We made a volcano. Like a paper-mache, painted, Science Fair quality (okay, that may have been a bit of an exaggeration) volcano. It was red hot awesome. From start to finish, the kids made it; with a teensy bit of help from me. Of course, my boys made a last minute decision to double the lava recipe. Go BIG or go home, right?! Just kidding – we are ALWAYS at home. This is what – Day 397 of Quarantine? I can’t remember. I lost count.

The first step was to cut the spout off of a plastic soda bottle. Really any small bucket or container would work – depending on how large you want the end result. Next time, we’ll probably prop the bottle on to an empty upside-down plastic bowl or something to give the volcano more height. We used an old yard sign as our base, but a large piece of wood or cardboard would do the trick!

Next, for the “skeleton” of the volcano, we crumpled old newspaper and placed them around the soda bottle. I used painters tape to hold it in place (duct tape would work as well). There’s not an exact science here – just stop when it looks full.

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For the glue, I poured about 3 cups white craft glue into a cup or so of water and mixed it up. The popcorn bucket was the first thing I saw when I opened the cabinet. It was large, plastic and easy to clean!

Next, take your left over newspaper pieces and tear them into workable strips. Dunk the whole piece in the glue mix, allow it to get soaked and ring it out. Start placing the wet newspaper pieces around the volcano skeleton. Allow to fully dry.

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We chose to paint the volcano in brown and green acrylic paint. Again, allow to fully dry.

Create your Lava – 1 cup white vinegar (use food coloring to tint it red if desired). You will need 4 tablespoons of baking soda.

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Pour the red vinegar into the soda bottle. Dump the baking soda into the vinegar and watch the chemical reaction cause your volcano erupt!