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Sugar & Yeast Balloon Experiment

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Did you know that you can blow up a balloon without using your mouth or a helium tank? You totally can. This super fun Sugar & Yeast Balloon Experiment will have kids wondering how it works. Much like our magic light bulb balloon experiment, this balloon experiment is easy to do. This is one of those experiments where the kids can do most if not all of the work. The only thing they might need help with is putting the balloon over the bottle opening. Everything else is easy-peasy. This is a great preschool or kindergarten science experiment and would even be a good balloon science fair project.

Simple Science: Sugar and Yeast Balloon Experiment, Yellow inflated balloon attached to a plastic water bottle in front of a black background

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Materials


How To Blow Up a Balloon with Yeast

For the yeast balloon experiment, put a couple of spoonfuls of sugar in the bottom of the empty water bottle. You can use the funnel to make this a little easier.

child\'s hand holding a spoonful of sugar over a white funnel in a clear plastic water bottle

Fill the bottle about half full with warm water.

Add a package of yeast.

child\'s hand holding a yellow packet of Fleischmann\'s RapidRise instant yeast, clear plastic water bottle sitting on a brown speckled countertop in the background

Child\'s hand pouring a yellow packet of instant yeast into a white funnel

Swirl the bottle around or put the top on and shake the bottle to get the yeast wet to activate it.

Place the balloon over the bottle opening.

Clear plastic water bottle with a mixture of sugar and yeast bubbling inside, yellow deflated balloon is attached to the top of the water bottle

Now you wait for the magic to happen. This will take a while. I'd say we left ours for over an hour to let our balloon get really good and inflated.

It will slowly get bigger...

Clear water bottle full of a bubbling mixture of sugar and yeast that has created a reaction to inflate the yellow balloon attached to the bottle

and bigger...

Inflated yellow balloon attached to the top of a clear water bottle with a bubbling mixture of sugar and yeast inside

How does the yeast balloon experiment work?

Yeast is a microscopic fungus. As the yeast eats the sugar, it releases a gas called carbon dioxide. The gas fills the bottle and then fills the balloon as more gas is created.

More fun science experiments for kids you might like:

Moon Crater Experiment
Simple Science: Observing Worms
Simple Science: How to Make a Volcano with Kids
Balloon Rocket STEM Activity

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