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Home / Early Learning / Science / Fun Science for a Space Theme | Fizzing Planets

Fun Science for a Space Theme | Fizzing Planets

Shared by Mary Catherine 32 Comments

We are big fans of fun science here at Fun-A-Day! My son, my preschool students, and visiting friends always enjoy the experiments we come up with. Engineer (my son’s nickname here on the blog) helped me come up with this fizzing planets activity. It’s perfect for a preschool space theme I’ll be teaching soon!

Are you following Fun-A-Day’s SPACE THEME board?

Super fun science experiment for a space theme - Fizzing Jupiters!

Related: Glowing Galaxy Water Bin Space Activity

Table of Contents

  • fun science with “exploding” jupiters
  • Done-for-You Preschool Resources

fun science with “exploding” jupiters

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Materials
Baking soda
Liquid watercolors
Water
Vinegar
Eye droppers

Making Jupiter for a super fun science experiment for a space theme

Related: Space Messy Play Ideas

Prep
Engineer and I checked out some pictures of Jupiter online, then decided on what colors to incorporate into our experiment. We settled on white, red, and orange even though that might not be 100% scientifically correct. 😉

We made baking soda paste to create mini “explodable” Jupiters. For each color, we mixed a cup of baking soda with about 1/4 cup water. We left the white batch alone, of course, but added liquid watercolors to the other two. The paste was thick enough to be patted together into shapes. If yours is too runny, add a little more baking soda. If it’s too crumbly to hold together, add a little more water.

Fun science for a space theme - Fizzing Jupiter!

Related: Fizzy Stars

Making & “exploding” Jupiters!
To make Jupiter, we grabbed bits of all three colors and mixed them together into a small ball. To make the uniform spherical shape, we used our new Handy Scoopers. We could have just used our hands, but Engineer and I were itching for an excuse to use our new toys. In case you’re wondering, we’re aware that Jupiter’s colors are more in a striped formation. We weren’t able to get the stripes right, even though we tried!

Fizzing and bubbling Jupiter - what a fun science activity for a space theme!

After we had a few Jupiters done, it was time for some fizzing planet fun! Engineer called it “exploding Jupiter!” We drip-dropped vinegar on the planets and watched them bubble and dissolve. I had such a blast listening to all of his observations and questions about the chemical reaction! Needless to say, lots and lots of fun science ensued! We ended up making and “exploding” about seven planets before it was time for dinner. The kiddo asked if we could make other planets too, so I have a feeling we’ll be doing just that soon!

The end result of a super fun science experiment done for a space theme - Fizzing Jupiter!

Related: Fun Science Experiment with Fizzy Stars

What kind of fun science experiments do your children/students enjoy the most? I’d love to hear about them over at Fun-A-Day’s Facebook page!

J is for Jupiter - part of the A-Z-Science-Experiments-for-kids-series

This fun science activity is a part of the A-Z Science Experiments series. Be sure to pop over there and see the rest of the experiments running through the alphabet this month!

Done-for-You Preschool Resources

Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week, all while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life, can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!

Preschool Teacher 101 is excited to share with you some amazing lesson plans, activity packs, and much more! We offer a wide variety of themes that are frequently used in preschool classrooms, as well as some less common (but super interesting) themes. Click on the images below to learn more about our space-themed product offerings!

Preschool space lesson plans cover
Space Lesson Plans
Space Dramatic Play

Join The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 today for exclusive access to our amazing products. And we even have three different membership options to suit your needs!

Fun science for a space theme - Fizzing Jupiter experiment

Filed Under: Science Tagged With: Space

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Comments

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  1. jaime@FSPDT says

    April 11, 2015 at 9:46 am

    This is AWESOME!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      April 12, 2015 at 1:00 pm

      You’re too sweet, Jaime! Thank you!! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Anne says

    April 13, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    LOVE LOVE LOVE! These look awesome. Totally making some planets this week.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      April 15, 2015 at 1:59 pm

      Thanks so much, Anne! 🙂

      Reply
  3. katie says

    April 14, 2015 at 1:27 pm

    This something I know my three-year old will LOVE!

    Great post that’s easy to follow and well written! 🙂

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      April 14, 2015 at 4:54 pm

      So happy to hear that, Katie! Let me know how it goes if you try it with your three-year old!! Thanks so much for the sweet words! 🙂

      Reply
      • Mary Catherine says

        April 15, 2015 at 2:01 pm

        I started out just sharing with family and friends in the summer of 2012. Fun-A-Day became a “real” blog in February 2012, so that’s over 2 years now!! 🙂

        Reply
  4. Carleen says

    May 26, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    Why is Jupiter an exploding planet? My son is asking!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 18, 2015 at 7:54 am

      I’m so sorry, but I didn’t see this comment until now! Basically, the kiddos wanted to pretend that they were bad guys exploding planets. Not the best answer, but it’s true! Tell your son I say hello. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Merryl says

    July 14, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    What is the science behind this?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 18, 2015 at 7:51 am

      Hi Merryl! When baking soda and vinegar interact, a chemical reaction occurs – specifically, an endothermic reaction (heat-absorbing). Baking soda is a base, and vinegar is an acid. When they combine, a product of the reaction is carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide escaping causes the fizzing!

      Reply
      • Rebecca says

        June 27, 2016 at 6:34 pm

        Thank you so much for this explanation. Super helpful. Presenting this to Girl Scouts at their space camp!

        Reply
        • Mary Catherine says

          July 23, 2016 at 5:26 pm

          Well, that’s awesome! So happy to hear that! 🙂

          Reply
  6. Jess says

    May 29, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    About how many jupiters did you end up making using this recipe?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      May 30, 2017 at 1:58 pm

      We ended up making about 5. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Abby Hagen says

    February 28, 2018 at 11:48 am

    Hey Mary! Can we have the exact recipe for this fun activity? We’re planning to do this at a children’s astrochemistry event, and it would be great if we had exact amounts to make this work. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 28, 2018 at 12:34 pm

      Hi Abby, I am so excited to hear that! The exact amounts used are in the “prep” section of the post. I’ll see if I get the chance to come back and add a printable recipe to it in the near future. 🙂

      Reply
      • Abby Hagen says

        April 5, 2018 at 11:38 am

        Hey Mary, me again! We’ve been putting together our version of this project, and we were just wondering why you decided to pick Jupiter! Is there a science behind the chemical makeup of the planet that deals with “exploding”? Thank you!

        Reply
        • Mary Catherine says

          April 5, 2018 at 6:29 pm

          Hi again! 🙂 I wish I could tell you we had a real scientific reason for choosing Jupiter. Alas, we didn’t. We just happened to choose that planet first. We’ve since made a variety of other fizzing planets from our solar system, too. How is your version going?!

          Reply
  8. milla says

    December 3, 2018 at 10:06 am

    This is so cool.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      December 9, 2018 at 8:30 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  9. Lilly says

    February 25, 2019 at 3:55 pm

    Can you leave these to dry overnight?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 25, 2019 at 8:21 pm

      I didn’t leave them out overnight, but you could try. Or perhaps freeze them overnight. Let me know if you try that out before I do so we can compare results. 🙂

      Reply
    • Sarah says

      July 25, 2019 at 5:02 am

      Hi, did you try leaving them out overnight? And if so, how did they work out? We’re wrapping up a space unit in our homeschool co-op and wanted to end with some fun experiments but would ideally prep the “planets” the night before. Thanks!

      Reply
  10. Megan says

    August 9, 2019 at 9:33 pm

    Will try it for Science week

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 12, 2019 at 12:39 pm

      Wonderful! Let me know how it goes. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Stephanie Underwood says

    October 3, 2019 at 2:18 pm

    How many planets can you make with the 1 cup of baking soda?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      October 4, 2019 at 11:37 am

      Oh that really depends on how big you make the planets. We made about 3 or 4 using that fun round scooper.

      Reply
  12. Ashley C says

    March 18, 2020 at 3:11 pm

    How long after making the planets did you destroy them?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 18, 2020 at 7:41 pm

      The majority of the times we’ve done this, it was within half an hour of making them. A few times we put the planets in the freezer to save the fizzing for the next day.

      Reply
  13. Summer says

    March 9, 2022 at 10:53 am

    Can tempera paint or acrylic paint be used instead of watercolor paint?

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 9, 2022 at 11:55 am

      Hi Summer! I don’t think I would use acrylic paint since acrylics are harder to deal with when it comes to cleanup. Washable tempera paint would probably work well, but I haven’t tried it with this so I’m not positive. Food coloring is another substitute to consider, as well.

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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