Fireworks In A Jar Experiment

We have a hands on science coop coming up very quickly for our homeschool group and I am teaching one of the classes. I have to admit, I stink at science. I am afraid of it and I just in general never really liked it. Seeing my children grow as they have I can see how easy it is to learn from doing projects like this and how much fun you can have too.


So I do try to have projects like this in our daily homeschool experience, which is one reason why we use Christian Kids Explore for our science curriculum. Very hands on.

Alright you want to know about Fireworks In A Jar - Don't you?

I know that my smallest is 10 but who doesn't like doing projects? My guys all love doing things like this which is why age really doesn't matter in some experiments.

You need to gather a jar, we used a large glass.

You need warm water, food coloring and vegetable oil.

We actually tried this 2 ways. The first way FAILED. We couldn't figure out why really because we followed the directions I had from online so what does any good scientist do? 

First attempt & Failed:

Adapt! Do it again and try something different!

This is what we did and the experiment worked great the second time.

Fill the glass or jar 3/4 full of warm water. Next put a small amount of vegetable oil (3 tbsp). I allowed that to sit for just a few seconds and then we added a few drops of food coloring on top of the oil. 

Now you get to sit and watch for the fun to start.

You see the food coloring is more dense than the oil so it will fall through the oil into the water. Once the food coloring hits the water it starts to combine and you get nice patterns.   

Hope you enjoyed our Fireworks In A Jar Experiment.