Make a Homemade Lava Lamp With Water, Food Coloring and Oil

Have you ever drooled over those funky lava lamps that were so big in the hippie era? They are making a big comeback, but those lamps can also be expensive. How about creating your own version at home? This can be a very fun experiment to do with your kids!

To get started you need a jar or vase, the taller the better, water, cooking oil and food coloring, as well as some rock or sea salt. You want salt with large granules so the lava bubbles will last longer. Once you have all your items assembled, you are ready to get started making a lava lamp.

Start by filling the jar ¾ of the way full with water. Add food coloring until you get the color you desire. This can be an experiment all in it's own as children figure out how many drops of each coloring to get the right hues. You might also want to try setting up several jars and do a different color in each, creating a rainbow symphony of lava lamps.

Next, fill the jar the rest of the way with cooking oil. The oil will stay suspended on top of the water. To make your amazing lava bubbles, sprinkle your coarse salt over the surface of the oil. It will magically begin to sink in great blobs and hang at the bottom for a moment before wobbling back up. To keep your lava roiling, you'll need to sprinkle more salt when the bubbles are diminishing.

So, what's going on here? The salt makes the oil heavy and drags it to the bottom of the jar of water. There, the salt dissolves and the oil is released to make its way back to the top again! You'll notice a layer of salt after a while on the bottom of the jar. If you want your lava lamp to last for a while, you'll need to sprinkle just enough salt to make the oil sink, not throw in great handfuls, since this can fill your jar up fast. Not to mention you'll run out of salt.

To make your lava lamp really shine, set it in a sunny window or in front of a lamp or flashlight. The light will catch on the moving oil for a fun effect. Kids will love playing with this novel experiment for quite some time, but be careful to do this activity in a waterproof area, such as the kitchen, since oil can be hard to get out of fabric and carpets.

So, there you have it: your very own lava lamp, or a series of them. Have fun!