Create a spooky laboratory full of creepy crawly specimens with this fun science-themed craft idea that can be used for Halloween or a fun kids boredom buster. Kids will love the gross out possibilities you can make with a variety of plastic bugs, worms, snakes, and eyeballs. Fill plastic jars with the specimens and add water and food coloring to transform them into specimen jars. A little glitter and confetti creates a fun witch's potion. There are lots of spooky variations of this craft!
Gather your supplies. We used a variety of small "specimens" such as mini snakes, bugs and spiders, earthworms, rats, bones, and eyeballs. For the specimen jars we used a combination of these pint jars and short jars. The jars are plastic, making them a safe option for young kids to craft with. These craft trays are helpful for organizing your supplies and corralling glitter!
Add a few specimens to a jar and then fill the jar with water. The large bugs will touch the sides of the jars, preventing them from floating when water is added. The earthworms and snakes can also stick to the sides of the jar. Other specimens like the eyeballs will float when water is added. You can also glue a specimen to the bottom of the jar with E600 glue and let dry overnight before adding water.
Add a little food coloring to the water to make the specimens look extra spooky. You can also add some glitter or Halloween confetti to the jars if you want to create a witch's potion. A couple drops of glycerin helps keep the glitter suspended in the water.
Arrange your spooky specimens by a window so the light can shine through them. Be ready to gross out your guests!