I might have mentioned before that I homeschool my boys.

They are 3 and 4 so it is not hardcore yet but I like to have a topic of study for each month to make it easier on me.

This month is Volcano’s.

Something I have come to realize about teaching a 3 and 4 year old is my expectations of what they will remember were set WAY too high.

If they remember that a volcano shoots something out of it, then I am doing good.

If they remember that lava is hot, then I deserve a gold medal.

And so forth, and so on.

We were reading the Magic School bus book on volcanoes and when I saw a recipe for making a volcano and I thought “sure, why not?”.

So I asked my boys if they wanted to make a volcano and of course being typical boys they said, no.

Yeah, right.

So I got to work figuring out what we had lying around to make a volcano.

I could have gone to the walmart but I am cheap and lazy…

And hey, we needed it NOW!

So this is what we had.

Old vanilla bottles(I think they are cute so I never get rid of them)

Vinegar

Red food coloring

Baking Soda

Playdough(they recommend modeling clay but I did not have any)

Dishwashing Soap

Patience is not a virtue my 3yr old possess yet.

Baking soda first.

Dish washing soap and red dye next.

Then some playdough for the outside.

My son and I had to have a little talk about the word dye vs. die.

When I told him it was dye on his hands he started crying saying he did not want to die…

I probably should have been helping more and taking pictures less.

I was yelling(while taking the picture), TAKE IT OUT!

A little tip.

Use a nice washable tablecloth(like the one I had in the closet) so as not to stain the tile table.

I asked my youngest what he was doing with his hands.

He said, “the people are dieing and need to go in the ambulance”.

Maybe a little too much PBS.

I am hearing this the whole time, “help, help, it’s getting me”.

Boys…

We of course had to do it again.

And again.

More people in need of an ambulance.

I was really surprised that my oldest was not playing in it also.

When I asked him why, he said he did not want to be burned.

I quickly told him it was not real lava…

My poor son thought I was trying to burn him.

No, I do not let my children play with molten lava.