Halloween Science: Mini Pumpkin Volcano

424

Science is the most loved subject in our homeschool! And when Fall and Halloween come around, we can’t wait to make this Mini Pumpkin Volcano!

I learned quickly that this simple science experiment is every kid’s favorite.  And I am not only referring to little kids here.  Kids of all ages, and grown adults, have fun with this EVERY.  SINGLE. TIME.  It’s an easy attention getter that can be modified in many ways to make it more exciting!

This science activity is one of our 31 Super Fun Halloween Activities to do in Preschool and Kindergarten. For preschool, I used this experiment for curiosity and fun.  I didn’t try to push the how’s and whys of the ingredients doing what they are doing.   The whole scientific method thing we got more involved with in kindergarten and beyond.  So, don’t feel too pressured on explaining all the chemical details to your preschooler.   Just give your kiddo the stuff and let them see what happens!

While there are many precise recipes out there for this experiment, I’m not always the best at following recipes.  At some point I’ll need to get better at that when it comes to doing more advanced science experiments at home. But I know this one isn’t going to blow anything up, I just wing it with the measurements.

This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links for products that I personally use and recommend for homeschool learning!  For more information, please read the full Disclaimer and Disclosure.

Supplies you’ll need to make a Mini Pumpkin Volcano:

Quick Tip: If you enjoy doing science experiments with your kids but don’t enjoy using your good kitchen utensils and tools, invest in one of these science kits.  It comes with measuring cups and beakers plus test tubes, eye droppers, a lab coat, goggles, and more!  I store all of the tools in a plastic bin with a lid and I never have to worry about my daughter breaking or losing items from my kitchen.   

• Small or Mini pumpkins – You should be able to find them at your local grocery store, or a pumpkin patch.  
• Baking Soda
• Distilled Vinegar (I’ve actually used apple cider vinegar too and it works fine)
• Dish soap (like Dawn)
• Food coloring – totally optional, but what screams Halloween more than a pumpkin oozing neon green?
• Small bowl or beaker (for mixing vinegar, water and food coloring)
• Teaspoon
• Squeeze Dropper (for little hands) – the one in this Fine Motor Tool set is great
• Smaller measuring cup with a handle (for older kids)
• Cheap plastic tablecloth – use underneath the experiment to catch the mess and for easy clean up if you can’t do this outside. Check your local dollar store or party store, or you can buy them in bulk from Amazon
• Large tray or container

How to do it:

Note: if possible, I suggest making your Mini Pumpkin Volcano outside (or in a bathtub LOL), especially if you have an easily excitable kid.  Mine generally ends up with her hands and feet in the experiment.  Setting it up somewhere they can get messy allows them to really have fun with it. 

Another Note: If you have a little one who still puts everything in their mouth, it’ll make you feel good to know this experiment is non-toxic!  Just ask me how I know. By no means should they be eating this, it could cause a bad belly ache if too much is ingested, but if they happen to taste it, don’t stress. They’ll likely only do it once, yuck.

1. In the small bowl, measure approx. 1 cup of vinegar, a teaspoon of water and a few drops of food coloring.  Stir.  Set aside.
2. Prep your space with the plastic table cloth and tray or large container
3. Cut the top off the mini pumpkin and clean out the guts (like you do when carving a pumpkin) – it’s OK if it’s not completely clean.
4. Put the pumpkin on the tray or in the container
5. Add a spoonful of baking soda to the pumpkin
6. Add a few drops of dish soap to the pumpkin
7. Using the squeeze dropper or smaller measuring cup, squirt or pour some vinegar mixture into the pumpkin and watch the excitement erupt!
8. Add more baking soda to the pumpkin and repeat steps 6 and 7.

Want to make things even more fun with the Mini Pumpkin Volcano??

Try these other variations to keep your kids busy with this activity for hours!

1. Don’t clean out the pumpkin.  Then watch as seeds and guts ooze out when the volcano erupts.
2. Add some plastic spiders and watch as they flow out with the foam.
3. Use multiple pumpkins, each with a different color of food coloring.  Line them up like a rainbow! 
4. Don’t want to buy a pumpkin?  Use an apple.  Just hollow out the core as best as you can without putting a hole in the bottom of the apple. 
5. Use a small plastic witch cauldron instead of a pumpkin!  Find an old book your little witch can use as their “spell” book and some type of stick or straw for the magic wand, and let them create potion after potion.
6. Carve the pumpkin!  This takes a bit more baking soda and vinegar mixture to really get it to bubble up to the eyes but it’s fun to watch when it happens.  Check out our Instagram for a silly video to see how this works!  
7. Add some glitter inside the pumpkin for a sparkly eruption.
8. Add some imagination: small toys like Lego people or small plastic animals are easy to clean up.  I like to ask my daughter to make up a story as she does this.  It’s hilarious what they will come up with.  This is usually where the mess comes in.
9. Let your kiddo think of something to add!
10. And when you’re ready to move on to a BIGGER, totally EPIC eruption (or just want to be the cool parent/teacher on any random day), check out the Steve Spangler Science Extreme (Soda) Geyser Tube set!

If you are looking to turn this Mini Pumpkin Volcano experiment into a structured lesson for your older homeschool children, check out this super informative blog post from Little Bins Little Hands- Baking Soda and Vinegar Science Experiments.  There you’ll get the details about the chemistry of it all.   Plus, she has some other cool ideas for baking soda and vinegar experiments!

Just about every theme we do in school incorporates some sort of volcano activity, mostly just for fun.

When my kid is overenergized and needs a reboot, I give her stuff for a volcano experiment. 

If she has friends over and they are all driving me crazy, I set up multiple volcano experiments.

When I need to clean out the garbage disposal, it becomes a volcano experiment.  

Really, there’s no bad time for a volcano experiment.

I hope this Mini Pumpkin Volcano adds to your Halloween theme and bubbles over with fun for your kids!