We did a fun experiment to make our own LAVA LAMP GLITTER REINDEERS!

WHAT DO YOU NEED:

• 1 jar with lid (preferably not breakable – I bought my plastic jars from the Dollar Store)
• Brown construction paper cut into reindeer ears
• 2 eyes (I purchased mine from the Dollar Store)
• Either red construction paper shaped into a nose, a red pom pom or red stickers (we used red stickers from the Dollar Store)
• Black permanent marker or Black construction paper shaped into a mouth
• 2 brown pipe cleaners
• Hot Glue Gun (to glue the pipe cleaners to the lid)
• Craft glue or Glue Stick (glue stick seemed was not strong enough to keep the pieces on, recommend a craft glue)
• Glitter (any preferred color – I purchased ours from the Dollar Store)
• Water
• Vegetable Oil
• Alka-seltzer Tablets

WHAT TO DO:

1. Decorate a jar that looks like a reindeer (honestly, you could make anything… a Santa, Reindeer, Snowman, a pretty decorated Christmas jar, etc.).
2. Add glitter to the bottom of the container. Start with maybe 1 teaspoon of glitter.
3. Add water to the jar (gently so as not to splash the glitter up on the jar) – fill it 1/3 of the way full.
4. Add a few drops of food coloring to the water.
5. Fill it the rest of the way full with oil, almost to the top.
6. Drop in an Alka-Seltzer tablet and watch the Lava Lamp flow!
7. Cap the top of the jar and watch the show!

LEARNING POINTS:

• The density (amount of mass per unit volume) of water is less than that of the oil so the oil sits on top.
• When alka-seltzer (citric acid and sodium bicarbonate) touches the water, it reacts to form carbon dioxide gas and sodium citrate. It’s a chemical reaction.
• The carbon dioxide carries the colored water and glitter to the top of the jar.

Have fun!!!

Kristen

DISCLAIMER: This project was modeled after but modified with our own images and decorating from Science-sparks.com. They have a video available for more details on their website!