Making Play Dough Volcanoes

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I hate to waste anything, especially if it’s something we could use for crafting.  This includes Play-Doh when it starts to dry up.  I have bags of it hidden away, just waiting for a crafting opportunity. 

We’ve made some fun Play Doh monsters and even Play Doh ornaments with it.

And most recently?

We had volcanoes erupting in the kitchen!

It was an easy leap — they absolutely LOVED our earlier fizzy science experiment, so I knew this would be a hit.

making a play dough volcano

Play Dough Volcano

Making these play doh volcanoes is one of our favorite dinosaur activities for preschoolers.  

To help reduce the mess, use a cookie sheet that has an edge.  

Use your old play dough to form a volcano shape in the center of your tray.  

building a volcano
What goes better with volcanoes than dinosaurs?

Once your volcano is ready, add a tablespoon of baking soda inside the volcano’s opening.  

We learned that if you sprinkle a little on the outside it makes for an even more dramatic eruption.

uses for old play-doh

Mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with a couple drops of red food coloring in a small cup.  

Then allow your preschooler to slowly pour the vinegar onto the volcano.

play dough volcano

Watch out, dinosaurs!  The volcano is erupting! 

making a play dough volcano

 

We learned that the slower you pour the vinegar, the better the volcanoes worked.

We were able to use our Play-Doh volcanoes 3-4 times each before my daughter decided it was time to get messy!play doh volcano

The wet, squishy Play-Doh held their interest for a long, long time.   

I’m so glad I used cookie sheets that had sides to contain some of that mess!  play-doh experiment

We had so much fun making this play dough volcano.  I’m sure your kids will love it, too! 

 

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Comments

  1. I use vinegar and baking soda to unclog my drains and yet I hadn’t thought of doing this. Bean would be so thrilled to do this…even at nine years old.

    As for the last time we got messy…just yesterday. We were painting bird houses and planting some herbs. 🙂

    • I have to admit, it was fun for me, too, even at 38! 🙂
      I had never considered what fun they’d have with the Play-Doh afterwards…

      Glad to hear the weather is warm enough there to do some planting; hope it gets a tad bit warmer here!

  3. What fun! I used vinegar and baking soda to power a car for a science experiment when I was a kid, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun as your volcanoes look to be!

    • I’ve heard of boats like that! I need to hunt up something similar for my son — he’d be crazy for a car or boat driven by baking soda and vinegar.

  4. Looks like everyone had a good time. Wish I had known about this when my kids were little! I just stopped by from SITS to say hello; hope you find time to do the same.

  7. I’m thinking we will have to do the messy part again when it’s warmer. Old tablecloth, the great outdoors, plenty of water…. Yep, I am thinking that will be some fun! Hope your kids like it as much as we did! Thanks for stopping by; off to check out your site!

  9. This sounds fun! When I was in school we used plaster of paris in our models for volcano eruptions etc; but that was kind of static. Your idea is definitely more exciting and your kids seem to enjoy it so much! I also feel like trying it 🙂

  11. We did this today!! I just posted pictures of it on my blog and linked up to you. Thanks for the great idea!!

Trackbacks

  1. […] Xander is fascinated by volcanoes, or “canos” as he calls them. So when I saw Just One Mommy’s post about using dried up play-doh to make volcanoes, I knew we HAD to do it! I broke out our […]

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