Volcano Fun

A year or more ago I purchase a volcano making kit. It was marketed as a fun science kit. I'm not sure what I thought was going to erupt out of the top of the volcano, but I thought something would explode. Erupt and explode are synonyms, right? If I had thought about it a little more, I would have realized that the science kit company would not be selling explosives on the kid aisle. 

I was very disappointed when I opened up the kit and read the directions and discovered that the volano making kit was more art than science. Jake and Viva snapped together a volcano mold and then poured in quick setting plaster of Paris. The plaster firmed up in a half hour, but they had to wait 24 hours before painting the volcano. (It took us more than a week to get back to the project.)

After painting the volcano it sat on the kitchen counter for another week or more (Scout camp was the priority) until we finally gathered the supplies listed in the kit and took them outside to make the volcano "explode". We used red food coloring, dish soap, vinegar, and baking soda.

Jake and Viva enjoyed the volcano making kit. Bentley opted out of the entire project. He was too busy collecting rocks and reading about them. If it had been a real volcano, he would have been interested since it would spew out lava that would form into igneous rocks!