Even though it shouldn’t need to said, here it is:
The experiments laid out on this site involve chemicals which can cause serious injury or death! Always wear proper protective equipment (gloves, eye goggles). Toxic fumes are produced by some reactions; always conduct reactions outdoors or in a very well ventilated area. Keep a class D chemical fire extinguisher nearby at all times!

There are a few things you’ll need to decide on, and a few supplies before you can begin.

The biggest decision is whether you will collect raw elements, or objects that make use of them (e.g. will you use a microchip for silicon, or a wafer of pure silicon metal?). I will be focused on the first, although I will point out everyday objects and ores for each element.

You’ll also need to decide how you will store and showcase them. Most elements will react with the atmosphere or with water, forming oxides or hydroxides. For this reason, sealed glass containers are required for many metals and all gases. In a pinch, clear balloons can hold some gases, and reactive metals can be stored under mineral oil.

For chemistry, you will need a durable high temperature pan or pot, a butane or propane torch, a couple of glass beakers (or measuring cups) that can fit in one another, and a distillation set up. The glass distillation set will be the only lab equipment I will use, and can be bought off Amazon for $50-$100. Glass vials with stoppers are also useful for collecting gases, especially from electrolysis. A hotplate is useful to melt some metals and speed up reactions, as well as to use outdoors to avoid dangerous fumes from accumulating.

There are three quintessential acids that you will need, two of which are easy to find, and a third that can be made. Hydrochloric acid is available from pool stores, often labelled as muriatic acid. Sulphuric acid can be purchased from auto parts stores as battery acid. Finally, nitric acid can be made using the previous acids and potassium nitrate, a common gardening fertilizer that can also be made with potassium salt and ammonium nitrate, found in cooling packs. These three acids can extract almost all metals.

The elements each have a difficulty assigned to them with one to five ✪ under the following rough guidelines:
✪ – Element can be purchased in retail stores or found around the home in its pure form.
✪✪ – Element can be obtained with simple chemistry, disassembling household objects, or a thermite reaction.
✪✪✪ – Some advanced chemistry – multiple steps.
✪✪✪✪ – Advanced chemistry – strong acids, hazardous chemicals, fractional distillation.
✪✪✪✪✪ – Probably unobtainable without special licences.