Look no further for a fun Halloween activity to do with your students that’s hands-on and engaging. Make these Halloween lava lamps for a seasonal STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) experiment to completely amaze your class. Perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade.

Check out these other related articles:

• Halloween STEM Activities
• Halloween Minute to Win It
• Counting Pumpkin Seeds
• Pumpkin Candy Tower
• Haunted Milk Experiment
• Halloween Movement Songs

This activity goes well with these resources:

Halloween Lava Lamps

Incorporating STEAM projects in Kindergarten is always fun, especially at Halloween time! These lava lamps are perfect for this time of year. Check them out in action:

So fun, right? Pretty simple as well! Keep reading for directions. And make sure to check out all our Halloween STEM ideas here!

How-To Make Lava Lamps

Materials:

We got everything at Dollar Tree, to make it affordable! You can choose to do one or two as a whole class demonstration, or buy the see-through plastic reusable cups so there’s enough for every student to make one. You’ll need:

• Clear Containers (mason jars, plastic cups, vases, or have parents send in empty 2-liter bottles!)
• Baby Oil (You can also use vegetable, olive, or canola oil)
• Acrylic Paint or Food Coloring
• Alka Seltzer Tablets
• Dry Erase Marker for Decorating

Directions:

Just a few simple steps and you’re ready to amaze your students!

1. Decorate your container with a fun Halloween theme! You can draw a pumpkin face, Frankenstein, a ghost, spider legs, or just use fun stickers…the possibilities are endless!
2. Fill the container about halfway up with your oil of choice.
3. Mix another small container with water and either paint or food coloring.
4. Pour the colored water into the oil. This is a great time to talk about why the oil and water separate, and have students make predictions on what they think will happen!
5. Break Alka Seltzer tablets into small pieces and drop them in one by one and then watch the magic happen! Your students will LOVE it!

Share Your Halloween Lava Lamps

Let us know if you make these in class, and how much your students love them! Share a picture by tagging #simplykinder on Instagram or post on the Simply Kinder Teacher Group on Facebook! Happy teaching and Happy Halloween!

This post was written by Johanna, an experienced early elementary teacher who loves learning about new teaching ideas for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade!