Lava Lamp

Today I decided to make a wannabe Lava Lamp with my daughter, Brianna, that I had found on the Disney Family Fun website.  During the summer I only work on the weekends so I decided that I really wanted to have little fun things that Brianna and I can do during the day.  Through my love of crafting I searched and searched for some cool activities, or as Brianna calls them "Amazing." The Disney Family Fun website had some really great ideas and that's where the Lava Lamp came from.

Materials needed include:

• Clear Plastic Bottle
• Vegetable Oil
• Water
• Food Coloring
• Funnel (Helpful but not necessary)
• Effervescent Antacid Tablets (Alka-Seltzer)

First thing first was cleaning the water bottle and taking the label off of the bottle, for a SmartWater waterbottle this was definitely a task! I peeled the label off of the bottle and found that there was a ton of adhesive leftover on the bottle so I tried to soak it in hot water and use dishsoap to remove the residue, this did not really work at all. 

After that failure I dug through my cabinets and found my ever so handy Goof Off.  Due to the odor I took the bottle outside, sprayed it down and let it sit for a few minutes.

The bottle soaked for a few minutes and I took it inside and cleaned it with soap and water, this was repeated twice.  Once the bottle was cleaned and dried we were able to begin with our project.

Steps:

• Fill the bottle just over halfway with the Oil

That's my Ham :-)

• Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water to about an inch from the Top

 

• Add a few drops of Food Coloring

We got a little carried away and ended up with a dark Green

• Break up and Antacid Tablet into 4 pieces and drop the pieces one at a time into the bottle and watch the magic

This was a picture that Brianna took, I have to say she did pretty good, lol:

When you are finished with your Lava Lamp simply let the bubbles settle and simply replace the bottle cap and place in a safe place.

What is also really great about this project is it can be reused to make waves in the bottle (demonstrating that water and oil truly do not mix)

Every once in a while Brianna sees the bottle and wants to see the "Amazing Bubbles." That's when we take the bottle to the table and break out the effervescent tablets and replay the Lava Lamp.  This fun little project also amazes some adults!  I hope you enjoy this project!