volcano erupting

Ella and I attened the Half Pint Hullabaloo last weekend. I think her favorite activity was the station where they mix vinegar with baking soda to make a little volcano. She kept insisting we go back so I told her we would make a super cool volcano at home.

We walked in the door and she insisted we get started right away. Thankfully I had already scouted out plans for making a volcano at home.

First we made some salt dough...squish, squish


And then we formed the salt dough around a baby food jar (we used a stage 2 one that is taller). We made the volcano inside a baking pan, to avoid an overflow mess later.

Next we started adding ingredients. First we put a little water in the jar. Then added some food coloring (red of course). Then we added a few drops of dishwasher detergent because I had read this made a pretty cool effect. Here we are ready to make the explosion!

First the baking soda...

Then the vinegar...

And then a bunch more baking soda and vinegar.

Dad was in on the action too


The project turned out really well. I was worried we would need to let the salt dough dry, but it was pretty firm so we were able to have the eruption right away. Probably was about an hour start to finish.