Science.

Party.

Or just for fun.

We’ve done it for all of the above reasons. My son’s 6th birthday party was dinosaur themed so we erupted a volcano for one of the activities. See for yourself here: Dinosaur Kid Party Ideas, Games and Food. Last month were studying ancient rome and our book reading on Pompeii quickly turned into a whole unit. My kids were involved in every aspect of this project, which made it more fun for them and since we only made one volcano they took turns rolling out the clay, painting the volcano and making it erupt.

In the words of my kids, “This was awesome!”

Volcano Eruption Activity

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vinegar
2 tablespoon baking soda
air dry clay
water bottle

optional: food coloring

1. We wrapped the air dry clay around the water bottle and shaped it like a volcano. It took a day to dry and then we painted it.

2. Next we placed the baking soda inside the water bottle, using a funnel.

3. Then we put food coloring inside the vinegar so it had a fiery look to it.

4. Are you ready for the eruption? Because putting in the vinegar creates the chemical reaction that causes the eruption. Quickly pour the vinegar in and move out the way so you can watch the “lava” come out.

My 2 tablespoons of baking soda were stretched with my continuously pouring vinegar. So I ended up using about 2 cups of vinegar. I’d shake the mix and pour more vinegar after it erupted in order to get the baking soda stuck at the bottom to come in contact with the vinegar.

The kids were in awe!