Growing Ghost balloons is an easy and fun Halloween science project for kids of all ages. It’s a great activity to do since all the supplies are pretty basic… Most of these things you probably have laying around your house.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Baking Soda
- Distilled Vinegar
- Balloons
- Black Sharpie
- Water Bottle
HOW TO GROW A GHOST
- Draw a ghost face on your balloon while it’s deflated. We actually found a pack of balloons at the Dollar Tree that had a ghost design on them already.
- Fill your empty water bottle with a 1/2 cup of vinegar.
- Pour 2 Tbsp baking soda into the deflated balloon using a funnel.
- Attach the open end of the balloon onto the top of the bottle. Be sure not to dump the baking soda from the balloon into the bottle until it is on and secured all the way!
- Once you are all set, hold the balloon upright allowing the baking soda to fall into the bottle and mix with the vinegar.
- Sit back and watch the magic unfold!
HOW DOES IT WORK
This concept is pretty basic….The baking soda and the vinegar create a ACID-BASE reaction. These two chemicals work together to create carbon dioxide (a gas.) Gasses need a great deal of room to expand. As the gas spreads out the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bottle, and then moves into the balloon, which make your ghost grow (aka balloon inflate!)
Encourage older children to take this project to the next level. Instead of a science demonstration, complete a experiment. Create a hypothesis, predict what will happen if you add more baking soda vs more vinegar. Which variation will make the balloon grow bigger? Have them draw pictures of their observation and record their findings.
From our family to yours Happy Halloween!
***All content and photos from this article are property of The Playful Parent.***
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