DIY Lava Lamps for Kids!

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These DIY Lava Lam’s are super easy to make and Kids LOVE them!

Are you looking for a fun Science Experiment to do with your kids? These DIY Lava Lamps cost less than $10 and take less than 10 minutes to make and will entertain your kids for hours. My kids practically wanted to take their Lava Lamps with them wherever they went for the first few days after we made them. So let’s get down to how to make them.  

Materials:

• 1 Large Water Bottle (Half filled with water)
• Oil
• Food Coloring
• Alka-seltzer Tablets

Directions: 

1. Fill your water bottle half way with Water. I just bought some large VASS Bottled waters and let the kids drink them half way. I like VASS because the water bottles are smooth so it is easier to see the Lava Lamp effect. They are also made of sturdier plastic than normal water bottles so you don’t have to worry about them breaking as easily. Lastly. I just like how they look in general.
2. Fill Bottle the rest of the way with Oil (leaving about an inch gap at the top of the bottle)  I used plain old vegetable oil but I am sure any oil would work.
3. Add 10 Drops of Food Coloring.  The Blue and red food coloring we used turned out better than the purple but I am sure any color will work.
4. For Lava Lamp reaction drop 1/4 -1/2 of an Alka-Seltzer tablet into the bottle and quickly screw on the lid. 

For a full video tutorial here is a youtube video of me making these with my kids: 

**As a note though the VASS bottles are made with sturdy plastic they can still break. Because of this, I didn’t allow my kids to take these Lava Lamps over carpet (I just didn’t want to deal with the possible mess if the oil, water, and food coloring got all over the carpet. So they got to use them in the kitchen/dining room or outside. This was fine with my kids. 

Also due to the possible mess if these bottles spilled when putting in Alka-Seltzer tablets are put in I made it a rule that only I was allowed to open the bottles for the kids to put new tablets in.  Thankfully, even when they weren’t active Lava lamps the kids still had fun shaking their bottles to watch the colored water and oil mix together. I have to admit they do look pretty cool.

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