Thrifty Thursday: Dry Ice Science Experiment for Free

We got Omaha Steaks delivered for Christmas and found them on the front porch.  I was excited to get them and put them straight into the freezer but then I had a great idea.  If you haven't gotten Omaha Steaks before, they are delivered with dry ice in the bottom of the cooler.  We decided to take advantage of dry ice to do a little science experiment.  I knew that the internet would give us lots of ideas and I found a few.

First, we added the dry ice with cold water and bubbles to the bottom of the bucket and it went crazy and started bubbling and overflowed.  We decided that we would put it inside the cooler since we were making a mess in the kitchen.  I decided to try later with adding food coloring but there wasn't enough dry ice to make it happen again.

Then, we did a second experiment with another bucket with cold water and dropped the dry ice in the bucket.  It started reacting right away.  It was spooky gas that came off the combination.

Then, my husband took a sudsy paper towel and ran it over the lip of the bucket.  It formed a bubble which expanded into this neat bubble which grew quickly.  It is almost like making a bubble on a wand except you can't dip it in.  We did it with both dish soap and bubble solution so feel free to lather up and try what you have on hand.  Also, make sure you have a steady (and patient) hand to do it.....I might have tried and not done it slow enough in my excitement to see it work.  My husband was way better with getting it to work!

My son thought that it was super funny so he made a face when it was getting big and going over the edge of the bucket.

Then, it went way over the edge and stayed a bubble......

until it popped!!!  Then, it was back to the eerie fog.

My son posed with the safety goggles that we made him wear which he kept taking off because they were so big.  Guess what was on his Christmas list?  Safety glasses that were his size and he got them!!!  Thanks Grammie and Ralph!

I hope that you take advantage of all of the free things that come your way to show your kids (or even yourself) some of the great things that we can learn from science. Make sure you think about the things that come into your house and figure out how you are going to use them to entertain and enrich your children's life.  We are looking for lots of activities to do while my son is out of school that are cheap and easy so stay tuned for some of our ideas from homemade bird feeder to hammering foam peanuts!  Hope you are enjoying the break from school with a little educational fun!

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