Written by Sandra Beale STEM expert for toddlers and early years and author of 50 Fantastic ideas for STEM actvites.
A Toddler and Early Years STEM experiment to try.
Table of Contents
I thought a fun experiment that you could try over the chillier Autumn months and to also celebrate Bonfire Night could be the Lava Lamp in a Jar Experiment. Its great fun and the children at my sessions love it!
Ask your preschoolers or Key Stage 1 children to gather around. They could either sit around the table or stand. I always find being flexible with seating arrangements makes for more enjoyable experiences for Children and their Care Givers.
Once they are settled you could maybe start by asking them if they know what a Lava Lamp is? Listen to what they have to say. Then explain that you are going to try and make one in a jar. You could then either hand out a jar to each child or use just one or two depending on jar availability. If each child is given a jar, ask them to place the jar on the table and to not touch it until you tell them to.
Then show the children the materials that you will be using and ask them what they think each ingredient might do to create the Lava Lamp.
Once they have all responded, then proceed to follow the instructions below explaining each step as you go along.
Materials Required
- Mason Jar or any Jar
- Food colouring- one colour works best not multiple colours
- Water
- Vegetable or clear oil
- Alka Seltzer
Method
- Fill your jar with a little bit of water (less than half of the jar, about a quarter)
- Fill the rest of the jar with vegetable or clear oil
- Ask the children what colour food dye they would like to use and choose only one colour
- Help the children to squeeze one or drops each of food colouring into the jar.
- Then pop in one tablet of Alka Seltzer and watch what happens.
- You could also drop in some glitter or small star sequins to give a firework effect.
The Science
Oil and water don’t mix and when the alka seltzer is dropped in, it breaks through the oil and water picks up the food colouring and bubbles to the top.
The citric acid and bicarb in the alka seltzer react in the water to create carbon dioxide which cause the bubbles creating a storm kind of effect.
Once I put in the water and oil and one colour of food dye I generally give each child half an alka seltzer tablet and ask them to put it into the jar (and not into their mouths) This is fun for children especially if they are between 15 months- 2 years as they love getting involved. Also make sure you have plenty of helpers when you are doing experiments with this age group. At my sessions the parents sit around the table with their young children on their laps or standing beside them.
Older children would probably like to be involved in the pouring and measuring as well as dropping in a tablet. You could also ask them why they think the oil and water don’t mix.
Why not try this activity next Making Snow with Toddlers.
