Homemade Old Fashioned Butter

Homemade Old Fashioned Butter

Did you know that making homemade old fashioned butter with your kids is an example of a simple STEAM activity for elementary students? In fact, this child-friendly activity is good for learning about science, where food comes from, and how people lived and ate back in the day.

If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving with kids, homemade butter is a fitting example of a Thanksgiving STEM activity or a complementary activity for a unit study about pioneers too. Or if you don’t want to wait until Thanksgiving, homemade butter is a good edible STEM activity for kids to enjoy all year long. Just talk about pioneers and prairie dwellers instead!

All-in-one accounting software

Get 90% off for 6 months

Get This Deal

This article may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy for more details.

Homemade Butter Instructions

Making homemade butter is simple!  All you need is:

1. Heavy whipping cream
2. Mason jar (or another jar with a tight-fitting lid)
3. An excited child

Fill your jar about halfway with cream and close the lid.  Then, all you have to do is shake!  

First, your cream will start to resemble a sand-paper like texture.  Then it will start to look like melty ice cream.  Finally, your butter will begin to resemble whipped cream, and then butter.  

This process takes about 10 minutes worth of shaking/rolling (give or take).  When your butter is done, separate it from your buttermilk (use this for baking or just throw it away), and then it’s ready to enjoy!  Eat your homemade butter on homemade rolls or bread as part of your Thanksgiving feast, or enjoy it during the days leading up to Thanksgiving.  While you’re making your butter, imagine you were a pilgrim preparing for The First Thanksgiving.

Here’s a fun video I found on YouTube the shows you the whole process. They use fresh milk but store-bought heavy cream works just fine.

The Science Behind Homemade Butter

The science behind making homemade butter is simple.  

When your cream is shaken, all of the fat molecules from the cream begin to clump together.  The more you shake, the more these fat molecules cling together, until a clump of butter is formed, leaving only the fat-free buttermilk behind.

STEM Resources Delivered to Your Inbox Every Month

If you liked this edible STEM activity, you are going to love the STEM Made Easy Digital Subscription. Each month, you’ll receive 5 fully-planned STEM project guides along with worksheets and instructions for how to make them fun and engaging for kids ages 3-19. Check it out now!

Related Posts

Halloween STEM Activities
Christmas STEM Activities
Year-Round Holiday Homeschooling Content