We LOVE the 4th of July! This week has been quite busy since I’ve been taking a preschool science class, but we did manage to squeeze in a fizzy science experiment for the 4th of July!
This activity is very simple, but a great science activity for little ones! Here’s what you need:
- star ice cube tray (found at The Dollar Store)
- 1 cup water
- food coloring
- 1/2 cup baking soda
- bowl of vinegar
- dropper
- tray
To start, mix 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup of baking soda. Then add a few drops of food coloring and mix. Next, pour the mixture into the star ice cube tray. You may have to scoop in the baking soda, since it tends to sit at the bottom of the mixture. Then put it in the freezer. When its frozen, pop them out of the mold and place them on a tray or plate.
Before beginning the activity, ask your child some questions to help them think like a scientist!
- What do you think will happen when we put vinegar on top of the stars?
- How much vinegar should we put on there?
Then take the dropper, fill it with vinegar, and release over the frozen stars. Watch what happens!
Since there is not much vinegar in the dropper, the reaction is slow. Because we are thinking like scientists, I asked the kids what they wanted to try next. They wanted to pour the whole bowl of vinegar on top…so we tried it out! Here was the reaction…
Lots and lots of fizz! It was cool to listen to this experiment.
Then my little scientists wanted to know what would happen if we add more baking soda, so we tried that and saw how it reacted. They tried cutting the ice with spoons and breaking them into little pieces. Overall, they had a fun time exploring ice, baking soda, and vinegar. It was just a simple activity, but it covered components of science and they kept extending the activity with more of their ideas.
Happy 4th everyone! 🙂
can’t wait to try this!