Looking for a fun and engaging science activity to keep your kids busy? Making fizzing ice cubes is a fun hands-on experiment that will entertain and educate your little ones. This simple yet exciting activity combines the wonder of chemistry with the joy of sensory play, making it a hit with kids of all ages. Plus, it’s a great way to cool down on a hot day!
To get started, you’ll need to do a bit of prep work the night before, but it’s totally worth it. The fizzing ice cubes create a fun, bubbly reaction that will hold your children’s attention and spark their curiosity. And if you enjoy this activity, be sure to check out our fizzing rainbows experiment and fizzing colors activity for even more fizzy fun!
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Materials Needed
- Baking soda
- Food coloring
- Water
- Vinegar
- Ice cube tray
- Eyedroppers or squirt bottle
- Tray
We like to use this silicone ice cube tray because it makes it easy to pop the cubes out, and the cubes are pretty big, which is perfect for this experiment. It also comes with a big round ice cube tray which we’ve used to do some fun activities with too!
On this day, we used a traditional squirt bottle from the dollar store, but we also love using these eyedroppers for experiments like this.
If you are doing this activity inside, you’ll definitely want to use a tray or something to put the cubes on to contain the mess. However, you could do this activity outside as well, where you don’t have to worry about the clean-up!
If you like this activity, try our surprise colors experiment!
How to Make Fizzing Ice Cubes
Step 1: Prepare the Colored Water
Mix a few drops of food coloring with about 2 tablespoons of water. You may need more or less depending on the size of your ice cube tray. The goal is to make some brightly colored water, so it doesn’t have to be exact. Ensure the water looks very colorful so that when it mixes with the baking soda, it will be bright and vibrant.
In our experiment, we made two different colors. Make as many colors as you want, just use separate bowls for each color.
Step 2: Mix Baking Soda and Colored Water
Add about 6 TBS of baking soda to a bowl. Slowly add the colored water to the baking soda, mixing as you go. Keep adding water until the baking soda is fully colored and becomes crumbly. You should be able to mold it with your hands. If it is too wet, add more baking soda. If you can’t mold it, add more water until you reach the right consistency. Repeat for your other colors if you have any. See picture above for what the consistency should look like. The mixture will look a little wet, but it should spring back when you poke it.
Step 3: Fill the Ice Cube Mold
Once the baking soda mixture is ready, press it into the sections of the ice cube mold, packing it down firmly to the bottom to ensure it is well-packed.
Step 4: Freeze the Ice Cubes
Place the ice cube mold in the freezer until the mixture feels solid. I usually prepare this activity the night before, but if you have your child help you with the prep, it will be ready in about an hour or two.
Step 5: Set Up the Experiment
When you’re ready to do the experiment, pop the cubes out of the tray and place them on a tray or wherever you want your child to do this activity. We use an activity table like this one which the kids love! Give them a bowl of vinegar and some eyedroppers or a squirt bottle, and let them experiment!
Start the Fun: Have your child squirt or drop the vinegar onto the ice cubes and watch the fizzing reaction! The vinegar will react with the baking soda in the ice cubes, creating a fun and bubbly eruption.
If you like this activity, be sure to check out our fizzing colors activity!
Variations to the Experiment
There are plenty of fun ways to mix up the fizzing ice cubes experiment and keep it exciting for your kids. Here are a few ideas:
- Glitter Explosion: Add a pinch of glitter to the baking soda mixture before freezing. The glitter will add a sparkly element to the fizzing reaction, making it even more magical.
- Scented Fizz: Add a few drops of kid-safe essential oils to the colored water for a scented experience.
- Shape Fun: Use different shaped ice cube molds to create fun and unique ice cubes. Stars, hearts, and animal shapes can make the experiment even more enjoyable.
- Temperature Experiment: Use warm vinegar for one batch and cold vinegar for another to see how temperature affects the reaction. Discuss with your child why the reactions might be different.
- Hidden Treasures: Put a little of the baking soda mixture into the tray, add a small toy, then put more baking soda on top to cover it. Your child will love discovering the hidden treasures as the ice cubes fizz and melt!
- Bigger Eruptions: If your child enjoys the experiment, try using larger containers with more baking soda and colored water to create bigger and more dramatic reactions.
Feel free to get creative and try out your own ideas! The possibilities are endless with this versatile and fun science experiment.
Clean up
This activity was a bit messier than I thought, but only because of the food coloring. I took the kid’s shirts off so they wouldn’t get stained and put this “splat mat” under the table to help contain the mess.
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