For our 31 days of STEM activities for kids, I wanted to do science experiments for kids that were easy, but impressive at the same time. This made a volcano science experiment a must.
We’ve made a volcano science experiment before, but this time, we decided to make it look a little more impressive by adding a play dough mountain around our bottle and making the inside of the volcano a deeper red.
Why Do Vinegar and Baking Soda React?
What causes the volcano to explode in the volcano science experiment is the reaction between the baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid. When a base and an acid are mixed, it creates a byproduct of carbon dioxide, which causes the mixture to overflow just like a shaken soda bottle. When dish soap is added to the mix, it makes things even more foamy and bubbly.
How to Do the Volcano Science Experiment
Supplies
- Ketchup or tomato paste
- Vinegar
- Dish soap
- Baking Soda
- Play dough
- Small bottle
- Funnel
Volcano Science Experiment Instructions
Place about 2 tablespoons of baking soda into a bowl. Add about 10 drops of dish soap on top of the baking soda and about ¼ of a cup of ketchup or tomato paste. Mix together gently with a spoon so you don’t make too many suds at once.
Cover the bottle with play dough and place it on a tray. We put ours in a garden box. Carefully pour the baking soda mixture into the bottle using a funnel.
Add vinegar to the bottle slowly, a little at a time. We ended up adding too much vinegar to ours (as you can see in the video), which made our eruption a little less impressive.
Monkey loved seeing the science demonstration and had a lot of fun setting up the volcano and watching the reaction. If you want to go farther with this experiment, you can experiment with various additives to the vinegar and baking soda mixture to see if you can make the eruption more impressive or change the speed at which it leaves the bottle.
Watch our volcano erupt!
If you make this experiment, share your results on the Schooling a Monkey Facebook page! We would love to see your creations.
Visit the other posts in the 31 days of STEM activities for kids series, here! Even more STEM activities for kids, here.
Get more homeschooling tips for moms in the full 31 days of homeschooling tips for moms series!