a special feature by Alison Goldberg, Enrichment Teacher*

Picture this: it’s a cold winter day and you want to do something inside with your grandkids. You’re thinking, “What can we do that’s a bit different?” Well, here’s a science activity that will entertain all of you, especially the preschoolers and the younger set of kiddos. Your grandkids will love doing this experiment with their ‘scientific’ grandparents.

Materials

• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Food dye (primary colors)
• 6 clear plastic cups
• Tray
• Spoon
• Small cup/bowl/container or sorts

Directions

1. Set out 6 clear plastic cups out on tray. (Tray is for catching the mess. If you are using an area that’s okay to get messy you can omit the tray)
2. Pour vinegar into cups (about 1/3 of the cup)



3. Use food dye to color the vinegar. Each cup should be the color of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) You can use primary colors to mix secondary colors and have a whole additional lesson on colors!



4. Use spoon to mix the food dye into the vinegar (make sure to rinse between mixing each color cup so not to dirty the other cup’s colors)



5. Pour baking soda into separate container.
6. Make sure spoon is dry and has no vinegar on it. Use spoon to scoop baking soda and pour into the colored vinegar cups one at a time.



7. Watch the colors fizzle!

*I’m Ali! I’m the Lead Enrichment Teacher at Piper Preschool. I develop and lead a wide array of classes including art, science, taste, construction, gardening, games, yoga, and literature. I’m a 30 year old, LA native, only child, raised by my single mother. My grandma,  “Ommy”, was my second parent. She was the funniest person I’ve ever known. When I was no older than 5, Ommy and I had a craft day where we made a life size paper dress for me. Ommy wrote my name across the chest of the dress. We looked in the mirror and Ommy read my name aloud: “Nosila Grebdlog”. This was of course my name, Alison Goldberg, read backwards as it looked in the mirror. From that day forward that was what Ommy affectionately called me. That craft day is one of many cherished memories with my Ommy.