Summer Science Melting Sandcastle Experiment and Activity for Kids

Just because it’s summertime doesn’t mean the learning has to stop. In fact, now is the time to incorporate lots of fun, engaging summer activities for kids! This sandcastle activities allow toddler, preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, and 2nd graders to learn some summer science. Include this baking soda and vinegar experiment in your upcoming beach theme for an outrageoulsy fun kids activity.

Sandcastle activities

Kids love building sandcastles. They are great fun, but also good for strengthening hand muscles, improving coorindation, working on STEM skills designing and engineering, and more! This sandcastle activity is a great educational summer activities for preschoolers, toddlers, kindergartners, grade 1, and grade 2 students in reverse. We are going to melt the sandcastle using a simple summer experiment. This baking soda and vinegar project is a quick and easy beach activity that is sure to enagege even reluctant learners.

Summer Science

All you need for this fun baking soda and vinegar reaction is a few simple materials including:

1-3 boxes baking soda
water
1+ cup vinegar
blue food coloring
1-3 teaspoons clear dish soap
squirt bottle (optional, but helpful)
small sandcastle mold (optional, but helpful)
plate with lip
plastic gold coin(optional)
shells, plastic beach creatures, etc. (for decoration)

Start out by mixing the blue food coloring and the distilled white vinegar in a squirt bottle.

Beach activities

Now mix together the baking soda, dish soap, and water in a bowl, adding just engouth water so you can get a mixture that will hold a ball shape.

Summer Experiment

Scoop in and press the baking soda mixture into a sandcastle mold. If you can’t find a mold the size you want to make, you can always form the mixture by hand. This is great for strengthening little hand muscles!

HINT: Add a plastic gold coin inside the sandcastle before forming it for a surprise as the caslte melts!

Beach theme

Turn over the mold onto a plate with a lip and knock on the top and sides gently so the shaped baking soda slides out. Add sea shells, plastic sea creatures, sand, etc. if you like to theme your sandcastle, beach science project.

Summer activities for preschoolers

Pour a little bit of the blue vinegar on the sandcastle. Do just a little at a time. AS the water washes over the sand castle, what happens?

Summer activities for kids

The blue vinegar ACID will react with the baking soda BASE to form a chemical reaction that creates CO2 (Carbon Dioxide). This will expand and is amplified by the dish soap which will create bubbles.

Baking soda and vinegar experiment

Continue adding blue vinegar and watch as the baking soda sandcastle begis to melt in a foamy, bubbly chemical reaction.

Baking soda and vinegar reaction

We opted to add a gold coin to the middle of our sandcastle as we were creating it. Kids will giggle with excitement as the sandcastle breaks apart to reveal treasure inside!