Kitchen Science- Baking Soda(bicarb) and vinegar

For some strange reason, each time I went shopping this month, baking soda has been on my grocery list. As a result, I now have 2.5kgs of baking soda on my recently-tidied pantry shelf!
So...time to use it up!

MINI ERUPTIONS
This Science experiment, that I found at Creativelyblooming, was super easy to set up.
Just spread out some baking soda on a tray/cookie sheet/shallow dish and add colour to some vinegar.
The ButterBalls loved using the medicine dropper to suck up and squirt the coloured vinegar...great for fine motor skills.
The ButterBalls were so impressed with the tiny eruptions, they only paused for breath when the last drop of coloured vinegar had been squirted.
500g of baking soda gone, 2kgs to go...

RAINBOW VOLCANOES
This experiment is a slightly different take on the normal baking soda volcanoes.
Place small glasses onto a tray...or place it in the sink or tub (so much easier to clean up!)
Half-fill each cup with baking soda and add a few drops of food colouring.
Add about 2tbls of bubble-bath to each cup (bubble-bath makes the reaction last longer...also creates more fizz)
This time, the ButterBalls used ketchup bottles to squirt in the vinegar. Ketchup bottles are so versatile...
perfect for squeezing paint, icing, vinegar...

Watching the little volcanoes erupt was exciting! Seeing the colours mix together was pretty amazing too.

BLOW IT UP SCIENCE
I found this activity at momto2poshlildivas. My ButterBalls adore balloons so I knew that this experiment would be a hit.
The ButterBalls poured vinegar into plastic bottles, then using a funnel, they spooned baking soda into their balloons.

Next, the tricky bit-stretching the balloon over the neck of bottle without dropping any baking soda...(*Help mama, help!)
Once this was done, the ButterBalls lifted their balloons, sprinkling the baking soda into the vinegar below.
With lots of bubbling, fizzing and hissing, the balloons slowly expand. Awesome!

The Science behind it.
The baking soda is a base and the vinegar is an acid. When combined, their reaction produces carbonic acid which is extremely unstable. This carbonic acid breaks down instantly into water and carbon di oxide which fills the balloon as it expands.
Try explaining that to a 2 year old!!!

All in all, lots of bubbly, fizzy fun... and I have just enough baking soda left to whip up a batch of RVC!!