Make Fizzy Dino Eggs

Hatch toy dinosaurs from fizzing eggs in seconds with a classic acid-base reaction.

 

Materials you'll need

• baking soda
• water
• food coloring
• measuring cup and measuring spoons
• mixing bowl
• fork
• egg mold
• small toy dinosaur
• tray or baking sheet
• washable markers
• vinegar

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Measure ⅔ cup baking soda into a mixing bowl. Pour in 3 tablespoons of colored water.

Step 2: Mix, mix, mix with a fork until everything turns one color. Squeeze a handful of the mixture. It's ready when it clumps together in your palm.

Step 3: Press the mixture into your egg mold until it's about halfway full.

Step 4: Push a toy dinosaur into the middle of the mixture.

Step 5: Cover the dinosaur with more mixture and pack it down firmly until the dino is hidden.

Step 6: Flip the mold onto a tray and gently lift it off to unmold your egg. Repeat steps 1–6 with new colors to make a whole nest of eggs.

Step 7: Decorate your eggs with markers. Try spots, cracks, or zigzag stripes.

Step 8: Pour vinegar over the eggs and watch them fizz until your dinosaurs hatch.

Learn more

Your dino eggs hatch thanks to an acid-base reaction. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a base, and vinegar contains acetic acid. When they meet, they make carbonic acid. Carbonic acid breaks apart almost right away into water and carbon dioxide gas, and those gas bubbles are the fizz and foam you see. Plain water doesn't set off the fizz, so a few spoonfuls of colored water hold your egg together without hatching it early. Once you pour on vinegar, though, the baking soda shell gets used up bit by bit until your dinosaur breaks free!

If this project was a hit, Eggsperiments takes fizzy acid-base chemistry further with a bubbling reaction that dyes real eggs in bright colors.