Vinegar and Baking Soda Balloon

What You Need:

• Two-liter soda bottle
• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• Funnel
• 2 balloons

What You Do:

1. Have your child take the cap off her soda bottle. Make sure she saves it. You never know what science activity or art project may call for just such a cap.
2. Help her practice placing the balloon's mouth on top of the open bottle top. She'll need to get good at doing this as quickly as possible.
3. Let her pour the 3/4 cup of vinegar into the bottle.
4. Have her position the funnel on top of the bottle.
5. Pour the tablespoon of baking soda into the funnel.
6. Quickly help your child take off the funnel and place the balloon mouth over the bottle opening. Hopefully, all that practice from before helped out!
7. Make sure the balloon is centered and the mouth is pulled evenly down on the top of the bottle.
8. Gently shake the baking soda and vinegar mixture.
9. What happens? The balloon should partially fill with gas.
10. Help your child remove and tie the balloon shortly after the fizzing stops.
11. This isn't your average balloon -- instead of blowing it up with her own breath or a fancy helium machine, your child has inflated a balloon with only baking soda and vinegar! Can she think of other things her gassy mixture could inflate?