Personal Volcanoes

 My class is volcano crazy - they are constantly writing, drawing, and talking about hot lava and volcano eruptions.  I really don't understand this obsession, but I'm willing to support it through science.

So, after reading and talking about volcanoes, we decided to make our own personal ones.  I learned that they had all seen the basic volcano eruption before in preschool, but they hadn't done the experiment themselves.  Once I figured it out, it was an easy set-up and the excitement that was created was well worth it!  (The picture below is how I set up the volcano making stations.)

 You too should make your own personal volcano.

Ingredients:
1/3 of a can of playdough (I was making these with 60 kids, so they are small, but if you have less kids, you can use more playdough)
baking soda
vinegar - tinted with red and yellow food coloring to make orange

How to:
1.  Form your playdough into a volcano shape.  Now, put a small indention on the top with your thumb.  Not too big or deep!
2.  Fill the indention with a small amount of baking soda.
3.  Add a spoonful of vinegar to the top.
4. You have an eruption!

 If you didn't get all that, check out the illustration above.  The two things on the side of the volcano are baking soda and vinegar.  Since the volcanoes don't last, we illustrated our findings.

Yes, it was a good day for science.