The Wonder of Fizz · Connected Through Play

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The Wonder of Fizz

Who likes making pancakes? Not to long ago, I was making pancakes and caught myself doing the thing adults do when we’re trying to get breakfast finished quickly. Pour. Flip. Move on. Get everybody fed. Wipe the counter. Brew the tea.

Then I noticed the bubbles. And for those of you who never worked the breakfast shift at McDonald's, I just want you to know how important those bubbles are. I still remember Jerry D. training me and he was a monster at breakfast, ask

@Karen Gibson

she knows. Anyway, tiny little holes that slowly appear on the surface right before the pancake is ready to turn over. They are quiet little signals that something is changing.

And it hit me that kids notice these things constantly.

Not because they are trying to “learn science,” but because the world still feels new enough to deserve their full attention.

I think somewhere along the many of us were taught that science lives in textbooks, museums, labs, and school projects. Meanwhile some of the most fascinating chemistry most families ever encounter is happening directly over the stove while someone is asking where the syrup went.

Bread rises because yeast is alive. Pancakes bubble because gases form and escape as heat changes the batter. Cookies spread differently depending on butter temperature, sugar ratios, and moisture. Even whipped cream behaves differently depending on temperature and fat structure.

The kitchen is full of transformation.

That word matters to me because transformation is really what children are studying long before they know scientific vocabulary. They are watching one thing become another thing. Liquid becomes solid. Powder disappears. Dough stretches. Steam rises. Something flat becomes fluffy. Something still suddenly foams and expands.

Developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik has written extensively about how young children learn through observation, experimentation, and testing ideas in ordinary environments. Not separate from life, but through life itself. That changes how I think about activities like this week’s experiments.

We are not “adding learning” to the day.

We are slowing down enough to notice the learning that was already there.

If you really want to explore this, check out her paper, linked below.

https://www.alisongopnik.com/Papers_Alison/Scientific%20Thinking%20in%20young%20Children.pdf

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