ROMKids Show: The One With The Volcanos

Tune in every Tuesday at 2 pm on Instagram Live as ROM Kids Coordinator and Camp Director Kiron Mukherjee combines his passion for children’s education with storytelling to bring to life science, history and art for you and your loved ones in the comfort of your own home. Kiron will share activities, easy at-home crafts, behind the scenes anecdotes and fun facts—all connected to the ROM collections. 

This time on the ROMKids Show we'll dig deep into the Earth’s crust and learn about volcanos. Then we'll test what we've learned about Hawaiian and Plinian eruptions with two science experiments! Grab your supplies and get ready for an explosive episode!

MATERIALS: 

• 1 tablespoon baking soda
• ½ cup vinegar
• 1 tablespoon dish soap
• 1 tablespoon red food colouring
• Beaker
• Materials to build a volcano around your beaker (optional)
• A safe space to get messy

1. Pour your baking soda into the beaker. This is a great time to also build your volcano around your beaker. What household materials do you have? Plasterscene, old newspapers, papier-mache? You could also make a scene out of lego or washable blocks below your volcano for the “lava” to overflow! 

2. Mix your vinegar, dish soap and food colouring in a cup. Now pour into your mix into the beaker. Watch out! Remember you can scale up your mixture to get an even bigger reaction! 

MATERIALS: 

• Diet Coke
• Original Mentos
• Materials to build a volcano around your pop bottle (optional)
• A safe space to get messy

1. If you’re going to decorate your bottle and turn it into a volcano, now is the time to do it! Like with the previous volcano, use household items that can be disposed of or cleaned easily to make your setting.

2. Open the bottle and take as many Mentos as you can and quickly drop them into your bottle. The reaction will happen quickly, and only once, so be fast and efficient!

As the ROMKids Coordinator & Camp Director, Kiron is the public face of the Royal Ontario Museum’s family and children’s programs. Kiron started volunteering at the ROM at age 14 and has never looked back. Though he majored in history at York University, Kiron also considers his early years as a ROMKids camper to be a highly formative part of his education. Now, he strives to provide engaging and educational kids’ programming so that future generations can look back on their ROM experiences as fondly as he has.