Is it winter where you are at? If you so, then will want to get outdoors for this fun snow cupcake or muffin activity. Don’t have snow? No problemo! Turn these snow cupcakes into sandy cupcakes or muffins instead by doing this activity in the sandbox or at the beach. So regardless of season, this classing science experiment can be done and enjoyed by your little learners.

I will be honest with you, we started off this activity with the intention of making snow volcanoes, but we decided that we wanted to experiment with varying amounts as we mixed the ingredient rather then measuring them. This was a great way for us to “create” new experiments and to hypothesise on what we think will happen in each new invention. Well, much to our pleasure and surprise, that resulted into the invention of these gorgeous “muffin tops” that were foamy and thick. Not only did they make beautiful slow eruptions, actually similar to real lava, but they were a great sensory experience and fun to paint on snow with.

Grab the supplies and let’s get baking!

How to create erupting snow cupcakes

What you need:

• Baking soda
• Concentrated water colours
• Dish Soap
• Cups or jars
• Sticks, twigs or spoons
• Vinegar
• Snow or sand
• Paint brushes (optiona)

How to:

This activity requires little setup and is pretty simple to do. With just a few steps you can watch the magic happen in front of your eyes. For a quick demonstration and instructions, watch the video or follow the steps below.

Step 1: In a cup or jar, add some dish soap, baking soda and concentrate water colours or food colouring. To create a muffin top, our mixture was pretty thick, so add a bit more baking soda if your mixture is very runny. This a trial and error activity. We did not measure how much of what we put in so the results may vary. Experiment with amounts and colours to get different results. Sometimes it will be a volcano but other times it may turn into a muffin. Enjoy the suspence! 

Step 2: Place the cup in the snow. You can build a volcano or a cupcake base if you like or you can just stick it in the snow as we did. 

Step 3: Now pour the vinegar in to each cup and watch the muffin top form. Some may react faster than others, some may erupt and others may ooze slowly. Observe and enjoy. You can keep adding vinegar and baking soda to keep the reactions going or make news ones.

The STEAM behind the fun:

This activity is a simple chemistry experiment that most kids love and many know about. It is a reaction between an acid (the vinegar) and a base (baking soda). When an acid and base react, they usually produce a gas, in this case it produced carbon dioxide. Normally, without soap, our reaction would fizz similar to sprakling drinks or soda. However, we added soap, which trapped the gas into bubbles and made our reaction ooze and froth instead.  

Explore further:

• Try reaction without soap
• Try different amounts of baking soda to soap ratio.
• Use only primary colours, red, yellow, and blue. Experiment to create new colours.
• Paint on snow with the oozing foam
• Make multiple colour eruptions in one by adding a cardboard separator in a glass and placing two different coloured baking soda mixtures on each side. Add the vinegar and watch two eruptions in one. 

The next time you have a snowy day or a beautiful sunny day next to the beach, grab supplies for this low pre activity and send your little learners outdoor for some fresh air and science experimentation. We hope you try out this simple activity and watch the magic of science form. Happy snow baking!