The fun in this sand volcano project wasn’t in the splashy climax of the eruption. It was in the hands-on creation of the volcano itself.
You’ll probably have everything you need to produce dozens of sand volcano eruptions right in your kitchen pantry.
You’ll need:
- A large container with edges to contain your sand
- Wet sand. Purchase inexpensive play sand at any hardware store. You can use kinetic sand as well.
- An empty plastic bottle with a neck at least one inch wide
- Water
- Food Coloring
- Baking Soda
- Vinegar
- Dishwashing liquid (optional)
- A measuring cup
- An assortment of rocks, twigs, leaves for decoration
How to Build a Sand Volcano
We simply built up a mound of wet sand around the outside of a heavy plastic bottle with a wide opening. Ours was a heavy corn syrup bottle left from our caramel popcorn Playdatebox. You can use a recycled plastic water bottle too, but the neck will be narrower and harder for a young child to pour vinegar into.
Next, we hunted around outside for found items we could use to decorate our volcano and make it look more realistic. This took much longer than I expected and turned out to be the best part of the project. The kids just kept playing in the sand, molding it, re-shaping, adding trees, rocks, and even a mound of snow. Adding some plastic dinosaurs will create even more dramatic play fun.
Erupting Your Sand Volcano
In order to create an eruption, we simply mixed
- One Tablespoon of baking soda
- 1/2 cup water
- 3-4 drops of food coloring
- 3-4 drops of liquid dishwashing soap.
Mix up these ingredients and pour them gently into the bottle at the center of the volcano. When you are ready for your eruption, pour in 3/4 cup of vinegar all at once. You can experiment with different colors of water and different amounts of chemicals just to see what happens. Empty the vinegar/soap solution out of your sand when you finish. The sand will dry for play on another day.
This is what real STEAM learning is all about—letting kids use their imaginations to create something out of nothing.
Extending the Sand Volcano Activity for Older Children:
The fun part of STEAM learning is that it can take on so many forms. After you have built your first model volcano, try extending the learning with older children:
Science = Learn all about volcanoes using library books, videos, and a plethora of free information and activities on the Internet.
Technology = Study a little more deeply about how volcanoes are predicted, or how we are learning about volcanoes on other planets like Jupiter’s moons and Mars.
Engineering = Does volcanic ash always form a cone shape as it falls? What else is cool about a cone and where else do we find the shape in nature? Are all volcanoes cone-shaped?
Art = Paint your volcano or shape your own out of other materials (see below)
Mathematics = Older kids can do the math to see whether or not they could outrun a lava flow using this article.
If it isn’t possible for you to make a sand volcano out in the sunshine, try this simple salt dough version that can be built indoors.