Little Man and the Volcano

My parents got my son a “build it yourself” volcano kit for Christmas.

You know, one of those plaster of Paris numbers that you put vinegar and baking soda in to create lava.

Never was there a happier child on the planet than Little Man.

We worked on this project together over the course of Christmas break.

The volcano itself is made from strips of gauze with pre-applied plaster of Paris.  We dipped them in water and molded them to the flimsy cardboad volcano model that we taped together.

Little Man could not keep away during the two hours of required drying time.  He was too excited.

Once it was dry, it could be painted.

You do know that it turns out better when you hold your mouth a certain way, don’t you? 

 It’s a proven fact.

After it was finished, we let it sit for while.  Little Man asked if he could bring it to school to show his classmates, and seeing how he worked so hard on it, I couldn’t refuse.

His teacher gave him the “OK” to bring it in to school, and this past week he brought it and demonstrated it to his completely fascinated classmates.

Incase you don’t know how this works, Little Man will demonstrate, step by step, below:

First, you need baking soda.

Next, you measure the baking soda into the volcano.

Then you measure out some white vinegar:

Then you pour the vinegar into the volcano…and you get….LAVA!!

Little Man came home with a huge smile on his face that day, he loved sharing this science experiment with his classmates.  It really is pretty cool to watch.  From the looks of things, the kids all seemed to think it was neat too.

I hope he keeps his interest in science long enough to enjoy his high school courses! *grin*

S.