Soda Explosion!

I'm always on the look out for fun new things to do with the boys. I turned to good ole' Pinterest for some ideas on experiments to try. As with most boys, Ethan is fascinated with anything that explodes, fizzes or pops. Oh, and the messier the better.  I, however, am fascinated with things that are inexpensive and not so messy. I came across Soda Explosion and thought it would be perfect for us.  All we needed was a 2 liter of Diet Coke (apparently diet works better for this experiment) and a pack of mint Mentos candy. The soda was on sale 3 for $4 so I bought 6. The 6 pack of Mentos was also a better deal than buying them individually.

We headed to the backyard and got started. I originally was under the impression that an entire roll of Mentos was needed in one 2 liter for there to be a decent size explosion but 3 or 4 works well. Also, it's quite difficult to successfully empty an entire roll of candy into the 2 liter before it starts to erupt.

Ethan really enjoyed this experiment while Eli was bored with it after the first two.  I had fun watching Ethan and some of the neighborhood kids have fun with it.