3 engaging battery experiments for kids and teens

A spinning ballerina on a battery, generating energy with a piece of fruit, or a homemade battery charger? The things you can do with batteries sometimes come from an unexpected corner! Batteries are ideal for entertaining kids and teenagers with a touch of science. These 3 experiments stimulate their creativity and curiosity, and they also learn something from it. Let the battery fun begin!

But first ... safety!

Batteries are great fun to experiment with, but anything that gets near small (and big) hands must always be safe. Therefore, always keep a close eye on them and only conduct experiments with children who are old enough to understand these safety rules:

Preferably wear plastic gloves.
Never experiment without adult supervision.

Never put batteries or magnets in your mouth, nose, ears, or any other body parts.
Do not cut into batteries and do not dent them. If you damage a battery, acid can be released which can cause burns.
If a battery gets warm during experimentation, it is not suitable for the test. Try using another battery.

All safe? Then we have 3 super fun experiments for you to unleash your little scientists on. Have fun!

Experiment 1: Battery-powered ballerina

The first experiment is for the real creatives. After all, it involves quite a bit of delicate crafting (and patience). But your effort will be doubly rewarded, because at the end of all that crafting, you'll be watching a beautiful ballerina spinning pirouettes on her own. Impressive!

What do you need?

A piece of copper wire (not too thin, or it won't work)
3 neodymium disc magnets (12mm diameter x 3mm height)
1 AA battery
A pair of wire cutters
Crepe paper or a piece of fabric and (hot) glue for the skirt

Here you can find a template

Follow these 6 steps to make your spinning dancer:

Cut a long piece of copper wire about 25 cm with the wire cutter. Lay it on the template and bend the copper wire as shown in the drawing. It is important that your shape is as symmetrical as possible!
Wrap the bottom piece of copper wire around the battery. Remove the battery and gently widen the circular opening with your fingers.
Place the 3 neodymium magnets under the negative side of the battery.
Place your ‘motor’ made of copper wire on top of the battery, so that it touches the positive terminal. The round bottom of the copper wire should be low enough to be fully encircled by the magnets. If your copper wire is too long, cut it to fit your design.
Let go! Your ballerina should now start spinning. If it doesn't work immediately, don't panic, it takes some patience to bend the copper wire correctly. Make small adjustments until your dancer can spin stably.
Make a skirt for your ballerina by cutting a small circle in crepe paper or fabric, and cutting a hole in the middle. Slide it over the copper wire to the dancer and secure with a bit of glue.

Did it work? Time to show off your homemade ‘batterina’ to everyone!

Experiment 2: Musical lemons

The fruit bowl is probably not the place where you store your batteries. But did you know that there's something in there that can generate energy - just like a battery? As strange as it sounds: a lemon! OK, it may only generate a little bit of voltage (about 0.8 volts per lemon), but it's a good start. What happens if you connect multiple lemons together and then connect a music box or a small lamp to them? It's worth experimenting!

Experiment 3: String of lights

Is the weather bad outside? This experiment is ideal for bringing some light into a dark day. With a few LED lights and a battery, you can create your own colorful string of lights. Here's how you do it:

Take the LED lights. Pick your favorite colors!
Connect them with pliers: intertwine the positive side of the first light with the negative side of the next, and so forth.
Connect the ends to the poles of a 9-volt battery.

If you've done it correctly, you'll see the lights illuminate immediately.

Do you want to show us how well your experiment turned out, or do you have any fun ideas for battery experiments yourself? Share them on your social media and tag us!