This work describes a convenient and reliable laboratory experiment in nanochemistry that is flexible and adaptable to a wide range of educational settings. The rapid preparation of yellow colloidal silver nanoparticles is achieved by glucose reduction of silver nitrate in the presence of starch and sodium citrate in gently boiling water, using either a hot plate or domestic microwave oven as the heat source. During the experiment, the students are encouraged to consider the role that each reagent plays in the synthesis. If desired, the experiment can be repeated with the systematic elimination of individual reagents to more rigorously investigate the importance of each in the optimized reaction conditions. The benign reagents used in the preparation are commonly found in most educational science storerooms. The optimized synthesis has proven to be quite reliable in student hands and may also appeal as an alternative method to instructors who already include the preparation of silver nanoparticles in their laboratory curriculum.