Game Helps Teach Kids Cleaning Chemistry

Understanding the chemistry of chemicals used during cleaning is vital. As recent reports have shown, negligent use of cleaning chemicals can cause serious damage and injury. In an effort to improve education, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) has developed a game that teaches elementary and middle school-aged kids about chemistry’s role in cleaning in a fun, engaging way.

“Exploration Clean” is ACI’s online package of games and resources devoted to teaching kids about cleaning. The package features the new, interactive surface active agents (or surfactants) game “Get the Dirt.”

“In our new ‘Get the Dirt’ game, a player must match the type of stain with the right surfactant for the job, capturing dirt, grease and soils and lifting them away,” says the company in a statement. “There are five levels of this educational game and they get increasingly faster and more difficult.”

In addition to the game, the site includes a new ebook that walks through the history and science behind cleaning as well as the benefits of cleaning products to health and quality of life. It introduces the “Cleaning Court,” types of cleaning ingredients reimagined as characters in the “Kingdom of Clean.” The Cleaning Court makes it easier and more fun to remember what these ingredients do and why many of them are critical to the cleaning process.

“The basics of soap, detergent and cleaning product chemistry provides an excellent canvas for teaching an appreciation and love of science,” says Melissa Grande, ACI’s director of sustainability. “By providing these resources, we hope to inspire the next generation of scientists who may design the innovative, sustainable cleaning products of the future.” 

ACI encourages parents, educators and kids of all ages to check out its online STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) resources to better understand the science and chemistry behind everyday cleaning products.