5 Baking Soda Experiments

Looking for fun and easy science activities for kids? These baking soda experiments are a perfect way to engage young learners in hands-on STEM fun! From fizzing reactions to balloon inflation and even DIY volcanoes, these experiments are simple to set up using household ingredients. Watch your little scientists explore chemical reactions while having a blast!

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5 Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments

Simply combining baking soda (or sodium bicarbonate) and vinegar will make an awesome chemical reaction! This fizzy reaction just from these two ingredients from your pantry will make kids want to do these experiments over and over again!

Before doing these experiments, you may want to have have towels nearby in case you have some spills. Also, I don’t recommend doing the experiments on carpet. Instead, do these close to the kitchen sink on the counter.

1. Classic Experiment with Baking Soda & Vinegar

To start off, just pour some baking soda in the bottom of a container. We used this hourglass from here because it’s a fun container. Slowly pour the vinegar in. Watch how the two react and eventually bubble over the top! This activity is also great for practicing life skills of pouring.

2. Jumping Seeds

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of baking soda into a large glass with a 1/2 cup of water in it. Add apple seeds from a couple apples into the liquid. Then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and stir the mixture. The bubbles will carry the seeds up and down. It is really neat to watch! Here’s a short video of the seeds jumping!

3. Homemade Volcano

First, place a vase on a pan. Add play dough around the vase to make it look like a volcano. Make sure you use play dough you don’t want anymore, since it will be ruined after the experiment. Pour baking soda into the vase. Add food coloring if you’d like. Next, slowly add vinegar inside the vase. You will start to see the volcano fizz!

We also did a gender reveal volcano when we found out the gender of our third child!

4. Fun Way to Blow Up a Balloon

Try this trick to blow up a balloon!

Use a funnel to pour a cup of vinegar into a plastic bottle.

Place a balloon around the funnel and fill it with 2 teaspoons of baking soda.

Cover the top of the bottle with your balloon. Lift your balloon up so that the baking soda drops down into the vinegar. Watch as the balloon fills with air!

Side note: you may notice the last photo is a different bottle. We tried this experiment with a smaller bottle and the balloon blew up bigger than with the larger bottle. Also, you could experiment with more baking soda and vinegar to make it blow up even larger.

5. Frozen Vinegar Stars

Freezing vinegar is a fun way to experiment with baking soda! For this activity, you’ll fill an ice tray with about a cup of white vinegar and stir in food coloring. I used a star mold, but you can use any ice mold.

After it’s frozen, pop the ice out and place them onto a plate. Sprinkle baking soda on top and watch how the ice reacts to the baking soda. To speed up the reaction, pour vinegar on top. It’s fizzy and fun!

I don’t think I’ve ever met a kid that doesn’t like these fizzy experiments! I hope you will try these fizzy experiments out and let me know how it goes! These are perfect activities on hot, long summer days or bring the fun indoors for the long, cold days of winter!

 

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