Materials:

  • For the snowballs:
  • 1 cup of baking soda
  • dry measuring cups
  • Glitter (optional)
  • spray bottle
  • mixing bowl
  • For the experiment:
  • 1 teaspoon of dish soap
  • Aluminum pan
  • Water
  • Vinegar
  • liquid measuring cup
  • glass jar
    Directions: ** You will need to make the snowballs ahead of time. They will need
    12+ hours to dry completely, so plan accordingly!
  1. Combine the glitter and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
  2. Place water in the spray bottle and mist the mixture in step 1.
  3. Continue spraying water and mix with your hands until the materials start to
    become a dough-like consistency.
  4. Once it is dough consistency, you can use a spoon or a muffin tin to shape the
    dough into balls. It may also be fun to use cookie cutters shaped like
    snowflakes, gingerbread men, or other winter themes! You will want to make at
    least 6 jars to experiment with!
  5. Let dry completely. This will probably take 12+ hours.
  6. Once the snowballs are dry, place one in the glass jar. Place the glass jars in a
    pan (so when they overflow, you don’t have a huge mess!)
  7. Before the eruptions can begin, you will need to make up 6 different solutions to
    try! Each one will vary slightly and cause a variation in the reaction!
  8. Here are some suggestions for solutions:
    ● ⅓ cup vinegar
    ● ¼ cup vinegar, ¼ cup warm water
    ● ¾ cup vinegar
    ● ⅓ cup vinegar, ⅓ cup warm water

● ¾ vinegar, ½ teaspoon dish soap
● ⅓ cup vinegar, ⅓ cup warm water, ½ teaspoon dish soap

9. Pour the solution over the snowball in the jar! Repeat for each of the solutions
and snowballs!
10. Now enjoy the reactions as they occur! As the child to make observations while
they watch the reactions. Some questions to ask them:
● What reaction do you notice happening?
● How is this reaction similar to the last?
● How is this reaction different from the last?
● What do you think changes when water is introduced to the experiment?
● What do you think changes when dish soap is introduced to the
experiment?
● What do you think would happen if we used cold water instead of warm
water?
● What other liquids could we try to see if a reaction occurred? What do you
think would happen?