Summer Family Bucket List: Lava Lamps

 

 

This is one of the activities I've wanted to do with my Pre-K kids but haven't yet, so I figured we would try it out this summer and work out all the details.  Good thing I did, because I learned that we need way more vegetable oil and less water.  I also learned that putting in 3/4 of an alka selzer tablet is too much and will cause it to overflow. 

None the less, we enjoyed making this bottle and watching the bubbles move every time we added another piece of tablet. 

A clear plastic bottle (we used a 20 oz pop bottle)

Water

Vegetable Oil

Food coloring

Alka Seltzer Tablets

Fill the bottle just over 1/2 full with vegetable oil, then fill the rest of the way with water, leaving an inch of room at the top. Add 10 drops food coloring. Place the bottle on a plate or pie tin to catch any drips. Now, add 1/4 an alka seltzer tablet and watch the bubbles of water rise up through the oil. Add another piece of alka seltzer after the bubbles have stopped.

Homemade Lava Lamps