Lava Lamps

Materials

• Clear containers. Stemless wine glasses work well.
• Food coloring
• Vegetable oil
• Measuring cup with a spout
• Alka-Seltzer tablets
• Water
• A light source. Flat solar lights work well.
• Cookie sheet (optional)
• Plastic table cover (optional)

Instructions

1. Put your containers on a cookie sheet to avoid big messes.
2. Fill your measuring cup with a half cup of water.
3. Pour the water into your first container. Repeat for each container.
4. Add food coloring into each container. I like to add 10 drops, but have fun and experiment.
5. Swirl each container to mix the water and food coloring.
6. Fill your measuring cup with 2 cups of vegetable oil.
7. Pour the oil into your first container. Repeat for each container.
8. Take out an Alka-Seltzer tablet. Ask an adult to cut one tablet into quarters.
9. Drop one quarter of a tablet into the middle of each container. It will fizz and create blobs.
10. Optional: Try putting the glass on the light source and turning off the lights. It will look really neat.
11. After the tablet dissolves, try it again. You can do this activity over and over in the same glass.