Sometimes it is difficult to find a project that will capture the attention and enjoyment of JustaBXgirl and her cousins. They are all different ages and different interests. What one loves the other is OVER until he or she is not. They used to appease JustaBXgirl because she was the youngest. She’s not the youngest anymore and she’s getting older so she doesn’t get her way all of the time with them anymore. We mainly do things by vote these days. Majority wins and they all learn the importance of their voices.
Sometimes though…sometimes the stars align and they all get excited about the same thing! Erupting a volcano? Yup, that made them all happy. And because of that and the summer ending it made it really difficult based on everyone’s schedules to have my nephews over at the same time so we had to keep pushing back when our volcano would be erupted.
It was so popular of a project that they turned off the video games on a Saturday and my oldest nephew invited his cousin over to do the project with us as well. It was very simple to do with easy to follow directions. The littles even sat through a quick lesson with me on the three different types of volcanoes there are (composite, cone and shield). They even correctly identified which type we had. And then the fun, I mean the science began.
We erupted that bad boy not once, not twice, not even three times. We erupted our volcano 5 times and these littles (aged 4 – 11) still were not bored. We experimented with what would happen by mixing food coloring. We experimented with what would happen if we used more baking soda or more vinegar.
It was a really fun and educational time and it stuck. I was on the train reading Veronica And The Volcano with JustaBXgirl recently and she was able to answer questions about the difference between magma and lava as well on questions about the different types of volcanoes. I love when lessons stick. I love when learning can be fun.
The Erupting Cross-Section Volcano from Learning Resources is a really good addition to any home or classroom. My nephew and daughter asked if they could take it to school. I’m thinking once we get close to the end of the school year I might surprise them by talking to their teachers and seeing if we can do a special science day in their classes.
