Volcano, Part 2

The explosion! Well, first we had to paint it. The girls did a great job. This afternoon was the grand finale...we poured vinegar into the top of the volcano and we got our red lava to bubble up to the top and pour out! Lola didn't like the smell of the vinegar, but she did enjoy the project as a whole!

Volcano, Part 1

Recently, Lola and I were chatting about volcanoes. She was fascinated by the fact that where her grandfather lives, Montreal, there is a dormant volcano. I told her how we used to find lava rocks as children. She wondered if they were still hot! Anyway, it gave us the idea to make a volcano from paper mache and have it "explode". I didn't realize at the time that it was really a 2-3 day project. Step 1 was making the base and the shape of the volcano. We used plastic cups and balled up newspaper glued to a box to make our shape. Then we poured some baking soda and a few drops of red food dye into the bottom of the volcano. After we waited a day for the glue to dry, we made the paper mache solution and shredded the newspaper. Lola covered it in paper mache, leaving a hole at the top for the "lava" to come out!

Baking Cookies

Lola has been asking to bake cookies for a long time. She is quite independent in the kitchen, wanting to do everything herself. I'm learning to be patient with that because I really want to nurture her love for cooking and baking. It's tough though!
Anyway, this time I let her do a lot more than I've allowed her to in the past. She is pretty competent, I was impressed! We made these great little vegan chocolate chip cookies from our favorite recipe. They were delicious!