If there’s a dinosaur enthusiast at home, this straightforward activity is sure to be a favorite! It’s simple to prepare, and your children can even lend a hand creating the dinosaur eggs!
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Children enjoy carrying out this simple science activity. It’s not only an entertaining project for dinosaur lovers, but also an excellent educational experience. They can practice fine motor skills as they work with a pipette or dropper.
To make things easier, you may leave out the food coloring and create plain white dinosaur eggs.
The Science
What occurs when vinegar is combined with baking soda?
You notice the fizzing and foam, but what produces this reaction? Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is a base, whereas vinegar, or acetic acid, is an acid. The bubbling you observe results from an acid-base reaction. At first, the mixture forms carbonic acid, which is unstable and separates into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. As the gas escapes through the water, it produces all those bubbles and the fizzing effect.
Supplies Needed
- Baking Soda – for activities, we prefer this large 5 lb bag
- Food Coloring l (one for every color of the rainbow) – we prefer this liquid food coloring because it is concentrated and produces especially bright colors
- Dropper
- Water
- Vinegar
- Small Dinosaur Toys
Watch the Video Tutorial Here
How to Make Fizzy Dinosaur Eggs
1. Stir 1-2 drops of food coloring into 2 tablespoons of water (or leave out the coloring if you prefer white eggs).
2. Place 1/2 cup of baking soda in a bowl. Pour in the colored water, then combine everything thoroughly.
Note – to prepare a bigger batch in a single color, combine 1 cup of baking soda with 1/4 cup of water.
Keep stirring until the mixture has a crumbly consistency that can be shaped. Do the same for every color you want to prepare. If the mixture is too damp to shape, mix in a bit more baking soda.
3. Scoop up a portion of the baking soda mixture and tuck a miniature dinosaur into the center.
Cover the dinosaur with additional mixture, shaping everything into an egg.
Should the mixture be too moist to shape, incorporate some extra baking soda.
4. Optional – place in the freezer for 15 minutes. This helps the eggs hold their shape, although you can pour on the vinegar immediately!
5. Use a vinegar-filled dropper to watch the dinosaur egg “fizz” apart and reveal the dinosaur inside.
Children will have a wonderful time hatching these dinosaur eggs! We coordinated the dinosaur shades with the eggs, but white eggs would also be perfect for hiding dinosaurs in unexpected colors.
More Science Experiments
Have fun with this simple Grow a Rainbow Experiment. All you need are washable markers and a paper towel!
For another enjoyable activity, prepare some oobleck!
Give the rainbow rain cloud in the jar experiment a try!
