Starting off the school year with strong lab safety activities for middle school science sets the tone for a safe, confident, and engaged classroom. It’s not enough to just teach the rules—students need hands-on, memorable experiences to truly understand why they matter. In this post, you’ll find 4 exciting activities designed to reinforce lab safety, plus a free back-to-school resource to jump-start your lessons with ease and energy.
If you are a science teacher looking for new ways to keep students interested in lab safety, check out these ideas below:
Fun and Engaging Lab Safety Activities for Middle School Science
Students are always interested in zombies, so why not integrate them into your lab safety unit?
This Zombie College fun, 10‑minute video hooks students’ attention with a zombie twist. It comes with premade word scrambles and worksheets—perfect for a low-prep intro to safety
This website can fulfill all your teaching needs depending on how long you need to spend going over ways to stay safe in your classroom laboratory.
Note to teacher: While I have shown this video to grade 7 and 8 students, please view it first to decide if it is appropriate for your student audience.
- Identifying the chosen lab safety rule
- State reasons why it is important to follow this rule in the classroom.
3. Lab Safety Review Game
- Equipment and practice
- Should I?
- Fire, Chemicals, and Goggles, Oh My!
- Lab Procedures
- Random Science Safety
"Eye" Know Lab Safety Activity
This lab activity will integrate the safety rules into a fun experiment. This activity would engage students on the first days of school or as an introduction to your lab safety unit.
Many students may not understand the need for goggles in the classroom. This eye protection lab uses:
- Egg whites
- Alcohol
- Petri dishes
- Markers
- Dropper
- Water
to teach students the importance of keeping their eyes safe during lab experiences.
To complete this science experiment,
- use the marker to draw an eyeball at the bottom of the Petri dish.
- Then, put one egg white in each of the dishes.
- Pour water into one dish.
- Pour alcohol into the other dish.
- Observe.
This lab safety activities for middle school science will excite students while teaching them about the importance of lab safety.
How to Integrate Lab Safety Activities into Your Middle School Science Lessons
These lab safety activities aren’t just fun—they’re flexible enough to use during the first week of school or revisit before any hands-on investigation. Here’s how to integrate them smoothly:
✅ First Day of Science – Start with the Zombie College video or a safety sort activity. It’s a great conversation starter that also sets your classroom tone.
✅ After Reviewing Rules – Use the Missing Safety Rule or Safety Scenario Cards as stations, bell ringers, or small group discussions.
✅ Before Your First Lab – Reinforce safety concepts with a short student reflection or role-play from one of the activities.
✅ When Students Forget the Rules… – Yep, it happens. Pull out a quick review activity to refresh expectations without starting from scratch.
These activities also align with NGSS science practices like planning investigations and applying crosscutting concepts such as cause and effect (What happens when rules aren’t followed?).
🎉 Grab Your Free Lab Safety Activity
Want a no-prep way to launch your lab safety unit? This free science activity includes everything you need to help students explore lab rules and reflect on safety in an engaging way.
- Graphic organizers
- Scenarios for group discussion
- Flexible formats for middle school
Are you looking for more activities to use with your students? This unit includes unique ways to teach students to stay safe in the science laboratory and classroom. It includes classroom decor and activities to introduce, teach, and reinforce concepts related to safety.
Teaching lab safety at the start of the year creates a culture of responsibility that lasts all year. Try one of these interactive lab safety activities for middle school science with your students, download the free resource, and your routine is set. Plus, check out these helpful back-to-school science posts:
