Elephant’s Toothpaste

Elephant’s Toothpaste

WHY call it that?! Maybe because it makes so much foam?

What You’ll Need:

  • A clean 16-oz plastic soda bottle or a bar glass like ours
  • 1/2 cup 3% hydrogen peroxide: the stuff you’d find in your store pharmacy; and what Trace used. If you want EXPLOSIVE foam use the peroxide from a hair supply store and wear your safety goggles! (20-volume is a 6% solution)
  • 1 Tablespoon (one packet) of dry yeast
  • 3 Tablespoons of warm water
  • Liquid dishwashing soap
  • Food coloring
  • Small cup
  • Safety goggles especially if you use the fancy hydrogen peroxide

Now What?:

Put your bottle of peroxide, soap , and food coloring on a cookie sheet or do outside, or in the sink. It makes a mess!!!!

1. Hydrogen peroxide can irritate skin and eyes, so put on those safety goggles! An adult should carefully pour the hydrogen peroxide into the bottle.

2. Add 8 drops of your favorite food coloring into the bottle or paste and stir in. 

3. Add about 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap into the bottle and swish the bottle around a bit to mix it. 

4. In a separate small cup, combine the warm water and the yeast together and mix for about 30 seconds.

5. Pour the yeast water mixture into the bottle! Watch that foam grow!

What’s Happening:

Yeast knocks oxygen off hydrogen peroxide (peroxide = two oxygens) That oxygen gets trapped in the liquid soap and TADA! You have tons of warm foam. The experiment creates an exothermic reaction, which means it creates heat! AND the foam produced is just water, soap, and oxygen, so you can clean it up with a sponge and pour any extra liquid left in the bottle down the drain.

Remember! If you use the hair salon hydrogen peroxide, use safety goggles!