Search Blog
Search Blog

Building Homemade Volcanoes

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On:

Building a homemade volcano for kids can be easy and fun! This timeless and well-loved science experiment is easier and less messy than you may think. In this blog post, read our favorite three ways to build an at-home volcano.

Three Best Homemade Volcanoes for Kids

  • Dough Volcano

  • Clay Volcano

  • Dirt Volcano

Building volcanoes is fun indoors and outdoors!

Take advantage of a beautiful afternoon outdoors and build a volcano outside. Or, if you can't make it outside, an indoor volcano is just as fun. To make cleanup a breeze, build your model volcano in a large cake pan or on a large cookie sheet with an old towel underneath to soak up any overflow lava.

  • Click the button to print these directions and a FREE "Parts of a Volcano" activity from our Geology science unit.

    Click Here for FREE Download

How to Make Erupting Lava

Our favorite dough volcano uses these two dough recipes—one for lava and one for ash.
  • Lava Recipe

    ⅓ cup baking soda
    1 teaspoon dish soap
    ½ – 1 cup vinegar
    Food coloring or washable paint

    Note: Do not premix.

#1 – Dough Volcano

Our favorite dough volcano uses these two dough recipes—one for lava and one for ash.
  • Dough Recipe

    3 cups flour
    1 cup salt
    1 cup water
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil

    Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the texture and stickiness are to your liking. If it is too wet, add a spoonful of flour. If it is too dry, add a spoonful of water. This dough will represent your lava layer. 

  • Sand Dough Recipe

    2 cups flour
    1 cup sand
    1 cup salt
    ½ cup water
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil

    Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the texture and stickiness are to your liking. If it is too wet, add a spoonful of flour. If it is too dry, add a spoonful of water. This dough will represent your ash layer.

  • Volcano Supplies

    Bottle with a narrow opening
    Plastic straw
    Masking tape

    _________________

    Lava Ingredients

    Baking soda
    Food coloring
    Dish soap
    Vinegar

After making both types of dough, gather the other necessary supplies and ingredients. A 20-ounce soda bottle and a straw works well to form a magma chamber. A larger bottle could be used if you don’t mind making more dough and lava.

Poke two holes randomly on the sides of your bottle, just big enough to fit a straw into. Cut your straw in half and stick one end of each piece into each of the holes, then secure them with masking tape. These straws will serve as side vents on your volcano. Set your bottle in the middle of your pan or directly on the ground if you are outside. 

Now it’s time to create your layers. Roll out each type of dough and start to build up your volcano around the bottle, alternating the regular (lava) dough and the sand (ash) dough. The thickness of each layer is up to you—be creative! Be sure to leave your straw pieces sticking out for now. Once you’ve formed your cone-shaped volcano all the way to the rim of your bottle, trim the straw pieces so that the ends are flush with the sides of the volcano.

Now it’s time for the eruption! 

First, add ⅓ cup baking soda to your magma chamber (bottle). Next, add about a teaspoon of dish soap for an extra foaming effect and top it off with several drops each of red and yellow food coloring. Last, when you are ready for the action, pour in ½ to 1 cup of vinegar and watch the eruption.

The different textures on this volcano provide a great teaching opportunity to explain the composition of real-life volcanoes. The straw vents also add some extra excitement that can be used in any of these volcanoes.

#2 – Clay Volcano

Next, we built a more basic volcano using air-dry clay. We built this one up around an eight-ounce disposable plastic cup, and we found it worked just as well as the bottle magma chamber. Use whatever you have on hand! We didn’t wait for it to dry before our eruption, but if you want to make yours look a bit fancier and more realistic, let it dry first and then paint it.
  • Volcano Supplies

    Bottle or cup
    Plastic straw (optional for side vents)
    Masking tape (optional for side vents)
    Air-dry clay 

  • Lava Ingredients

    Baking soda
    Food coloring (or washable paint)
    Dish soap
    Vinegar

We put a slightly different twist on the lava this time. We used the same basic recipe, but we substituted roughly two ounces of a combination of red, yellow, and orange washable paints for the food coloring. The result was very pretty, richly colored lava.

Using washable paint is a great idea if you are building your volcano indoors since it won’t stain like food coloring.

#3 – Dirt Volcano

The easiest and least expensive volcano to make is a dirt volcano. For this one all you’ll need to have on hand are the lava ingredients and a bottle or cup for the magma chamber because the rest is built from nature.
  • Volcano Supplies

    Bottle or cup
    Plastic straw (optional for side vents)
    Masking tape (optional for side vents)
    Dirt, mud, or sand

  • Lava Ingredients

    Baking soda
    Food coloring
    Dish soap
    Vinegar

Find a small area of dirt or sand that you don’t mind digging in. We chose an empty spot in our flower bed and lightly sprayed it with a water hose. Then we dug down just deep enough to make a cozy little spot for our bottle to sit in. We built up the dirt all the way to the rim of the bottle, rewetting it as needed to help it stick together. Don’t let winter stop you—build your volcano out of snow!

Real volcanoes come in different shapes and sizes, and yours can too! Kids enjoy searching for backyard plants, sticks, and rocks to decorate the volcano. With so many variations to choose from, make your volcano unique to your family. It can be as small and simple as taping duct tape all the way around the rim of a cup diagonally down to the base it sits on or as large and detailed as using a two-liter bottle, painting your own homemade dough, and creating an elaborate scene around it. Get creative!

We hope this post inspires you to go out (or stay in) with your family and make your very own volcano. Try using different mediums, ingredient amounts, and colors. Have your child record the experience in his or her science journal with descriptions and drawings or photos. We would also love to see what you came up with in the comments below! Building a volcano is a fun, educational project that is sure to provide your family with wonderful memories.

Watch all three volcanoes in action!

  • Click the button to print these directions and for a FREE Parts of a Volcano activity from our Geology science unit.

    Click Here for FREE Download

  • Study Geology

    All three volcano experiments are part of The Good and the Beautiful Geology science unit. This one-of-a-kind 14-lesson science unit is filled with engaging hands-on activities and informative videos that make studying the earth’s composition interactive and exciting. Learn more about all of our family-style science units here.

You may also like . . .

Join the Discussion

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.

Related Posts

  • Tips for Limiting Screen Time

    Tips for Limiting Screen Time

    Technology brings a wealth of information to our fingertips, but overuse of screen time has become an issue for many families. Jenny Phillips shares her family’s journey to limiting screen...

    Tips for Limiting Screen Time

    Technology brings a wealth of information to our fingertips, but overuse of screen time has become an issue for many families. Jenny Phillips shares her family’s journey to limiting screen...

    Read more
  • Homeschooling Year-Round vs Traditional

    Homeschooling Year-Round vs Traditional

    Testing

    Homeschooling Year-Round vs Traditional

    Testing

    Read more
  • Is Sentence Diagramming Necessary for Learning Grammar?

    Is Sentence Diagramming Necessary for Learning ...

    Sentence diagramming can be a grammar exercise students either love or run from. Sit down with Jenny Phillips in this video and blog post as she discusses how and why...

    Is Sentence Diagramming Necessary for Learning ...

    Sentence diagramming can be a grammar exercise students either love or run from. Sit down with Jenny Phillips in this video and blog post as she discusses how and why...

    Read more
  • What Is a Solar Eclipse?

    What Is a Solar Eclipse?

    Witnessing a total solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most. Learn all about total solar eclipses and how to safely view one. Then download directions for a fun solar...

    What Is a Solar Eclipse?

    Witnessing a total solar eclipse is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most. Learn all about total solar eclipses and how to safely view one. Then download directions for a fun solar...

    Read more
  • Is The Good and the Beautiful Math Rigorous?

    Is The Good and the Beautiful Math Rigorous?

    What is rigor in mathematics, and is Simply Good and Beautiful Math rigorous enough? A rigorous homeschool math course teaches more than just memorization of facts and steps. Keep reading...

    Is The Good and the Beautiful Math Rigorous?

    What is rigor in mathematics, and is Simply Good and Beautiful Math rigorous enough? A rigorous homeschool math course teaches more than just memorization of facts and steps. Keep reading...

    Read more
  • Count to 15

    Count to 15

    Teach children how to count to 15 through music and illustration with our delightful video on The Good and the Beautiful Kids Channel on YouTube. Then keep reading for more...

    Count to 15

    Teach children how to count to 15 through music and illustration with our delightful video on The Good and the Beautiful Kids Channel on YouTube. Then keep reading for more...

    Read more
  • Count By 15

    Count By 15

    Count By 15

    Read more
  • Count by 10's

    Count by 10's

    Counting by 10's is an easy pattern to introduce to children once they have mastered counting by 1's. Print the free download. Then sing along with the children in this...

    Count by 10's

    Counting by 10's is an easy pattern to introduce to children once they have mastered counting by 1's. Print the free download. Then sing along with the children in this...

    Read more
  • The Good and the Beautiful Science: What It's All About

    The Good and the Beautiful Science: What It's A...

    Science is an important part of any homeschool education, but our team believes homeschool science curriculum should be fun and inspiring too! Our best-selling science units make science exciting to...

    The Good and the Beautiful Science: What It's A...

    Science is an important part of any homeschool education, but our team believes homeschool science curriculum should be fun and inspiring too! Our best-selling science units make science exciting to...

    Read more
  • The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: What It's All About

    The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: What It...

    The Good and the Beautiful's award-winning handwriting curriculum was named the most popular among homeschool families in 2022!  When you open one of our handwriting books, you immediately notice The...

    The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting: What It...

    The Good and the Beautiful's award-winning handwriting curriculum was named the most popular among homeschool families in 2022!  When you open one of our handwriting books, you immediately notice The...

    Read more
  • Homeschooling with The Good and the Beautiful: What It's All About

    Homeschooling with The Good and the Beautiful: ...

    Once there was a homeschool mom who loved books and nature and God. She created her dream language arts curriculum for her own kids. And then she shared it for...

    Homeschooling with The Good and the Beautiful: ...

    Once there was a homeschool mom who loved books and nature and God. She created her dream language arts curriculum for her own kids. And then she shared it for...

    Read more
  • Second Grade Sight Words

    Second Grade Sight Words

    Master second grade sight words! Download a free list of sight words used in The Good and the Beautiful Level 2 Language Arts and some fun sight word games for...

    Second Grade Sight Words

    Master second grade sight words! Download a free list of sight words used in The Good and the Beautiful Level 2 Language Arts and some fun sight word games for...

    Read more
  • Simply Good and Beautiful Math: What It's All About 

    Simply Good and Beautiful Math: What It's All A...

    The Simply Good and the Beautiful Math team knows homeschool parents need enjoyable open-and-go lessons that are just the right length, while also building a solid foundation of strong number...

    Simply Good and Beautiful Math: What It's All A...

    The Simply Good and the Beautiful Math team knows homeschool parents need enjoyable open-and-go lessons that are just the right length, while also building a solid foundation of strong number...

    Read more
  • First Grade Sight Words

    First Grade Sight Words

    Learning phonics and decoding is vital for first-grade reader. First graders benefit from learning a short list of words by sight as well. The most useful first-grade sight words are...

    First Grade Sight Words

    Learning phonics and decoding is vital for first-grade reader. First graders benefit from learning a short list of words by sight as well. The most useful first-grade sight words are...

    Read more
  • 4th of July Coloring Pages

    4th of July Coloring Pages

    Free Printable 4th of July Coloring Pages!  Enjoy these beautiful illustrations made into patriotic 4th of July coloring pages, available only from The Good and the Beautiful. Keep reading to...

    4th of July Coloring Pages

    Free Printable 4th of July Coloring Pages!  Enjoy these beautiful illustrations made into patriotic 4th of July coloring pages, available only from The Good and the Beautiful. Keep reading to...

    Read more
  • Skip Counting: Multiples of 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9

    Skip Counting: Multiples of 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9

    Skip counting is an important foundation for understanding and learning multiplication! Children easily learn the multiples of 2, 5, and 10 first, but the multiples of 3, 4, 6, 7,...

    Skip Counting: Multiples of 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9

    Skip counting is an important foundation for understanding and learning multiplication! Children easily learn the multiples of 2, 5, and 10 first, but the multiples of 3, 4, 6, 7,...

    Read more
  • 30 Outdoor Activities for Kids

    30 Outdoor Activities for Kids

    Looking for some outdoor activities for kids? Well, it’s time to get outside! The positive impact of nature and outdoor learning has been proven over and over again. Spending time...

    30 Outdoor Activities for Kids

    Looking for some outdoor activities for kids? Well, it’s time to get outside! The positive impact of nature and outdoor learning has been proven over and over again. Spending time...

    Read more
  • Multiplication Chart Printable

    Multiplication Chart Printable

    Multiplication! For some children, memorizing facts and recognizing number patterns is a fun puzzle and enjoyable mental challenge. For others, it’s a complicated chore. We are here to help with...

    Multiplication Chart Printable

    Multiplication! For some children, memorizing facts and recognizing number patterns is a fun puzzle and enjoyable mental challenge. For others, it’s a complicated chore. We are here to help with...

    Read more
  • Kindergarten Readiness Checklist

    Kindergarten Readiness Checklist

    Get ready for kindergarten! In this post, learn tips on how to prep your child for kindergarten, and be sure to download our free, printable Kindergarten Readiness Checklist! Preparing for Kindergarten...

    Kindergarten Readiness Checklist

    Get ready for kindergarten! In this post, learn tips on how to prep your child for kindergarten, and be sure to download our free, printable Kindergarten Readiness Checklist! Preparing for Kindergarten...

    Read more
  • What Do Grasshoppers Eat?

    What Do Grasshoppers Eat?

    Walking through a backyard in the spring and summer, you’re likely to spy a bright green grasshopper springing across your path. These medium-to-large insects have two pairs of wings and...

    What Do Grasshoppers Eat?

    Walking through a backyard in the spring and summer, you’re likely to spy a bright green grasshopper springing across your path. These medium-to-large insects have two pairs of wings and...

    Read more