Soul Food Time
  • Home
  • Faith
  • My Soul Food
  • Table
  • Little Outdoorsmen

Toddler-friendly DIY Volcano

1/16/2018

0 Comments

 
After too many snowy days spent on Pinterest, a serious case of cabin fever, and a peek into the pantry, I decided to try out a toddler-friendly volcano experiment. 

It's a sign that February is nigh when I start building natural disasters within the (sometimes) natural disaster which I call my home.  Ahem.  These walls close in a little more with each icy-cold day, I think.
Picture
Digging in the snow!
As I mentioned in my post a few weeks ago with our lava lamp experiment, The Little Outdoorsman is obsessed with volcanoes right now.  His two-year-old cousin, Matt, is also volcano-crazy.  Time for a volcano party!

On the bright side, this toddler-free volcano, or "BALL-cano," according to Matt, sets up and cleans up quickly and easily.  Also, the ingredients are probably in your pantry already.  On the other hand, it doesn't actually look a ton like a volcano.  We didn't do paper mache or decorate it.  Luckily, that didn't matter to the boys.
Picture
I constructed the whole volcano in about 5 minutes on a TV tray.  It is seriously SO easy to do. I have all of the ingredients pictured above: vinegar, baking soda, aluminum foil, food coloring, a plastic cup, and a paper or plastic plate.

Side note: you can definitely use real cups or plates if you need/want to.  The paper stuff just makes clean-up much easier.
Picture
To begin, tape the cup to the center of the paper plate.  It won't do to have the volcano toppling over!
Picture
Next, cover the cup with a couple of sheets of foil.  Securely tuck the foil underneath the rim of the plate.

The magnetic attraction begins. 
​"Whatcha doin', Becka?"
Picture
Next, cut an "x" in the foil with a knife or scissors...
Picture
and push the pieces of foil down into the cup.
Picture
Add a few spoonfuls of baking soda to the bottom of the cup.
Picture
I have the attention of both boys now, and they want to help!
Picture
I love it when that happens.
Picture
Add some food coloring to the baking soda.  We decided to go with red this time just to make it more realistic.  Other colors would be great, too.
Picture
We are ready for the "explosion"!  They were a little nervous and VERY excited.  I placed the volcano inside of a big Tupperware container. 
​No mess... no worries.

Please don't forget this step!
Picture
Time to bring in the big guns- vinegar!  Buy the biggest jug.  It's worth it, I promise.  Plus, they're going to want you to make another volcano ASAP.
Picture
With a flair, pour the vinegar in the volcano, and watch the magic happen! 
Picture
Picture
Dude.
Picture
Picture
Even Oliver wass engrossed in the spectacle!
Picture
I live for these moments!
Picture
Looks like a volcano to me!
Picture
This "experiment" was a huge success!  The boys were involved in the setup and were riveted during the "explosion".  Best of all, the cleanup took literally 30 seconds.

As I write this post a week or so later, we've created a couple more of these no-mess volcanoes.  Here are some fun activities you might like to include with your volcano time:

​- Read a book about volcanoes.  I recommend this one.  It's a little old for my three-year-old, but he still really enjoys it.

- Watch a video about volcanoes.  Just be sure to pre-screen it for violence/casualties/language. Yup, found that out the hard way.

- Use volcanoes to talk about the letter "V", a difficult letter to relate to sometimes.  You can do a letter tracing sheet, make a sandpaper letter, or draw pictures and talk about other things that begin with the letter "V".  Vinegar, violin, vegetables, anyone?  Because I am totally sick of "vase".  What kid relates to a vase?

- Add more baking soda to the vinegar in the volcano when it is finished to let it bubble again.  Spend some time scooping out old vinegar from the bottom of the container with a measuring cup, filling the volcano, stirring it with a spoon, and listening to it fizzle.  We used blue coloring in our last volcano, and Reed sat for at least an extra half-hour just playing in the container.  Or should I say experimenting, researching, and learning?
Gotta love it when that happens.  This was definitely a mom-win!  Let me know if you try it out!
Picture
Read more about The Little Outdoorsman's adventures!
Snow Cream 2.0
Bighorn National Forest
Ogallala Beach
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Rebekah

    Archives

    March 2019
    February 2019
    June 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017

    Categories

    All
    Around Town
    Education
    Holidays
    Home
    TLO At Home
    TLO Explores Cincinnati
    Travel

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Faith
  • My Soul Food
  • Table
  • Little Outdoorsmen
Proudly powered by Weebly