Bicarbonate of Soda, Vinegar and Dinosaurs!

We're two days into the Easter break, the weather has turned and it is dull and gloomy with spells of rain showers, so thinking up something to do to entertain the children that doesn't cost the earth is always top on my priority lists.

So I gathered together some household supplies, vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda, collected up some of the old plastic bottles from the recycling pile, and found all the tubs of play dough that are at that slightly hard and abit mixed up stage, and decided we'd throw it all together and see what happened!

I got a spare piece of shelving from an old cupboard and sent the children to their room to collect up some toy dinosaurs and scenic bits from an old play set, then I left them to design their dino adventure land.

They happily flattened and pushed play dough covering the board, making a rather fetching river area with the blue play dough, using some gravel from outside to make up the river banks.

We cut the plastic bottle in half removing the middle section to make a volcano.

Adding that to the scene, building it up with some more play dough.

The Playdough made a perfect floor for the dinosaurs to stomp around on leaving foot prints behind them!
however to cover a board this sze would need so much playdough so we opted to cover half the board with gravel,  making it really bumpy for the rangers car as he drove past checking up on the dinosaurs!

Everyone really got stuck into making the dino adventure land and happily played with it for quite a while before asking to set the volcano going.

But when we decided to awaken the volcano and start the eruption, we added some spoons of bicarbonate of soda to the top of the volcano and then poured in some vinegar, and it bubbled and spluttered out everywhere much to the childrens delight!

It got rather messy from then on out as the dinosaurs stomped in the lava that engulfed the island!

If you happen to have some play doh which is getting past its best, before you throw it away think of turning it into a volcanic wonderland for some dinosaurs! It certainly kept everyone here entertained on a rainy afternoon.

Take a look at our video below!