Kids Experiment : Vinegar & Baking Soda

Henry was fascinated by the reactions the colored vinegar made when it hit the baking soda in this activity.

Shh... it was really a science experiment! 

This science experiment [that I found at The Adventures of the Smith Family while I was browsing the wonderful play posts of It's Playtime!] was super easy to set up.

Spread out some baking soda on a cookie sheet and color some vinegar!

While I was coloring the vinegar, I let Henry have some experimental play of his own with the baking soda first.

He liked to see the prints his hammer made when he hit it.

I suggested dropping a golf ball in the mound of baking soda, hoping to make moon craters.

[He didn't find that as fascinating as the hammer.]

During his experimenting, I simply poured vinegar into three small dishes.

And added a few drops of food coloring to each.

Then I simply handed Henry a few different choices for droppers.

An old medicine syringe, a dropper and a large turkey baster.

I loved seeing what those little fingers were doing as he sucked up and squirted the vinegar in each of the droppers.

We tried to reverse the science experiment by adding baking soda to the vinegar.

Henry wasn't thrilled with this because it didn't work nearly as well.

Watching the baking soda fizz as the vinegar hit was exciting!

Seeing the colors mix together was pretty neat too.

It was fun to see how it progressed throughout the experiment!

Henry continued until every last drop of colored vinegar was used.

Even then he started sucking up vinegar from the cookie sheet to squirt it again!

Even though it looks like there may have been some sensory play going on, I don't believe a finger even touched the pan! I was amazed that Henry could keep his hands off. I think the designs were made by dragging the dropper through the baking soda. [Sometimes I have to step out for a second... to attend to... ahem, the second child, and I don't always catch these nifty details!]

I think Jenny [of The Adventures of the Smith Family] was right in naming her post "An Eruption of Fun!" - it was right on! I definitely recommend this one.

More Inspiration:

30 materials & activities to promote fine motor skills

Henry is 3 years. George is 11 months.
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