whole milk. Heat 1 cup of whole milk until it is hot but not boiling. Pour in 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to cause the milk to separate into liquid whey and solid chunks of cream. Strain the chunks through cheesecloth and rinse them well. In a glass, combine 2 tablespoons of water with 1/2 teaspoon of borax. Pour the milk chunks into the borax solution and leave it there for 12 to 18 hours. The milk chunks will combine with the borax solution to create glue.