Volcano Day!

As I have mentioned before, we have Field Trip Fridays in order keep me sane augment our curriculum. It is generally a blast. This past week, we decided to forego our field trip and have a sort of at-home adventure. Nolan has been the proud and patient owner of the Lava Rock Volcano kit since Christmas.

Every few days he asks me about it. I have to admit, the idea of exploding fake lava all over my house wasn't really exciting to me. So, I may have been purposefully delaying the Big Day.

I finally decided that the poor kid had waited long enough. We started out with the physical construction of our volcano. It required strips of plaster to be draped over a plastic form. 

 The floors, the table, our shirts...everything was covered with plaster dust. But it made for a nice-looking shape of a volcano.

While we waited for the plaster to dry, we blew some bubbles and had a little contest to see who could pop the most. It had nothing to do with volcanoes. It was a lot of fun.

Back in the kitchen, we donned our smocks and got out the paint to artistically design the rocky mountainous surface of the volcano. It was a meticulous labor of love for these 3 boys who love to create.

While we waited for that to dry, we went to the porch and worked on our portable growth chart. They each picked the colors for the 6-foot plank and are quite excited to start marking it up with their heights. No tears as we leave behind some house where we have marked their progress on the wall. We will just take this piece of wood with us wherever we go.

We waited until Grandad arrived before making the eruption happen. During the wait time, we read Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. The boys all love the adventures of their friends Jack and Annie, and we always learn a little something along the way.

Once he arrived, we got busy. First we got all set up with toy dinosaurs, the lava rocks, vinegar, and baking soda. It was difficult for little hands to squeeze the bottle, so Grandad needed to help out.

Mostly the "lava" flowed down the sides of the mountain, but occasionally we managed to get an explosion of lava that shot high above the mouth of the volcano. All in all, it was a great day. And now we have an active volcano that could erupt again any time. Be warned.

It's always a successful Field Trip Friday when some exhausted little boy falls asleep in a random place at a random time.