Volcano Fun!

We love to make volcanoes on our beach, and I thought this would be a fun activity to do with Elliott while he is recovering from surgery. The girls were SUPER excited, and we had a lot of fun. First, the girls built up the sand around a bottle to form the volcano. Then they took turns pouring water into the bottle. They took turns squeezing red food coloring into the water. They took turns measuring out a total of 2 tablespoons of baking soda and pouring it into the bottle. Elliott poured in the white vinegar, and we watched the lava explode! Here are our volcano posts from previous years....2011 and 2010 and 2009

Exploding Bags...Maybe Not

After our fun experimenting with vinegar and baking soda, I decided to let the girls try another vinegar and baking soda experiment (also found via Pinterest at this blog).

First, the girls each put 1 tablespoon of baking soda on a small piece of paper towel and folded it up.

Then we put a half cup of white vinegar and a fourth cup of warm water in the bag (the water wasn't that warm by the time it finally made it to the bag). We sealed the bag, backed up, and waited.

The bags got really big, but they never actually popped...until E(2) stepped on them! The baking soda was old and the water wasn't very warm, which probably made the reaction less strong than it should have been. That was ok though, we still had fun!

Science Thursday...Fun with Baking Soda and Vinegar

Both girls LOVE doing science experiments, so I'm trying to make sure we do AT LEAST one science experiment per week. We started out with something simple and FUN! (this idea came from Pinterest...surprise, surprise!)

I filled a baking pan with baking soda and gave the girls 3 glasses with colored vinegar. I also gave them a spray bottle with colored vinegar, a couple of glasses, and a couple of pippettes. Then the fun began!



They pretended to make make baking soda and vinegar milkshakes...yum!







They loved this activity so much, and they would have played with it for hours if we hadn't run out of baking soda. This is definitely one of those "why didn't I think of that???" activities (since making baking soda and vinegar volcanoes is one of our regular activities!).

A Beautiful and Simple Science Experiment

This is a science experiment that we do every year when the white Camelias bloom...

First, O poured water into 4 test tubes (I bought these on clearance after Halloween...they were filled with gummy body parts in candy jelly, which we threw away).



Then, she squeezed LOTS of food coloring in to each test tube.  The tubes were red, yellow, green, and blue (the food coloring was so dark that you couldn't really tell which color each tube held at first).



Our last step was putting one beautiful white Camelia into each test tube. 


Within about 3 hours, the petals were already starting to turn colors. This was SO exciting because this is the FIRST year this experiment has worked (and it's our 3rd year doing it!). I realized last year (too late) that it wasn't working because we weren't using enough food coloring.




All of the petals fell off the blue and green flowers after only one day.  Luckily, the girls didn't mind.  I'm so glad this project finally worked!


Thanks to Nonie who inspired me to use the test tubes for this experiment.  They worked perfectly...you should try it!

Knotted Bones

O and I recently completed a science experiment in which we soaked a chicken bone in a jar of vinegar until it was bendable. The directions said to soak the bone for a week, but our bone wasn't bendable after a week.  We put it on the countertop and forgot about it for several weeks. 



Elliott got tired of seeing it and asked if he could throw it away, so we tried it out again before throwing it away.  Sure enough, it was bendable!  We tried to tie it in a knot, but it wasn't long enough.    O was excited to bend it, but ready to wash her hands afterwards...it was kind of gross (I was glad I didn't have to touch it). 

Catching a Rainbow Science Experiment

O, E, and I usually do a science experiment or an art activity each afternoon. Last week we did the "Catching a Rainbow" science experiment from Kidzone.

We poured a cup of milk into a bowl. Then O squeezed 3 drops of red food coloring at the top of the bowl, yellow at the bottom, and blue at the opposite side (to form a triangle). I squeezed a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid into the middle of the bowl, and we observed the changes.



I printed a sheet from Kidzone for O to complete about our experiment. She worked on it as she watched the rainbow.


She was SO excited when I told her that she had a homework. She said "Homework! I've always wanted to do homework!" I read the questions to her on the sheet, and she dictated the answers to me.

This was a fun experiment, and I'm excited by how much O enjoyed drawing what she saw and answering questions.  I think we may start a science journal for her to draw and write about the different experiments that we do. 

Volcano Fun

A few weeks ago, O told me that she loved volcanoes. I asked if she remembered making a sand volcano last summer, and she didn't. So, we made another one!

First, she filled a water bottle 3/4 full with lake water. Then we built a sand volcano up around it. She put blue food coloring in the water (blue is her favorite color).

Then she put 2 tablespoons of baking soda in the bottle.

I poured in the vinegar, and we watched our volcano explode!

We made it explode several times before O started experimenting with putting sand in the bottle, etc. This was such a fun activity!