11 Lava Lamp Craft For Kids
11 Lava Lamp Craft For Kids
These are the best lava lamps to use at home. If you want to make a lava lamp with your kids, follow our instructions below!
Lava lamps are a groovy addition to any room,and they’re easy to make! All you need is a few supplies and about an hour. This fun project is perfect for a rainy day or a sleepover. Once you’ve made your lava lamp, you can experiment with different colors and sizes of glueballs.
What is a Lava Lamp?
A lava lamp is a lamp that consists of a wax-like substance contained in a glass container.
The material is heated by an electric light bulb inside the lamp, causing the wax to melt and form blobs on the surface of the lamp. As more heat is applied from the light source, these blobs begin to rise and fall in an almost fluid manner.
A Lava Lamp craft for kids is a fun way to create this classic piece of 1950s furniture!
How do lava lamps work?
A lava lamp is a simple device that uses an oil-wax mixture contained in a glass container. The mixture is heated by an electric bulb and cooled by a fan.
What Do You Need To Make Lava Lamps With Kids?
- A bottle that’s tall and narrow.
- Plastic wrap (cut to fit the bottle).
- Food coloring in several different colors, plus a few drops of red-colored liquid dish soap for later.
- Salt in 4 colors or shades of your choice (brown is easiest).
- Baking soda in 4 colors or shades of your choice (white is easiest).
Things You Can Use As Lava Lamp Containers
You can use a lot of different things as lava lamp containers.
- Plastic bottles are one of the most popular lava lamp containers. They’re easy to find, inexpensive, and durable.
- You can also use plastic cups and jars for your lava lamps! These materials are also easy to find and inexpensive, making them perfect for kids’ crafts.
- Soda bottles make good lava lamp containers too, especially if you’re going with an old-fashioned aesthetic that evokes the 1960s or 1970s (when these were all the rage).
- Water bottles have been used in some cool art projects lately; they’re sturdy and often come in fun shapes like rockets or dinosaurs so that children can see their favorite characters in action when they shake up their creations!
- Milk jugs were one of the first types of plastic products ever mass-produced so don’t be surprised if there’s still some lingering nostalgia from this era around when it comes time for your child’s party craft project!
How To Make A Lava Lamp With Oil And Water
You will need
- Lava lamp oil (you can find this in most craft stores)
- Water (distilled is best, but tap water is fine)
- Something to put the lava lamp on – we used a metal plate, but you could use anything flat.
How to make a lava lamp with oil and water: Mix equal parts of the two ingredients in a bowl until they become cloudy; pour into your container, and let sit for several hours before turning it on. The longer it sits, the faster it will move! Now enjoy your new lava lamp!
How to use your homemade lava lamp: Fill your container with warm water and place it on top of an object that won’t get hot or break (like an upside-down mug). Add about 1 teaspoon of oil per cup of distilled water into the container. Wait until everything turns cloudy and then turn on the light source under it (we used an LED candle from Michaels). Make sure that you keep any flames at least 6 inches away from your creation!
Tablets Or Drops Of Food Coloring
Your lava lamp craft for kids will be all the more fun if you can incorporate food coloring! Kids love to get creative, but they also enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that comes with finishing a project.
Food coloring is a great way to get that “wow” factor in this project. The best part? You don’t have to worry about breaking any rules!
This can be done in two different ways. tablets or drops. Both methods work well depending on how much time your child wants to spend working on their lava lamp craft for kids. You’ll just need some water and someplace safe where they can safely mix their ingredients without making a mess (like their bathroom).
If you’re worried about your child getting into any trouble, then dropping tiny drops into an empty container may be better than using tablets since it requires less precision and less time spent holding something overhead until it’s mixed with water properly (tablets are easier for small children).
Using tablet form means mixing at once; however, if using drops there could potentially be problems if too many drops at once because then all those colors might mix instead of separating into different layers as we want them to!
Alka-Seltzer Tablets
Ingredients
- Alka-Seltzer tablets (or any tablet that will dissolve with water)
- Glass bottle or jar with lid
- Warm water or a hot bath to place the bottle/jar in for a few minutes (optional)
Liquid Watercolor
1/2 cup liquid watercolor (see this recipe for homemade liquid watercolors)
1 tablespoon white vinegar
Mix equal parts of the two ingredients in a small cup or bowl. Pour into your lava lamp. Be sure not to get any of the liquid watercolors on the outside of the bottle as it will stain and be difficult to clean up!
How To Make A Lava Lamp Without Oil And Water
Get your supplies and make a list of what you will need. Fill a bowl with shaving cream and add food coloring to tint it the color you want your lava lamp to be!
(If you want more than one color, start with one color then add another when it’s time.)
Add about 1/4 cup of baking soda for every 1 cup of shaving cream that you have in the bowl. You can use less if there is only going to be one person using this lava lamp at a time, but we recommend using more if there are two or three people who will be using it at once because the more baking soda, the longer it will last without needing refills!
Mix all these ingredients until they are evenly mixed throughout all parts of your mixture (this doesn’t take long). You’ll know when everything has combined well because your mixture will no longer look lumpy or bumpy – instead, everything should look smooth like frosting on a cake!
If there are still lumps after mixing thoroughly then just keep working at them until they’re gone before adding anything else into them (like water). That way none will show up later while watching TV while eating popcorn snacks while relaxing after school hours during summer break Christmas vacations between semesters Spring break weekends away from home
Make A Lava Lamp With Shaving Cream And Glue
Why not make a lava lamp with shaving cream and glue? It’s cheap, easy to find at the grocery store, and super easy to clean up.
It’s also safe for kids to use because it requires no hot wax or heat source.
To make this craft you’ll need:
- Shaving cream in whatever color suits your fancy (you can use regular shaving cream or shaving gel)
- Glue (we used white school glue)
Make a lava lamp with oil, water, and salt.
This variant needs some more preparation; you will need to mix the baking soda into the bottle.
This method takes a bit more preparation and you will need to mix the baking soda into the bottle in advance. You can make this version with your children after completing the previous two versions.
- Take an empty plastic bottle or flask, preferably of 500 ml capacity or more, and fill it with water up to 95%. Add a few drops of food coloring if needed.
- Pour 5% solution of sodium carbonate (baking soda) into another bottle or container and add some oil drops until the liquid reaches 95% level, then pour this solution into your main flask containing colored water.
Lava Lamps Are Unique Decor
Lava lamps are unique decor that can be used as a night light or just as an interesting accessory in the room.
- They make a great craft for kids, too.
- You can also make them yourself with just a few things from home!
- No matter what you choose to do with your homemade lava lamp, it will be sure to impress everyone who sees it!
Conclusion
Lava lamps are a great way to teach kids about science and they can be a fun craft project as well. They are also a nice addition to any room as a nightlight or just as decoration.
