Awhile back my daughter's preschool teacher made "clean mud" with the class and while talking about it she mentioned to me that I should put Ivory soap in the microwave & see what happens! She did not mention what actually happens but I kept the tidbit in my mind hoping to test it out at a later date.
Mad Science Week brought the idea to the forefront of my mind & I figured it was a great time to try it and see what happens. I am so glad I did! The ivory soap produced quite an unexpected & amazing reaction!
Ivory Soap Explosion & Exploration
What You Need:
bar of Ivory soap
microwave
towel or plate
What To Do:
1. cut the bar in half -
you DO NOT want to put the entire thing in the microwave at once
unless you want a huge mess in there! :)
2. cut the halves into half -
now you have 4 quarters of the soap.
3. Put 1/4 piece of soap bar into microwave & heat for 1-2 mins.
Note: I put it on a paper plate to minimize the mess/clean-up.
4. WATCH what happens!
The reaction happens quickly so watch it & stop when appropriate.
I think it took about a minute, definitely less than two.
Pretty AWESOME!
Of course we repeated the above with all 4 pieces.
Then, after we watched the reaction of the ivory soap when heated
we had to explore it through smell, touch & play!
It was dry and soft & the girls said it felt like tissue paper
(I think that was a good description of it)
After playing with it for a few minutes,
they wanted to add water to see if they could make snowballs.
Being this was all about experimenting -
I obliged and gave them a cup of water to pour in as they wanted.
They added a little to see what happens
& they were able to form a "snowball-ish" type ball.
The more water they added, the more the initial foam "melted".
It was quite messy but being that we were playing with soap -
does it really qualify as a mess? :)
After adding in the entire cup of water we were left with lots of suds.
They finished by playing with the suds for awhile which they enjoyed.
They had super clean hands at the end of it all!
Who would have thought a bar of Ivory soap could be so fun?
You must try it!
Bern
How fun! My kids would love this-thanks for sharing. I better add ivory soap to my shopping list.
ReplyDeletethey will get a real kick out it & it's "clean" fun! A win-win for sure.
DeleteWow! This is wonderful. I'm going to have to put this in my next newsletter to my parents. Thanks for sharing. :) Kristi
ReplyDeleteIt's such a fun & easy one to do at home!
DeleteWe love this experiment! Thanks for linking up to Learning Laboratory at Mama Smiles =)
ReplyDeleteI love this. Do you mind if we do it in a few weeks and link back to you?
ReplyDeleteMy buddies and I did this, too. My soap was older and didn't quite foam up as much, but we got to do lots of other things with it after we microwaved it. Wanna see? http://www.mybuddiesandi.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-clean-fun.html
ReplyDeleteloved seeing all you did with it.
DeleteThat is so awesome. I will definitely have to try this.
ReplyDeletelive in Australia and don't think we have ivory soap. would any soap do?
ReplyDeleteI've seen this a couple of times and every time I think: "I need to do this." I've got several bars of soap sitting in my cabinet for just this type of thing.
ReplyDeletetake the plunge - it girls were having a ball with the entire experience,
DeleteSuper cool! I can't wait to do this!! Thanks!
ReplyDeletehope you enjoy it as much as we did
DeleteOh I just love your educational resources! I would love for you to share your stuff on my site via my weekly homeschooling on the cheap linky: http://3boysandadog.com/deals/2012/homeschooling-on-the-cheap-january-12-2012/
ReplyDeleteOh my what good clean fun (sorry couldn't resist the pun). Didn't know that soap did that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
This looks like so much fun! I need to get some ivory soap next trip to the store!! Stopping by from TGIF.
ReplyDeleteLove how you played with it in water too! You are such a fun mom!
ReplyDeleteSudsy soap bubbles are too fun to pass up! The girls were quite clean when all was said & done :)
DeleteThis is so cool!!! Must try this soon!! Would really love it if you would share this here -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mamamiasheart2heart.com/2012/01/sharing-saturday.html
Thanks so much and have a great weekend.
~MiaB
What FUN!!! A good activity for after they play in the mud & need to get really clean =-) Thanks for linking up to TGIF! See you next week,
ReplyDeleteBeth =-)
Thanks so much for sharing this with us on Sharing Saturday :) Hope you have a great week and looking forward to seeing more of your posts.
ReplyDelete~MiaB
www.mamamiasheart2heart.com
I REALLY want to try this! Thanks so much for linking to Fun Sparks and we loved Mad Science week. x
ReplyDeleteWe tried it too! Thanks for this great post! http://blog.playdrhutch.com/2012/01/22/look-what-happens/
ReplyDeleteJust pinned it to do with my 4YO - can't wait, we happen to have lots of soap! You piqued my curiosity, though - what's "clean mud"??
ReplyDeleteDoes any brand of soap work or must it by Ivory? I've got a few hotel soap bars that might be the perfect size. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFound this on Pinterest. I happen to have an extra bar of Ivory sitting in the laundry room. We will do this tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteDid you know if you put a light bulb in a glass of water in the microwave it will light? I learned this on Mr. Wizard as a kid. I also always stop the microwave the second it lights up! ha ha (make sure to use real glass)
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool! I wanna do myself, never mind the kidlets ;) Can't wait to try this!!
ReplyDeleteOur soap didn't work, but burnt. Not sure if its the microwave or the soap. I guess half of the experience is when it fails!
ReplyDelete