How to Build a Volcano With Salt Dough

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Things You'll Need

  • 3 bowls

  • 6 cups flour

  • 3 cups salt

  • Glass baking dish

  • Acrylic paint

  • 1 cup white vinegar

  • Red food coloring

  • Spoon

  • 1 cup baking soda

Make a working volcano at home using craft supplies.

When you are learning about geology and volcanic eruptions, it can be difficult to fully understand how a volcano works by simply reading about it in a book. One alternative is to make a model of a volcano that can produce a mock eruption. You can construct a model of a volcano using a few basic kitchen items, such as flour, salt, white vinegar and food coloring.

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Step 1

Pour 6 cups of flour, 3 cups of salt and 4 cups of water into a large bowl. Mix the ingredients with your hands for 3 minutes to properly combine them. The ingredients will turn into salt dough.

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Step 2

Transfer the dough into a glass baking dish, and shape the dough into a volcano. Press the edges down firmly around the sides, and create a deep well down into the center of the volcano. Allow the salt dough volcano to dry for 3 hours.

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Step 3

Paint the outside of the volcano using acrylic paint to make it look more realistic. Allow the paint to dry for 30 minutes.

Step 4

Pour 1 cup of white vinegar and 4 drops of red food coloring into a bowl, and stir the two substances with a spoon.

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Step 5

Pour 1 cup of baking soda into the well of the volcano, them pour in the red-colored vinegar. The two substances will react, creating red bubbling foam that will shoot out from the volcano and drip down the sides.

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