DIY Lava Lamps

Science can be super cool! This craft/experiment is great for teens and tweens because there's no heat, no glue, and little chance for a mess. Bonus for librarians on a shoestring budget (aren't we all?!): you can make these super fun lava lamps with things you probably already have at home!

Items Needed:

Water Bottle (filled 1/4 of the way with water)

Vegetable Oil

Food Coloring

Cold & Flu Seltzer Tablets

Small Funnel

Instructions:

1) Using the funnel, pour vegetable oil into the water bottle, filling 3/4 of the way (make sure you leave 1/4 of the bottle open so nothing bubbles over!)

2) Add a few drops of food coloring. This might be a great time to remind teens of the color wheel and what colors make what (a few of my teens learned that all the colors=brown lava lamp).

3) Add the seltzer tabs and watch the fun begin! Just make sure teens leave the caps off of their bottles. We used a store brand of tablets and about two worked perfectly in a standard size water bottle. 

Teens can take these home and show off their lava lamp project any time they have extra seltzer tablets! For more fun, turn off the lights and shine a flashlight behind the bottle as you drop in the tablets!