By: Becky Will
Exploring science topics can be so fun, hands-on and interesting, but buying one of those premade science kits with all the materials may not be in your budget nor do you want to store all the things! I get you! You can also just tack this onto the list of why Teaching Totes are awesome! We provide all of the materials FOR you WITH a lesson plan to boot!
Essentially, this blog entry is about my love of baking soda and vinegar experiments. There are ENDLESS amounts of activities on the web devoted to exploring this chemical reaction (see some links to some common ideas below). Not to mention, it’s easy, affordable and FUN!
One of my favorite ways to play with baking soda and vinegar recently is the "Fizzy Dino Eggs" experiment in my Dinosaur Teaching Tote. The families that have rented this tote have adored this activity.
The recipe I use is from the blog: Best Ideas for Kids
All you need is water, baking soda, food coloring, and vinegar. For tools, you’ll need a mixing bowl, a mixing spoon, small plastic dinos and a plate/tupperware container.
First we mix 2 tbsp of water with food coloring.
Then add ½ cup of baking soda to another bowl and then add the liquid into the baking soda and mix.
Grab your dinos and wrap the dough around them!
If it’s too wet, add more baking soda. If the mixture is too dry, add more water! Once you get a good consistency and egg-shape, plop them onto a plate/into a container.
I like to place mine in the freezer to harden until the next family rents them. I feel like it helps solidify them if they are a little on the goopy side!
Provide vinegar and a pipette!
When the family is ready for the experiment, I provide them with an eye dropper/pipette and a container of vinegar. The lesson plan has a list of questions to ask your child before, during and after the experiment.
What do you see?
How does it feel?
What do you think will happen when we put water on it?
What happens when we place vinegar on it?
What do you see after the vinegar is on there?
What do you hear?
How did it change?
I suggest placing the dino eggs in a shallow container and then having the child use their fine motor skills to suck up the vinegar and then have it drop on top of the egg with the pipette.
What is Going on Here?
There are more complex explanations out there, but for littles, I just explain it as a simple chemical reaction! We took vinegar (an acid) and mixed it with baking soda (a base) and we got carbon dioxide (bubbles) and water! Easy peasy lemon squeezy. It’s super fun, easy to clean up and the popping and fizzing is going to delight your kid. Like I mentioned before, there are oodles of alternatives to this.
I suggest:
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Reach out to your local specialist today and request a Teaching Tote for more play-based learning fun like this...and with all the prep work done FOR YOU!
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