Category: {Kid Crafts} Mad Scientist

Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft

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Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft @ Crayon Box Chronicles

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Watch out dinosaurs the volcano is erupting! What is foamy and bubbly, but not hot? It’s kid lava — baking soda and vinegar style. The chemical reaction between the to ingredients causes a frothy reaction — super science fun! Let’s get started on our erupting miniature volcano experiment!

Materials: (most things you’ll already have!)

  • Paper cup {Dollar Store—green}
  • Small plastic spray bottle, top removed {Dollar Store multi-pack}
  • Moss {Dollar Store}
  • Paper bowl
  • Funnel
  • Measuring cup
  • Masking tape
  • Scissors or knife {parent}
  • Markers or Paint
  • Safari LTD Dinosaurs

Volcano Eruption Recipe:

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup vinegar
  • Dish soap, few drops
  • Red Food coloring

What’s Next:

1.  Let’s start with the paper cup. We used green cups, so no need to color. But if you use white paper cups, paint or color green with markers. Next, flip the cup upside-down — color or paint the bottom rim red for the super hot lava! Using the cap of the plastic bottle as a guide, trace a circle in the center.  This is where the bottle will pop through. Using a knife or scissors {parent} cut two small slits.

Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft @ Crayon Box Chronicles

2.  Now let’s construct the volcano.  Place the small plastic bottle in the center of a bowl, spray cap removed.  Next, push the paper cup volcano base over the bottle allowing the mouth of the bottle to pop through.

Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft @ Crayon Box Chronicles

3.  Tape the volcano cup base down to the bowl to prevent shifting. Then add moss, small dinosaurs, and we’re ready to experiment!

Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft @ Crayon Box Chronicles

4.  The formula: 1 teaspoon baking soda {more if desired} + 1/2 cup vinegar + few drops of red food coloring {pre-mix the food coloring and vinegar} + a few drops dish soap = foamy science fun! Watch the chemical reaction as the components mix and the volcano erupts with foamy red lava! 

{note} We did it a few times with the 1/2 cup vinegar — if you’re only doing it once, you can use less.

Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft @ Crayon Box Chronicles

Mini-Volcano Eruption Craft @ Crayon Box Chronicles

{Science Fact Alert!}

Why does baking soda and vinegar bubble, fizz, and froth? It’s a chemical reaction between the two that causes the bubbling. Baking soda is actually sodium bicarbonate, which has the chemical formula NaDCO3. Vinegar is acetic acid mixed with water and has the chemical formula CH3COOH. When the two chemicals are mixed together they produce the formula:

NaHCO3 + CH3COOH –> CH3COONa + H2CO3

To see why the bubbling happens, we need to look at the last part of that equation. The H2CO3 is carbonic acid which very quickly breaks down into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). The carbon dioxide is what causes the bubbling and foaming when baking soda and vinegar are mixed.  Fact Source

Mini-Volcan Eruption Craft by Crayon Box Chronicles

The kids had a blast today at play group! We did it again at home and C loved it — so focused!  Don’t try to eat it! He learned the hard way! *To my dear friend Dara — thank you for your hard work today supplying the craft — ♥ all your wonderful ideas! 

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Tree Cork & Utensil Painting

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Tree Cork & Utensil Painting @ Crayon Box Chronicles

Autumn — colorful foliage, spicy aromas, warm apple cider, and sensory heaven! On this cold winter afternoon (not here, but still), let’s adventure back in time to a beautiful fall day and create a tree — cork and spatula style! Dig into your utensil drawer and pull out a spatula, slotted spoon, old corks, and let’s paint! Continue reading →

Mix it up: Paint With Ice (Update)

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Put away your paint brushes and open up the freezer, its ice painting time!  Painting with ice helps kids practice their color recognition and counting skills while observing paint go from a liquid state to a solid state, then back to liquid again.

As your child paints, discuss the process of freezing. What happened to the paint when they put it in the freezer? What’s happening to the paint when it’s exposed to the warm air and paper? What does the paint feel like as it melts?

Materials:

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What’s Next:

First, pour the paint into the ice-cube tray.  I had C identify each color and it’s placement (shh, another lesson).  For a harder challenge, mix colors and have your child identify combinations.

Then I had him put a craft stick into the middle of each paint cube.

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The sticks should be able to stand up on their own, but if they won’t stay up, try covering the tray in plastic wrap. Then poke the sticks through the wrap for extra stability. Tip: Michaels sells short sticks, which would stand solo better, but for C’s grip, we choose longer sticks.

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Tip: Fill cubes going horizontally, originally I did it diagonally and it was hard to work with the plastic wrap.  Wrap just two colors at a time across from each other, it’s easier. 🙂

Next, have your child carefully place the ice-cube trays in the freezer, and let it sit until the paint is frozen solid. When the paint cubes are frozen, it’s time to paint! Also, try to freeze only yellow and red paint cubes, and let your child discover what results from using those colors together. As they melt, the paints will magically mix into orange! Discuss fun science facts along the way to spark their curiosity while having fun!

That’s as far as we got today, so stay tuned for C’s mini Picasso masterpiece!

UPDATE: Pictures are in …

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Tips:

  • To remove the cubes, use a butter knife (parent) and score the edges – top, bottom, left, right and it should pop out.
  • When making the cubes, make sure the stick is as close to the center as possible.  It helps it from not breaking as quick when the paint starts to melt.
  • When finished if you have paint left on a stick, put it back in the tray and re-freeze it for later!

We had a blast painting! The colors are really vibrant and thick, once they start to melt a bit.  Plus, when we mixed them together, it’s like magic! Have fun! I’d love to hear your experiences!

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Part 2: Nature Exploration Hunt

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There’s nothing that will excite a budding biologist, botanist, or ecologist more than a nature walk. You can observe birds, hunt for worms, squirrels, collect nuts, pinecones (Cayden loves these), and rocks! Bring a bucket and the kids can collect specimens like leaves, seeds, flowers, or bugs. Bring a magnifying glass so the kids can study nature and all their collected treasures up close, or spy ladybugs, or raindrops, and see the world in a new way.  Encourage identification skills by having the kids find different types of leaves or flowers native to your area. (Look for regional field guides on enature or do an internet search for the “native plants” of your state.) Have fun exploring nature trackers!

Tip: Bring your colored egg carton from the previous craft to collect things that match your colors (shhh, great sensory, plus color matching – 2 x bonus, yay!)

Things to bring:

  • Blanket, lunch, & water
  • Bucket for collecting things
  • Magnifying glass to inspect things
  • Change of socks or shoes (incase the kids get dirty.)

Fun extras: (Dollar Tree has a bug net and canister, magnifying glass, 1.00 each)