DIY Lava Lamp

This week, we're getting a little ~groovy~ with our experiment. Check out how to create a home-made lava lamp below!

Materials Required

1. empty water bottle (environmental bonus points for a glass one)

2. vegetable oil

3. water

4. food coloring of your choice

5. Alka-seltzer tablets

First, gather all your materials (and the little ones) around a clean, flat surface. If you'd like to keep the mess to a minimum, we highly recommend covering it in newspapers for a quick clean up.

Then fill the bottle up about two-thirds of the way with oil. It's important not to fill it up too much, so there's no overflow when the water gets added! Once that's done, fill the rest of the space with water.

Next comes the fun part. Add a food coloring of your choice to the bottle and swirl gently so it mixes with the water. It's important not to create too many bubbles, because it can make the effect of the "lava" a little less spectacular. Once that's done, grab a tablet of alka-seltzer and break it up into a few pieces. One at a time, have your child add it into the bottle and enjoy the fun!

Note: If you want to keep using the bottle, you definitely can! Just add more alka-seltzer the next time you want to break out the lava lamp.