Pen
Pumpkin Volcano
Bobby, recently you’ve been really interested in volcanos. A few times you’ve mentioned them now and even asked me to make one with you. Your friend Poppy has also been talking about volcanos and using sand on the beach to make them. You both told me you’d seen them on the tele so I wonder if you’ve been watching the same programme. I recently saw a video of a Halloween style pumpkin volcano and decided you’d both like to try this.
Today we gave it a go!
To start with I cut the top off the volcano and then we all had an attempt at scooping the inside out. This was a bit tricky you said! Finally we managed to get it all out and then we added our first ingredient – bicarbonate of soda. Next, we added red food colouring to make the lava the right colour. And finally we added vinegar. You just added a spoonful each at first and the mixture began bubbling. We then poured the vinegar in and the ‘lava’ started to erupt and pour over the sides of the pumpkin. You were both so excited about this, screeching and giggling!
Bobby, I wonder what it is that you like about volcanos and why they’ve caught your interest. This activity was not only fun but helped you to properly process what happens when a volcano erupts. It also allowed you to experiment with ‘cause and effect’ – i.e. what happens if we add these two ingredients together. This also explains why you enjoy baking and cooking so much as it’s a similar concept.
I’ve had a look at what else we could do to further develop your interest and your learning. Maybe you’d like to make your own lava lamp? Maybe you’d like to try a different and more powerful explosive experiment – adding mentos to Coca Cola?! Or perhaps we could make our own popcorn using the popcorn machine?
