Dry ice is amazing! We use it on rainy days, or just days where a “wow” factor is in order. You don’t have to just use it for creating a fog though. Here are a few other fun ways to experiment with dry ice.
First of all! Where do you get it? We get ours from our local grocery store. You can use this link to see if the dry ice we purchase is in your area! Usually, you can find it up front as you walk in the doors.
Caution! Dry ice is incredibly cold and can “burn” or damage your skin. It comes as a large block or slice in a thin plastic bag, and you are charged by the pound. I would bring a glove or small towel to handle the bag.
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Items we used were:
Hammer
Tongs
Bubble Mix
Black Light Flashlights
Glowsticks
Glow in the dark Acrylic Paint
Coins
Bowl of Room Temperature Water
Pot of Boiling Water
With any activity or experiment, you want it to last more than a few minutes. Don’t rush through these. You always want to make a moment, so move through these slowly, allowing for repetition and play with each one. Explain to the kids that touching the ice, even when in water, is not a safe choice, but that you’ll tell them when something is safe to touch. Take a piece of ice just bigger than a quarter and place it in a bowl of water. It will bubble a little and some vapor with start appearing above the water. You can let the kids move their hands through the vapor.
Next, take your boiling water, and pour it in a heat safe bowl. Drop a piece or three of dry ice into the water, being careful not to splash the hot water on skin. The temperature causes the ice to melt and turn into a gas at a faster rate. The result is a more prominent vapor that lays low. The kids can move their hands through the vapor, careful not to touch the water or ice.
Black light play: You can place a glowstick in the room temperature water, or mix in glow in the dark paint with the water. Drop a few more pieces in. Take a black light. We use these flashlights for SO MANY things. They are great for glowing experiments and easy to hold and move around a project. Use the lights to watch the vapor and glowing water move around.
Take a break from the vapor, and show the kids how melting and surface tension work together by pushing coins into the ice and watching them wiggle back and forth. Here is a short video of what it should do. Gloves would come in handy at this part. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but then it is really fun to watch the coins dance. If you leave them for a few minutes after they stop moving, a frost will form around them from the water in the air!
Another fun trick is to place some pieces inside some bubble mixture! The bubbles come pouring out of the top of the bottle. We even used boiling water and added bubble mixture to it to create larger bubble creations. You can take heaps of bubbles and place them on a child’s hands so they can pop the bubbles and release the vapor.
We usually put a few pieces in some punch or juice as well, and pour some of the drink in cups for the kids to enjoy. Be careful to not let any pieces of ice go into the cups kids are drinking out of.
Future thoughts, what would happen if you placed pieces in oil? We do our lava lamp experiment with oil, water, and alkaseltzer tablets. What would happen if you used dry ice instead of the tablets? Also, since the hot water worked better, what if you used the ice to cool off overly hot chocolate for some marshmallow dancing vapor fun? Have more ideas? Send them over for us to try!
Have fun!
