Making a volcano is an ideal science experiment, home school project, or just something for the kids to do on a rainy day. Even adults will enjoy this one!

Note: Always pour the lava ingredients somewhere that it’s safe to make a mess. It is recommended to set off the actual volcanic explosion outside if you don’t want to clean up a mess!

Step 1: Get a good working surface. You will want a surface that can get messy, because this will get very messy.

Step 2: Get a container. You will want a fairly large container, such as a 32oz soda bottle.

Step 3: Form the outside of the volcano. You can make the outside from clay, playdough, dirt, soil, or tin foil. Paint it brown and black to make it look more realistic. Let it set until it is all dry.

Step 4: Pour your hydrogen peroxide. Get a bottle of hydrogen peroxide from a beauty supply store. You will need a 6% solution (usually labeled as “20-volume”. Pour half a cup of the hydrogen peroxide into the container in your volcano.

• Be careful with hydrogen peroxide. You hurt yourself if you touch it too much or get it in your eyes. Only adults should handle hydrogen peroxide.

• If you want to make the reaction even more dramatic, use a 30% solution of hydrogen peroxide. This may be more difficult to find, however.

Step 5: Mix in soap and food coloring. Mix in at least six drops of red food coloring and two drops of yellow food coloring. Then mix in about two tablespoons of dish soap.

Step 6: Mix yeast. Get a tablespoon of dry yeast and mix it with 3 tablespoons of water in a separate small cup.

Step 7: Pour the yeast. Pour the yeast mixture into the volcano

• Stand back!

For more rainy day activities and science experiments, don’t forget to check out our Toys & Games, Science Kits, and Discovery Kits as well!  You might as well throw the word “bored” out of your word bank, because you won’t be needing it anymore.

The instructional portion of this article was provided by wikihow, a wiki building the world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How To Make a Volcano.  Content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons License.