St. Patrick’s Day science can be easy and fun! Just grab baking soda, water, and green food coloring, and you are ready to make magic leprechaun rocks.
The Science Behind Magic Leprechaun Rocks
This is a fun twist on the experiment using baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda is a base, and vinegar is an acid. When the two ingredients mix, they react and release bubbles, aka carbon dioxide. The fizzing and bubbles bring the magic to this St. Patrick’s Day science activity.
Let’s Make Magic Leprechaun Rocks
Making magic leprechaun rocks is quick and requires only a few ingredients. Warning: It can be messy, but it also brings out your inner child!
Materials:
- Baking Soda
- Green Food Coloring/ Green Watercolor
- Water
- Gold Coins
- Vinegar
- Measuring Cups
- Cookie sheet/tray
- Mixing Bowl
How to Make:
Once you have gathered all the ingredients, you are ready to begin. First, mix green food coloring or green liquid watercolor with the water. You’ll need 1 cup of baking soda for every 1/4 cup of water. Mix the baking soda and water until it becomes a moldable thick paste. If it seems too runny, add more baking soda; if it’s too crumbly, slowly add more water.
Now it’s time to shape the rocks! If you don’t want green hands, wear gloves…I learned the hard way! Carefully shape the rocks by adding a scoop of the paste, then a coin, topped with more paste. Squeeze and roll it into a ball shape. Finally, I place them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet to dry. They need 1-2 days to dry, but you can also speed it up by placing them in the freezer.
While my students are at lunch or specials on St. Patrick’s Day, I sneak outside and spread the leprechaun rocks in the grass. When my students return to the classroom, they find a note left behind by the leprechauns. This note sends students out to hunt for leprechaun rocks and explains that using the leprechaun water on the rocks will reveal a surprise!
The bubbling reaction when the baking soda and vinegar mix are mixed will result in squeals of excitement, followed by absolute joy when they reveal the gold coin!
Tip and Tricks for Magic Leprechaun Rocks
There are several different ways you can do this activity. One way is to have a large bucket or bowl filled with leprechaun water and have students drop the leprechaun rocks into it. I like to let each student do their own.
I give each student a cup to place their magical leprechaun rock in. Then, I give each student a small cup of leprechaun water (green vinegar) to pour over their rock. You could also have them use droppers to slow down and stretch out the fun!
The leprechaun water can be colored vinegar placed into a special container, or if you want to press the easy button like me, take the label off the bottle of vineger!
Looking for additional St. Patrick’s Day ideas? In the blog post, Bringing Excitement and Fun With St. Patrick’s Day for Kindergarten, I share ideas on integrating math, STEM, writing, and more!
