DIY Lava Lamps -Figment Creative Labs

lava lamp, lava lamps, diy, homemade, STEM, STEAM, Science, Early education, Figment Creative Labs, Austin, Texas, Los Water Bottles, groovy, art class, summer camp

Today at Figment summer camp we made DIY Lava Lamps.  It was a super easy and fun activity, that teaches kids about molecules and density, in a pretty fantastic way.  Here is a quick How To!

-Please note that this has been edited.  We realized after the lesson that more oil and less water works better.  So photos do not match the updated instructions.

What you will need-

What to do-

  1. Drink the Voss water.
  2. Coat label with 100% Acetone.
  3. Scrape wording off with scraper.  (Use caution when working with sharp blades.  This is a job for an adult.)
  4. Fill bottle 1/4 full with distilled water.  (A funnel comes in handy.)
  5. Add a drop of food coloring.
  6. Close and swirl well.
  7. Add 3/4 bottle with oil.
  8. Add Alka-Seltzer to watch the bubbles travel.  Or you could just flip bottle slowly.
  9. Hot glue cap shut when you are done with the Alka-Seltzer play for spill safety.
  10. Place in a window to illuminate.

Why does oil and water not mix?

Oil is less dense than water, so it always floats to the top.  The molecules don’t mix.