Witches' Brew Fizzy Cauldrons: Halloween STEAM Experiment

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Witches’ brew fizzy Halloween STEAM experiment is a great way to bring science and Halloween together over a bubbling cauldron! This simple to set up STEAM idea is the perfect activity for home or in the classroom this Halloween. So put on your witches’ hat and test out your best cackle for this fun Fall science idea!

Witches’ Brew Fizzy Cauldrons: Halloween STEAM

Creating a witches’ brew experiment at home is one of those super easy kitchen science experiments, every child should experience especially during Halloween. When I set this up for my kids, they absolute loved it. Baking soda fizzy experiments are always a massive hit on our house. The colours, the smells, the sounds and the bubbles! This fun and easy chemical reaction was equal parts science and sensory!

Science for All Ages

One of the great things about this activity is that its safe for toddlers and preschoolers but exciting enough to entertain older grade school age kids as well! The main ingredients for this chemical reaction are baking soda and vinegar, common kitchen household items that is easily available at the grocery store.

Easy Fizzy Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments

Do you want to try more experiments with baking soda. You can also try our other fizzy experiments like our

Science Behind the Witches’ Brew Fizzy Cauldrons: Halloween STEAM Experiment

What happens when you combine baking soda with vinegar? Fizz! But why does this happen with two seemingly common ingredients. Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid. When an acid and a base mix they produce a gas called carbon dioxide.

How to Make the Witches’ Brew Fizzy Cauldrons: Halloween STEAM Experiment

Grab black plastic witches’ cauldrons. Find a link to purchase them in the supplies section below.

Add some baking soda to the cauldrons. The exact measurements aren’t needed. Making it the perfect activity for toddlers and preschoolers. Invite them to spoon in the baking soda – 2-4 spoon fulls are good but more or less is ok too.

Add several drops of green, purple, orange or black food colouring in each cauldrons, respectively, deepening on how many you have. To make the explosion larger and foamier, add few drops of bubble bath to the cauldrons as well. Again the exact measures aren’t needed. The more bubble bath you add the larger the reaction so be prepared!

Fill a squeeze bottle with vinegar. You can mix in some water in order to make your vinegar go further. Mix 1/3 water with 2/3 vinegar.

Squeeze the vinegar into the cauldrons and watch it erupt with green, orange purple or black bubbling brew! My kids loved this part!!

How the Played

My kids adored loved this idea (as they do with all the fizzy activities we do) they honestly can’t get enough! I let me kids add all of the ingredients so they added lots and lots of bubble bath. The result was a massive foamy bubbly brew erupting on our tray. They of course got their hands in there at the end of the experiment when all the vinegar was exhausted. Because every good witch knows sometimes you have to mix those ingredients by hand!

Looking for more Halloween Activities? Check out these fun ideas:

Age Suitability

This activity is good for toddlers, pre-k, kindergarten aged children 2 years old and up. My kids are 4.5, 4.5 and 8 years old.

Mess Level

The mess level for this activity is HIGH.

Difficulty to Create

Easy.

Skills Developed

Sensory play, language development, number recognition, color recognition, hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, imaginative play, creativity.

The benefits of sensory play:

encourages the development of fine and gross motor skills;
supports language development;
can calm and relieve anxiety;
promotes and strengthens memory; and
helps develop the nerve connections the brain requires for higher learning.

Supplies

(This post and list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)

Tray or sensory bin
Witches cauldrons
Baking soda
Vinegar
Food colouring
Bubble bath

Books, TV Show & Play Kits!

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.

Engage your child in hours of play with my colorful collection of over 60 sensory bin activities, recipes and play projects that aid with memory formation, language development, problem-solving skills and more. Perfect for toddlers from eighteen months to three years old and beyond, each bin makes use of materials you already have at home and helps reignite your kids’ interest in toys long forgotten.

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

With setup instructions, details on how to guide your child through each activity, suggestions for what to talk about with your child as they play and other useful tips, Mandisa gives you all the information you need for creative sensory activities your kids are bound to love.

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

How to Make Colored Spaghetti for Sensory Play

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles that show them how to think outside the box.

350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched July 1 at on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube!

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!