Please pardon us while we make a little mess of things. Everything featured this month is explosively fun and easy to enjoy. From dripping to spinning—from mixing to fizzing, you’ll be sure to discover something new to do!

Mentos and Soda Surprise

8/26/19

You will need:

• Mentos mint candy (must be Mentos mints)
• 2-Liter bottle of diet cola
• A narrow test tube or narrow PVC tube wide enough to fit the candies
• Index card
• Plastic sheeting, wipes for clean-up

Instructions:

Gather your supplies and find a good spot outside that is far enough away from your house or any surface you want to protect from the explosion of soda.

Similarly, you could substitute normal soda for diet soda. Whatever you use, the beverage must be carbonated

Lay your plastic sheet on the floor to cover the sidewalk or driveway.

Next, stack the candies. The easiest way to do this is to stack them in a test tube narrow enough to form a single column. Otherwise, you can roll a sheet of paper into a tube just barely wide enough for a stack of candies.

Place an index card over the opening of the test tube or the end of the paper tube to hold the candies in the container. Invert the tube, holding the stack of candies.

Open the full 2-liter bottle of diet soda. The eruption happens very quickly, so set things up for easy dispensing. You want the open bottle/index card/roll of candies in place so that as soon as you remove the index card, the candies will drop quickly into the bottle.

When you’re ready, step back and let the candies fall into the soda…and watch the explosion!

We would like to thank our FunSpot friends at eepybird.com for sharing this activity with our team

Invisible Ink

8/19/19

You will need:

• Lemon
• Q-tips or paint brushes
• White paper
• Hairdryer for a heat source

Instructions:

Slice open the lemon and squeeze the juice into a paper cup

Use the Q-tips or paintbrush to write the secret message on the paper

Let the lemon juice dry thoroughly

Use a hairdryer to heat the paper until the message appears

Wanna skip the sticky juice? The dry time? The heat? Simply have your child write their message with a white crayon on white paper. Then take watercolor paint and brush it over the message—the wax resistance will make the words magically appear.

We would like to thank our FunSpot friends at artfulparent.com for sharing this activity with our team

Milk Rainbows

8/12/19

You will need:

• Milk
• Food coloring
• Plastic plate
• Dishwashing detergent

Instructions:

Pour milk onto the plate and then drop 4 different colors of food coloring onto the milk. Next, add one drop of the dishwashing detergent in the center of the plate. Wait for a cool kaleidoscope of color to spin in front of your eyes!

We would like to thank our FunSpot friends at thecraftingchicks.com for sharing this activity with our team

Drip and Pour Painting

8/5/19

You will need:

• Pre-stretched/primed canvas—available at craft stores (Michael’s sells an 11”x14” pack of 7 for $11.00)
• A nice, flat workspace where you can paint (and make a mess) and let the paintings dry over several days. (I suggest a garage)
• Golden GAC 800 pouring medium available at craft/art supply stores
• Liquitex Soft Body paint or student-grade squeeze bottle acrylic craft paint available at craft stores
• Cling plastic wrap
• Woodcraft sticks for stirring
• Plastic cups
• Rubber bands
• Plastic sheeting
• Latex gloves
• A shallow aluminum baking dish to catch the dripping paint

Instructions:

Click here to view Drip and Pour Painting Instructions.

We would like to thank our FunSpot friends at patch.com for sharing this activity with our team