Making magic fizzy Chinese characters was a blast for both kids. They love messy hands on art and science activities and I was able to combine both into this activity. This is similar to salt painting but less wasteful in my opinion because we can use the old baking soda that’s probably been sitting in the back the fridge since we moved in. The rest of the materials you’ll likely have at home already.
I try to re-purpose anything that I can to reduce waste and save money. The card stock used for this project is packaging from something I ordered. Lightly sketch the character onto the card stock. Trace over the characters with Elmer’s glue.
Sprinkle baking soda over the wet glue and let dry. Shake off excess baking soda and save for another project. Just don’t cook or bake with it! Prepare your colored vinegar and let the fun begin! I like to use a baking tray so there’s less of a mess on our dining table. Some of the red from food coloring and markers can stain the wood finish.
When vinegar comes into contact with baking soda it starts to fizz. My kids love it and they both kept saying, “it’s too hot!” because of the sizzling sound. When the baking soda is spent, drain off the liquid and let dry. This is a project they really enjoy and ask to do over and over.
Materials
- baking soda
- vinegar
- Elmer’s glue
- card stock or cardboard (standard paper is too thin)
- food coloring
- eye droppers (a teaspoon will work just fine!)
Instructions
- Lightly sketch the character onto the card stock. Trace over the character with Elmer’s glue.
- Sprinkle baking soda over the wet glue and let dry. Shake off excess baking soda and save for another project.
- Distribute vinegar into small cups. Add a couple drops of food coloring to each cup.
- Use dropper to to drip vinegar onto the baking soda characters.
- Drain liquid and let dry.