8 Backyard Science Experiments for Kids

Allison over at No Time for Flash Cards came up with this great mash-up of two classics: squirt guns and baking-soda volcanoes. This experiment is definitely for outdoors. Adding food color to the baking soda in the pan makes this project even more fun! When you squirt the mixture with a vinegar-filled squirt gun, rainbow mountains will grow. If you don’t allow toy guns, she suggests delivering the vinegar by using droppers, turkey basters or even just pouring in the vinegar from a cup in a thin stream. 

Science lesson: The baking soda, which is a base, reacts with acidic vinegar, releasing carbon dioxide, causing those bubbly hills.