Volcano Experiment: The Ultimate Beach Activity For Kids

The beach is my happy place.

When my toes are in the sand I alternate between being a hyper-active super mom and total bum. There’s really no in between.

I enjoy long walks on the beach, building impressively large sandcastles, and tossing a ball in the waves. I equally enjoy planting myself in a beach chair with a good book and not moving for hours. However, my all time favorite beach activity is building a volcano experiment with my kids.

Last summer I posted a picture on social media of my kids and the volcano. And about 20 people asked me questions.

“What is that? How did you make the volcano? What are the instructions?”

I have to admit, I was a little taken aback. It’s an activity our family has done at the beach for as long as I can remember. The onslaught of questions made me realize that we might be the weird kids at the beach. But I’m okay with that. And I wanted to share the instructions to make you the weird kids too!

(Although, beware…you will also become the most popular family. We always attract a crowd when we start setting up our little activity.)

So for inquiring minds that want to know- here’s how you set up a volcano experiment on the beach:

Things You’ll Need

Instructions

  1. Have children build a huge mound (moat optional). The bigger the better.
  2. When they are finished, push a tall plastic cup into the center until everything but the rim is submerged in sand.
  3. Put about 2 Tablespoons of Baking Soda at the bottom of the cup.
  4. Fill the rest of the cup with Vinegar.
  5. Your volcano experiment should be erupting!

This project is cheap, easy and it will keep children entertained on the beach for a while! Best of all, there isn’t a lot of clean up other than throwing away your empty baking soda and vinegar containers.

What are your favorite beach activities with kids?

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3 Comments

  1. Rhonda P. on September 3, 2020 at 10:06 pm

    I don’t think this is good for the ocean. ?

    • momwithamap on September 7, 2020 at 9:17 pm

      Really? What is bad about it? We definitely try to be environmentally conscious!

    • Randj on June 18, 2021 at 9:20 am

      Vinegar and baking soda are not bad for the ocean or the sand.

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