How to Make a Volcano for Kids
Volcano projects are really interesting, and they are classic projects of choice for school assignments and science fairs. They are great to make at home too, when you just feel bored! There will be a couple of ingredients that you’ll need, so let’s get started.
What Do You Need to Make a Volcano for Kids?
Before you can begin the project, you must make sure that you have all of the necessary ingredients and tools on hand. Almost all of these items can be found at any standard department store or grocery store.
- A bowl
- White school glue
- Cardboard
- Newspaper/brown paper bags/printer paper
- Water
- Paint (Brown, Green, Gray, Black, ETC; whatever colors you want for the volcano itself.)
- A plastic bottle (such as a soda bottle, remove wrapper)
- Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Red Food Coloring
- Dish detergent
How to Build an Easy Paper Mache and Glue Volcano for a Science Project
First, you need to clean your soda bottle. Make sure there is no soda left, and that the wrapper is gone. Next, grab your bowl and put your glue into the bowl. White school glue is the one to use. Next, put the SAME amount of water into that same bowl. You want the mixture to be thick, so if it seems thin add more glue. Next, mix them up!- Once the paste is ready, you can begin shredding your paper! You can use a variety of papers, but newspaper seems to be the easiest to find. There’s usually tons of it being thrown away every day. Shred it into strips about six inches long; you can always rip them into smaller pieces later.
- Now, grab a piece of cardboard, and glue the bottom of the bottle to it. Allow it to dry for 30 to 45 minutes. Once it is secured to the card board, begin balling up some newspaper, and glue a few balls around the base of the soda bottle. This will make a nice wide base for the volcano. Make smaller balls, and glue them above the bottom ones. You want to make sure that the formation is being manipulated into the shape of a cone; remember, big on the bottom and small on the top!
Now, you’re ready to begin shaping the volcano! Begin placing strips of the paper into the glue mixture, soaking them. Place them onto the volcano, and smooth them into place. Keep going until the volcano looks the way you want it to; but DO NOT seal the top hole. You’ll need to put your lava in it later. Volcanoes can be tall and skinny, short and wide, bumpy or smooth; there’s no limit to how you can build your volcano!- Once sculpting is complete, set the volcano aside to dry for 3 days. This will be plenty of time for the paper mache to harden.
- Paint and decorate the mountain as you wish! Once you’re finished painting, let it dry for a few more hours.
How to Make the Lava and How to Put It Inside of the Volcano for an Eruption!
Now, it’s EXPLOSION TIME! Put six drops of dish soap and 6 drops of red food coloring into your volcano’s mouth. Next, fill that same bottle about 3/4 of the way with WARM water. Pour in 2 tablespoons of some baking powder, then prepare the area. Make sure there is newspaper all around to protect furniture. Now, start pouring in vinegar. I would add about 1/2 to 1 cup, but when the explosion starts, you won’t be able to add more. Just pour it in until the eruption comes flowing out!