Pre-School Science: Color Eruption

For Easter, Grandpa Paul & Grandma Colleen gave Oliver an egg beater. We spent part of Easter with Paul's family, and Oliver had fun sitting on the counter, beating a mixture of water and soap in the sink. I wanted to give him something to beat at home, and so I decided to let him beat together baking soda and vinegar.

Here's what you need for this activity:

*Vinegar
*Baking soda
*food coloring (optional)
*a large bowl
*a small pitcher or measuring cup with a spout
*a whisk

First, I took a pitcher of vinegar and dyed it blue. Warning: this can stain!

Then, in a large mixing bowl, I added about a quarter cup of baking soda. I dyed it yellow and added just enough water so I could stir it.

                                                                            

Here's Oliver's activity, all set up:

Oliver poured the blue vinegar into the yellow baking soda, and it foamed up to the top of the bowl! Of course, it also turned green.

                      

Oliver kept asking for more vinegar. I gave him a few pitchers full of plain vinegar to pour in again and again. It continued to foam, but the "eruption" got less and less each time.

The mixture continued to fizzle and foam a bit as Oliver mixed away. He loved it! It kept him busy until quiet time, actually!

We used blue and yellow to make green. You can use blue and red to make purple, or you can use red and yellow to make orange. Remember that this stuff can stain your kitchen towels, table, floor, skin, and clothes!

Enjoyed this activity? Check out a similar one that is better suited for younger kids here:
http://becky-shattuck.blogspot.com/2012/08/100-attempted-ways-to-entertain-young_13.html

Volcano Easter Eggs!

We took the kids over to my in-law's house today to dye some Easter eggs. Colleen asked me if I'd seen the pin she'd found on Pinterest (I hadn't). It was for volcano Easter eggs, and she wanted to give it a try. You can find the pin right here, and it will direct you to a fun blog called "Toddler Approved." Check it out!

The basic idea behind the activity is this: You paint your Easter eggs using a baking soda and food coloring mixture. Then, you drizzle the egg with vinegar. It foams and dyes the egg!

It reminds me a lot of the vinegar and baking soda color explosion activity we've done (many times now) in the past. This one doesn't have quite as sensational of an explosion, but it's absolutely a new and fun way to dye those eggs!

To make the paint, I eyeballed about a Tablespoon of baking soda. I added 6 drops of food coloring, and then I added just splash of water. That was enough to thin it out enough to paint.

Here are the kids painting their eggs with Grandma Colleen:

Once your egg is painted, set it in a bowl or other container (something you don't love dearly, in case it stains) and drizzle some vinegar on it. It foams! Oliver was in awe and said, "Wow, Grammi, wow!"

Here's a video of our kids making volcano Easter eggs:
                       

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 79: Vinegar-Baking Soda Color Explosion

Holy cow! We had so much fun with our "Vinegar-Baking Soda Color Explosion" activity! You have got to try this.

I stumbled across the idea on Pinterest (here's a link to that original post). I had to test it out! If you don't have everything you need on hand, make a trip down the baking aisle at your super market. They recommended using a dropper. I don't have one, but I had some nearly-empty acrylic paint squeeze bottles that I cleaned out. You can also probably clean out some miniature shampoo bottles, if you hang onto those from hotels. If all else fails, you can probably just keep the colored vinegar in separate bowls and give your toddler a spoon to spoon it out. I imagine that method would get pretty messy, though.

Here's what you need: