We love STEM fun at our house, so when my mom, Mimi, told us she had come up with a very simple experiment to make a volcano, my kids and I were excited to give it a try. It was a great bonus that we could conduct this experiment using ingredients we already had in the house!
This simple volcano is colorful, fun, and a great STEM experiment for toddlers and preschoolers.
My kids keep asking me to make the volcano again and again!
Here's how to do it:
At-home exploding volcano
Ingredients:
- 1 cup vinegar
- 4 tbsp. baking soda
- baking sheet
- plastic or paper cup
- food coloring
- 1 tsp. dish soap
Directions:
1. Add baking soda to your cup. (Make sure to always keep your cup on the baking sheet to make clean up a breeze!)
2. Pick your colors and add into the cup.
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3. Add liquid dish soap to the cup. This will create fun bubbles!
4. Add the vinegar and ...
watch your volcano erupt!
The science behind the experiment:
You can explain to your children that the vinegar is an acid and the baking powder is a base. When they combine it's a chemical reaction and it creates carbon dioxide, which is a gas that bubbles everything up and out of the cup! The food coloring and dish soap just add extra flair.
Check out the video of our homemade volcano erupting:
Helen Partlow is the publisher of Macaroni Kid Mt. Sinai & Macaroni Kid Port Jefferson, N.Y.
