Summer is right around the corner, and one of my absolute favorite outdoor programs to do is baking soda and vinegar rockets! It offers quite the WOW factor for kids and their caregivers, and it is pretty inexpensive to run! Assuming you have many of the supplies already on hand or can collect over time, you’re looking at roughly $15-$20 for 12-16 kids. I run this for ages 8+ and encourage grownups to stick around to help their kids.

Consumable Supplies:Supplies

  • Vinegar (~$3/ half gallon from Target, get 3 or 4)
  • Baking Soda (~$1 for a box, get 3 or 4)
  • Paper Towels
  • Corks (Ask for donations! Retired teachers and winos (some overlap!) will gladly collect and give you some. The more the better because corks are different sizes and so are the mouth holes for the bottles)
  • Bamboo skewers or Chopsticks (3 or 4 per participant’s rocket)
  • Tape (masking or duct)
  • 16.9 oz empty plastic bottles (You can ask participants to bring their own or collect as donations)

Reusable Supplies:

  • Funnels
  • Measuring Cups
  • Spoons
  • Scissors

Set Up

Be outside and in the shade if possible. Launch off of flat, level concrete. If you can’t, I had some success launching out of a plastic bin sitting in grass. I typically have 3-4 tables with 4 kids at each table. At each table I’ll have: 1 half-gallon bottle of vinegar, 1 box of baking soda w/ 1 spoon, a stack of paper towels, a pile of skewers/chopsticks, a roll of tape, 1 pair of scissors, 1 measuring cup and 1 funnel. I’ll stand by a big box with all the corks so I can help each kid make sure their cork will fit in the mouth of their bottle without sliding all the way in and encourage the kids to find a cork while waiting for everyone to arrive.

Experiment SetupInstructions

  1. Have the kids tape one skewer/chopstick to their empty bottle, upside down (hole on bottom) with enough space that the cork won’t touch the table while in the bottle. 
  2. Then have them tape 2 or 3 more, evenly spaced around the bottle so it’ll stand like a stool without falling over.
  3. Take the cork out and have the kids make a “fuel burrito.” Lay out a paper towel, have them spoon 1 or 2 spoonful’s of baking soda onto their paper towel, then roll it tight like a burrito. DON’T PUT IT IN THE BOTTLE! But tell them to make sure that it’ll fit inside the mouth of the bottle.
  4. Leave the “fuel burrito” to the side.
  5. Kids take turns pouring about 1 cup of vinegar into their rockets using the funnel. Wait until everybody is done and ready to launch!

 

Launching Instructions

I’d suggest about 3 or 4 “launching pads” with 3 to 4 kids waiting at each launching pad for their turn. If you have the space, all can launch at the same time!

Go over the safety steps. They should NOT lean over their rockets to look, and they should always approach a rocket that did not launch from the side, just in case. The temperature, humidity, and a variety of other factors may affect the baking soda + vinegar chemical reaction time. 

Tell the kids who will launch to drop their “fuel burrito” into their bottle rocket. Cork it quickly, flip it over and have it stand on the chopsticks. Tell the kids to step backwards immediately and carefully. After a few seconds, the rockets should take off! Those kids gather their rocket, cork, then dump any remaining vinegar and/or fuel burrito remnants. Next round of launchers can step up to their pads and prepare for take-off! 

I let the kids refuel and come back out to launch again 2 or 3 times, depending on how much vinegar and baking soda you have left. If the rockets keep falling over, you can have the kids hold their bottles out away from them with the corks pointing up towards the sky and they can launch their corks.

If it is taking too long, tell the kids to give their rocket a quick shake after they drop in the fuel burrito and flip it over to speed up the reaction time. If you know the chemistry, you can explain to your older kids what’s happening with the chemical reaction!