Bug and Monkey Mama: V is for Volcano

Last night at bedtime Little Bug wanted me to read The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top which is all about volcanoes. I thought the perfect activity to do with her would be to make a volcano. I've always done this activity with my first and second graders at the end of the year and they always loved it so I thought she would too. She was for the first part of making the volcano but then when I said we were going to make it erupt she got scared. She thought it was going to be loud. I talked to her and told her it would just be bubbles like in her bath. So I erupted it twice - once with her inside the house watching out the screen door and then a second time with her outside with me.

She thought it was pretty neat once she saw that it didn't make sounds or anything. She is going through a bit of a "scared of everything"phase. But that's ok - she'll outgrow it. As long as I reassure her everything is going to be fine then she is ok.

When we came in then she drew a nice looking V on her chalkboard. I was pretty impressed.

The ingredients: baking soda, vinegar, dish detergent, red food coloring, clay, a mini water bottle, a funnel, and a cookie sheet to catch the mess! Oh and a baby monitor.............no you don't really need that but we always try to do the activities when Little Monkey is sleeping! And not pictured here, supplies that I needed to run into the house to get: a wet towel and some dry towels for wiping hands and then a piece of cardboard to use as the base of the volcano.

To make the volcano erupt just put some baking soda in the bottom of the bottle. Mix some vinegar, dish detergent, and red food coloring in a container and pour over the baking soda. The more dish detergent you use the more bubbles you will have. You can vary your measurements - I didn't measure anything.