Lemon Volcanoes: an Amazing Science Experiment for Preschoolers

What you need for this science experiment for preschoolers:

• Lemons
• Food coloring
• Baking soda
• Water
• Droppers
• Pan or bowl

First, cut your lemons in half.

If you are doing with project with toddlers, have the lemons cut in half before beginning the experiment. Older children can help cutting with a child safe knife.

Squeeze as much juice as you can out of the lemons into a bowl or cup. This will be the acid for our experiment.

Add the baking soda.

Add a small scoop of baking soda to each lemon half. Use the spoon to push the baking soda down into the lemon, getting it into the little crevices and cracks of the lemon.

Also, add some water to your lemon juice to dilute it slightly. This will make it last longer for the experiment. Don’t dilute the juice more than half or it might not work as well.

Add food coloring.

Add a few drops of food coloring to each lemon half. This is easy to overdo, so watch your little ones as they drop it in!

Using two primary colors of coloring will give you the opportunity to talk about color mixing! We used blue and red which turned into purple as the “volcanoes” erupted and they colors mixed.

Make sure your lemons are in a secure container before adding the color!

Now the fun begins!

Using the dropper, suck up some lemon juice/water and squirt it into one half of the lemon. Watch it explode with color and fizz!

This happens because of the reaction between baking soda and an acid. Depending on the age of the child you can talk about why the reaction is happening. With younger kids, focus on the results they see like the fizzing, the colors, and even the colors mixing as they both overflow their lemons.