FUN ACTIVITIES WITH KIDS DURING QUARANTINE – PART 2

We understand how difficult it can be to come up with fun and educational activities for your kiddos!  Here are a couple ideas to help get them moving, having fun and maybe even provide some help for their parental units!

ERUPTING VOLCANOES

Every kid I know loves a good explosion. Let’s be honest…so do most adults! This fun project combines art and science. So, let’s create a contained, fun version of an erupting volcano!

Supplies needed:

Clay/Sculpey/Play Doh/Any type of sculpting compound

Paint

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Dish Soap

Red food coloring or red washable paint, glitter and/or sprinkles (all optional, but makes it so much cooler!)

The first thing we need to do is create the volcano. We used Crayola Model Magic because it is what we already had at home. However, I believe anything like this would work…standard clay, Sculpey, Play Doh, even a batch of homemade play dough. (*I will post a recipe for homemade playdough at the bottom of this article.) Take a cookie sheet or flat pan and adhere the base of your sculpting compound to it, and then build up your volcano. Make sure that the base of the volcano is pressed down tightly to the pan. After that is completed, allow your volcano to air dry or follow your modeling compound’s instructions to heat/bake/fire. Once dried, set up a painting station for your sweet little minion to decorate their volcano. At this point, you might show them a couple pictures of volcanoes so they can see what a real one looks like. They can try to paint it accurately or let them go hog wild with neon paint and glitter. There truly is no wrong way to do this, as long as they are having fun!

Now comes…Drumroll, please…SCIENCE!!

Once their painted volcanoes have dried, it is time to get out your baking soda, vinegar, red food coloring (or red washable paint) and dish soap.

The rest is easy peasy! Have your kiddo take the spoon and place a couple of spoonfuls of baking soda into the volcano. Add a couple of drops of dish detergent. Next, let them add 3-4 drops of food coloring. If they anything like my daughter, they might want to also add glitter or sprinkles. Pour some vinegar into a small bowl or cup (1/2 cup or so) and let them slowly pour the vinegar into the volcano. Enjoy the look of pure joy and amazement on their face! If you are so inclined, take a pic and send it to us here at Scorpion Protective Coatings!

If you would like to explain the science behind why this explodes, you can tell them that baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base while vinegar is an acid. When those two things are combined, they form carbonic acid which is very unstable. It instantly breaks apart into water and carbon dioxide which creates a wonderful explosion as it escapes the solution. For an excellent video about volcanoes, I found this video on YouTube that my daughter seemed to really enjoy!

After your volcano project is all cleaned up and put away, it may be a good time to suggest that they help you with a project! A small chore or two, never hurt anyone!  My favorite time of the year is just around the corner…CAMPING SEASON!! That means we need to get the camper in tip top shape after it has been sitting all winter.

I gave both of my kids a bottle of Scorpion Prep and asked for their help getting the camper all clean. Scorpion CMX Prep is a ceramic coating prep spray that is an oil, wax, grease and residue removal product. It is designed to prepare the surface for Scorpion CMX RENU or Scorpion CMX Protect; however, it will clean just about anything! Don’t be afraid to show your child how to apply the product and then turn them loose. There is no way they are going to mess this up! Take a few minutes of free time to yourself and let them enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from a job well done!

After the camper is all cleaned and prepped, next comes Scorpion CMX RENU. This is my all-time favorite product and happens to be on sale right now for $9.95, the best price it has been all year! Scorpion CMX RENU is so easy to use that even your kids can apply it. Simply have them spray it onto your vehicle, camper, ATV, golf cart, etc. in sections, rub it in and wipe it off! Easy as that! This product helps provide a ceramic coating that repels water, dirt, mud and grime while providing a deep, long-lasting shine without scratching! Now that Scorpion CMX RENU has been applied, for the next several months all you need to do to deep clean your vehicle is to simply spray it off with a hose!

Join me tomorrow for another fun project with the kiddos! I know these are currently trying times, but just remember, we are all in this together!

*Homemade Play Dough Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup salt
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
• Food coloring

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt & cream of tartar) and mix thoroughly.

Next, mix the food coloring with the water and then add the vegetable oil and pour all the wet ingredients into a large pot and mix well.

Take your dry ingredient mixture and pour that into the pot and mix again.

Cook over low to medium heat until the dough starts to take form and becomes dry. Once it starts to form into a ball and looks fully cooked, remove from heat and let cool.

Once the dough has cooled, knead for about 5 minutes to soften.

You now have homemade play dough!