S and I are both HUGE fans of baking soda and vinegar. I was trying to think up a new way to play with it, and decided to see what it would do if I threw gelatin into the mix. Turns out, it's really fun (at least we think so!).
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To make fizzing gelatin, you'll need:
Gelatin (I bet you could use Jello, too)
Baking Soda
Vinegar
When you are making the gelatin, just make sure to dissolve a hearty amount of baking soda in the hot water step (for the Solo cup sized portion of gelatin pictured, I dissolved somewhere between 1/2 to 3/4 cup). Not all of it will dissolve - that's OK.
Refrigerate as normal, remove from whatever mold you've used (we used plastic Solo cups) and you're ready to add vinegar!
We added about a cup of vinegar all at once.
If you press your hands down, it feels like Pop Rocks! It's so fizzy. The gelatin slowly releases the baking soda, so it kept on fizzing for a long time (for more than 5 minutes!)
If you squeeze a handful of the gelatin, little pieces hop out of your hands.
It's such a bubbly, fizzy sensory experience, we really enjoyed it as a variant on our traditional baking soda and vinegar play.
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All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.
My kids and I tried this the other day and it didn't work for us. I'm wondering what I did wrong, because the baking soda fizzed when I dissolved it. Then when we poured the vinegar on it didn't work. Is there a step I'm missing or something I should do different? We thought the idea was super fun and they want to do it again, but I want to do it right next time :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your time and your posts. You are so creative and I have had fun doing some of your stuff with my kids!
Oh no! Hmm. I dumped a LOT of baking soda in -- probably around 1/3-1/2 a cup per solo cup of gelatin - I'm wondering if you added less? Did it not fizz at all, even when you squished it in your hands?
DeleteNo, it fizzed VERY little. I didn't put that much in though. We will try with more :) I think I put in 1 1/2 cups total. OK, I'll try again with more and let you know :) Thanks!!!
DeleteYes - please let me know! We've done it on several different occasions and I have never had a problem, so I'm not sure what it could be!
DeleteSo ours did feel like pop rocks to the touch but we did have a disappointing amount of visual fizz too :-( I was so excited to try it ... was I doing something wrong? I found that lining the base of our tray with baking soda and then putting drops of watercolor and drops of dish soap in yielded more excitement. The watercolors produced colorful fizzing and the soap made extra big foamy fizzes.
ReplyDeleteIt is mostly internally fizzy like pop rocks, but if you add a TON of baking soda, it will produce a layer like you see in the first picture, and that will react more. As we broke up the gelatin, there was more fizzing - but it is less dramatic than straight baking soda and vinegar. It is less of a visual reaction and more of a tactile one. Hope that helps!
DeleteWHAT SIZE SOLO CUPS?? THE SMALLER ONES?
ReplyDeleteYep! The stubby little 8oz cups were the ones we used. :)
DeleteCan you make this with jello mix? I have some left over mix from jello playdough which my daughter did not like.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried it with Jello, but I think it should work. As I understand it the only big difference between Jello and gelatin is that Jello has added sugar/flavor, which shouldn't interfere with the reaction at all! I'd say it's worth trying!!! Let me know if it works!
DeleteIt kind of worked. Jello mix has acid in it, but I thought if I mixed in enough baking soda it would overwhelm the acid. But because I put in so much baking soda, I used extra water. Then I added in extra plain gelatin to make it gel better. Bottom line, not worth making it with jello mix.
DeleteAugh, bummers! Thank you for letting us know it didn't work - and hope your daughter enjoyed it at least! :)
DeleteMy kids LOVED this! Thanks for posting it :)
ReplyDeleteYay! So glad to hear it! We think it's hilarious. :)
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