Erupting Snowballs

Every kid loves a good chemical reaction science experiment. And one of the most popular is the baking soda and vinegar eruption. Yesterday I had an aha moment and realized that I could make baking soda snowballs using the same basic directions as you would make a bath fizzy and let the kids have some fun with them. And so we ended up with this fun winter science activity – the erupting snowball!

Making the snowballs is quite easy but they will have to be made ahead of time so make sure to plan for that. You need some basic ingredients and about 12 hrs (or more) of drying time before you can start your experiment.

Supplies:

1 cup baking soda
1 tsp. dish soap (+ extra for experimenting)
glitter
water
vinegar
spray bottle
glass jar
pie tin

To Make the Snowballs:

Stir together baking soda and glitter in a bowl. Combine your baking soda mixture with dish soap and mix well. Add water to your spray bottle and mist your baking soda mixture. Mix it with your hands and continue misting until a dough forms. Once a dough forms you can place it in a mold. I used a large round Tbsp. measuring spoon to make mine but a small muffin tin or other form would work just as well. Let dry at least 12 hrs until completely dry.

The Experiment:

Place your glass jar inside your pie tin. The pie tin will catch the overflow.

We experimented with six different volumes and solutions to see the reactions of our erupting snowballs.

3 oz vinegar
2 oz vinegar, 2 oz warm water
6 oz vinegar
3 oz vinegar, 3 oz warm water
6 oz vinegar, 1/2 tsp dish soap
3 oz vinegar, 3 oz warm water, 1/2 tsp dish soap

The kids enjoyed recording the different reaction that each volume and each solution gave. Some went very fast, other took a long time to finish bubbling. Some were watering eruptions while others were thick and bubbly!!