Today we are taking the traditional baking soda and vinegar science experiment to the next level.
I have yet to find a kiddo who doesn’t think this is cool. I’ve done it with my own child when he was 17 months and would do this in my classroom when I taught first grade, each of them was just as interested in this sensory play experience. It is fun for a wide range of ages.
In general, this sensory experiment gets the children excited and talking.
Use this as an opportunity to open up conversations with your children and prompt them with critical thinking questions.
Ideas of what to ask:
Before:
What do you think will happen when we squirt the vinegar into the baking soda water?
What do you think will happen when the colors mix? Will they stay the same or change?
What do you think the soap will do?
After:
Can you describe what happened?
What do you see?
What do you smell?
Are the colors mixing?
What new colors are they making?
What does it feel like?
What happens when we squirt the vinegar harder vs softer?
What you need for this sensory play experiment:
Baking soda
Vinegar
Water
Food Coloring
Squirt Bottle (or an empty water bottle with a hole poked into the top)
Dish Soap
Clear cups
How to do this sensory play experiment?
- In each cup mix together: 2 TBS baking soda, about 2/3 cup water (eyeball it so it fills up most of the cup), a few drops of food coloring, a healthy squirt of dish soap (about 1 tsp)
- Fill the squirt bottle with vinegar and a drop or two of food coloring.
- Set the cups up in a tub or on the splat mat and let your child squirt into the cups.
- Use the questions above to facilitate conversations.