We’ll be doing some play on the topic of ponds this week. I think it will tie in nicely with Earth Day coming up on April 22nd.
To start off, we did a pond fizzy (potion) play activity. My kids love activities involving fizzy reactions, so we do them often.
I usually make my own fizzy powder because the kids go through a lot in one activity. My 3 year old tends to dump entire containers of fizzy powder into the water. To manage this impulse, I put the powder in small containers and refill them throughout the activity.
I prefer fizzy powder recipes that use citric acid powder – so you can just add water to create a reaction. However, baking soda and vinegar will give you the same reaction. The recipe is simple and very forgiving. The measurements do not need to be exact. I will usually just eyeball the amounts of each ingredient.
Fizzy Powder Recipe
- 1 cup baking soda
- 1/4 cup citric acid powder (Amazon)
- 2-3 tbsp Bubbling Epsom Salt (optional for scent and extra bubbles)
*As an Amazon Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
If you don’t have Bubbling Epsom Salt, but want to still create a long-lasting, bubbling mix – you can use cornstarch. I have more information on making fizzy/ potion powder with cornstarch in this post.
To add something extra to this activity, I made it look like a pond, so we could talk about creatures that live near ponds. I also included some blue and yellow water, so the kids could try some colour mixing. For fine motor work practice, I put out a variety of tools including pipettes, tweezers and scoops.
The kids had a great time with this activity. They loved the added texture of the grass under the water and of course, scooping, mixing and pouring the ingredients. It sparked a lot of conversation about the animals and creatures who live around ponds.
Other Materials
- Yello Door Education Rustic Pourers (Sewing Seeds Play – save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Lovevery colour tablets for blue and yellow water, tweezers & pipettes
- Resin containers (Playspiration – Instagram)
- Schleich animals
- DIY Cattails (skewers & corks painted brown)
- Fake grass mats, green stones, moss, flower (“lily pad”) sequins, glass pebbles (Dollarama)