Dissolving Rocks


We recently checked out the Kids' Guide to Building Cool Stuff from the library.  It's got eleven fun projects that kids can do.  When my four year old pages through it he says, "Can we do that?!" for almost every one.  The projects are fairly easy to do and don't require anything too fancy, but mostly they are FUN!  The results of most of the activities are impressive enough that it would hold the interest of an older child but not so complex that preschoolers can't make a significant contribution to them.  This book would make a great gift for those boys that are hard to buy for.  The only critisim I have is that they didn't really include the scientific explanation and when you've got a four year old always wanting to know why, that comes in pretty handy!




As a surprise I made my kiddos the Fizzle Rocks from the book.  To say that they loved it would be an understatement.  And the only things you need are baking soda, water, food coloring, and vinegar.  And surprises to hide inside. 
To make dissolving "rocks", start by making a dough from baking soda, water, and food coloring.  Start with one cup baking soda and a quarter cup of water and adjust from there.  I didn't even measure the second batch.  You want it moldable but not so wet that it won't hold its shape. 
Roll your dough around some surprises.  I used some small plastic frogs I picked up in the party favor section.  When I ran out of those, I started using coins.
Allow your rocks to dry overnight.
When the rocks are hard, fill a clear bowl with vinegar (we actually mixed ours with water) and drop them in!
The kids really liked it, and then when they realized there were surprises in there they LOVED it.

We've also done the balloon rocket from the book:
and the water bridge:
and making butter:
The vinegar launcher is next on our list!

If you liked this post, you might want to check out our cloud experiment too!


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22 comments:

  1. this is the coolest thing! what fun! i'd love it if you shared this at my tip-toe thru tuesday party!

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  2. Super awesome! We've been experimenting with baking soda and vinegar lately, but this idea tops all that we've done. :)

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  3. Oh wow! A-mazing stuff. I thought baking soda+vinegar has been beaten to death. This is super fun. My girls would definitely go oooh and aaaah over this one, especially if I hide treasures in there.

    Thanks!

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  4. What a fantastic idea! Totally trying these this week. How did you do the water bridge? It looks really interesting.

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    1. Basically, you wet the string first and if you pour slowly enough, the water will run down the string into the bowl.

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  5. Cool!!!! What fun!
    Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

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  6. This is a great idea. I must try this one when the babies are a little bigger. I imagine you could try different shapes too. I like that you hid surprises inside the rocks. Thank you for linking to Artsy Play Wednesday on Capri + 3.

    : 0 ) Theresa

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  7. Fun! We love science projects, will definitely be trying this soon!
    Mary (sugarsnips.com)

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  8. Wow, fantastic. I would love to try the rocks for Science Sparks if you didn't mind? We'd of course link back to you. xx

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  9. Amazing! My 5 year old would love these!

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  10. Wow, so cool! We had a fun book of things to do when my kids were younger but they were just rainy day things, this is fantastic. I'll have to get that book and use it with my nieces and nephews until grandkids arrive. Thanks so much for passing these ideas along. I love them!
    Liz

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  11. How cool is that!! I am pinning this to use with our rock study later this year. thanks for the linking up to TGIF and for the great ideas =-)

    Beth

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  12. What fun! I saw this on MamaSmiles learning laboratory linky. I definitely want to try it with my toddler!

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  13. These are seriously awesome! I am featuring this on Tuesday Tots this week , and really can't wait to try this! :)

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  14. My boys would love this! Thank you for posting on Saturday Show and Tell. I can't wait for what you'll be posting this week, hope to see you back!
    -Mackenzie
    http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com

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  15. Found you via Tuesday Tots! That is so funny that you checked out that book from the library. This is one of the books that I have had checked out from the library too (and I have renewed repeatedly!) but never actually tried anything yet from it! Your post is SOOO inspiring. Your pictures are great and it looks like the project was so much fun! We will definitely be doing this sometime soon!

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    1. Thanks, Carolyn! We had a lot of fun with the projects and they were all pretty easy!

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  16. Wow this looks like so much fun! We'll be trying this for sure. I'm featuring this on my blog today as one of my faves from last week's Weekly Kid's Co-op. Thanks for linking up!

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  17. Fun! I told my daughter (3 yrs old) to pick a bowl for the experiment. She picked a sieve. Instead of telling her no, we worked together to solve the problem! We decide to put the sieve in a bowl, so the liquid wouldn't run out of the holes. Turned out to be a GREAT idea - she could lift the rocks out and put them back in to slow down or speed up the reaction. Thanks!

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    1. What a great way to make it even more fun! Kids always come up with the best ideas!

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  18. Hello! WHAT FUN!! BUT, doesn't food coloring stain? Won't the children's hands become stained, not to mention clothing, etc... and hard to remove? Is there a better solution if so?

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    1. We didn't have a problem with it but I think you could substitute washable paint if it's a concern.

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