10+ Fun and Easy Baking Soda and Vinegar Experiments

They explode, they erupt, they are messy and boy are they fun! What could cause so much excitement? That’s right, baking soda and vinegar experiments. Go beyond the old baking soda and vinegar volcanoes and discover a world of new experiments to thrill your kids!

Chemistry for Kids – Sodium Bicarbonate and Vinegar Reactions

What you will discover in this article!

A glass jar filled with white powder and a parchment label with Baking Soda written on it, is beside a glass bottle with a matching parchment label saying vinegar. They are pictured on a wood background. The words 10 fun and easy baking soda and vinegar experiments in white text.

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We love science experiments around here, but, often for my own sanity, we keep things easy, by just playing with variations of our favourite physics or chemistry reactions. One of our all time favourites is the simple baking soda and vinegar experiments.

Immediately, I am sure you are thinking of the old fashion Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcanoes we all built as children. We love that experiment too, but you can do lots of other things with this awesome reaction that don’t involve a whole lot of paper mache construction.

A quick note for those not in North American. Baking Soda is also known as Sodium Bicarbonate in many parts of the world.

The Science

These activities explore the popular baking soda and vinegar reaction, which is a simple acid-base chemical reaction. Vinegar or Acetic Acid has the chemical formula CH₃COOH. Baking Soda, is a base also known as Sodium Bicarbonate or Sodium Bicarb, has the chemical formula ‎NaHCO₃. During this reaction the products are sodium acetate (CH₃COONa). Sodium acetate is made of 1 sodium ion, 2 carbon atoms, 3 hydrogen atoms, and 2 oxygen atoms. The other products are water (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂ ). Carbon dioxide is the gas that causes the bubbling during the reaction.

Here is the chemical formula of this reaction

CH₃COOH(l) + NaHCO₃(s) → CH₃COONa(aq) + H₂O(l) + CO₂(g)
acetic acid (vinegar) + sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) -> sodium acetate + water + carbon dioxide

Is the reaction endothermic or exothermic?

It takes energy to break the chemical bonds in baking soda and vinegar. When this happens energy is released when the carbon dioxide, sodium acetate, and water are formed. Since more energy was needed to break the baking soda and vinegar apart, the temperature goes down. This is called an endothermic reaction. That means Baking Soda and Vinegar reactions are endothermic.

Now we know the science, let’s dig into some fun experiments!

Here are our top 10 favourite baking soda and vinegar experiments that the kids love doing over and over and over again! The best part, most of these are super easy science experiments. Great for those afternoons when you need a quick, fun project that will appeal to any age.

Measuring Chemical Reactions – Fireworks Experiment

Baking soda and vinegar is the perfect reaction to start learning some basic chemistry principles including how to measure a chemical reaction. In this experiment we have a fun Fireworks inspired reaction (great for July 4th), followed by a deep dive into chemistry as kids learn how to measure a chemical reaction with simple kitchen supplies.

Bottle Rockets

Building Bottle Rockets is such a fun activity for all ages, but especially as a year end celebration or summer camp activity. With this activity we are exploring the pressure and physics caused by a contained baking soda and vinegar reaction. And the results are spectacular!!

Greenhouse Effect Experiment

This powerful experiment demonstrates the heat capturing properties of greenhouse gases. An excellent project to do for Earth Day or as part of a unit study on environmental sciences and climate change. Create the Greenhouse Effect in a jar.

Hatching Dino Eggs

One of our most popular activities with everyone from the very young to the young at heart are these little Dino Eggs. Everyone dreams of hatching their very own dinosaur baby and in this fun activity you make it happen with a fizzy, fun and gorgeous chemical reaction.

A blue dinosaur toy sits on top of a blue, teal, green and yellow homemade dinosaur egg, in a bowl filled with foamy chemical reactions. The words Hatch Dinosaur Eggs with this Simple Science Activity are written across the top

Erupting Rainbow Rocks

Erupting rainbow rocks are a gorgeous, colourful science experiment that is so easy to do. Be prepared for lots of squeals of excitement and gasps of wonder as the rainbow of colours magically appear in the fizz!

A colourful close up of a chemical reaction resulting in colours running through foamy bubbly channels. The words Fun Chemistry for Kids Erupting Rainbow Rocks is written across the top.

Erupting Black Hole Science

We love studying space around here, and this is a fantastic activity for your star gazers and aspiring space travelers. Inspired by the first photographs of a black hole, we created this fun and interactive Space STEM Activity – Erupting Black Holes!

A black donut shaped black hole with gold glitter on it is in the midst of a chemical reaction with bubbles erupting from it. Overlay text says Erupting Black Holes Space Science For Kids

Magic Color Changing Oobleck

Imagine changing the colour of something, simply with chemistry. This Colour Changing Oobleck activity was not originally meant to be a baking soda and vinegar reaction, in fact we were simply setting out to test pH. Then we saw those fizzy little reactions as our Oobleck changed colour. Accidental discoveries in science are so much fun!

Colour changing oobleck recipe and science experiment to inspire young scientific minds

Baking Soda vs Baking Powder

Got a budding scientist on your hands that wants to run their very own science lab? This is a fantastic activity for kids to put their investigation skills to the test. Make sure you use test tubes and beakers for the best lab experience. Don’t forget the lab coat. Your young scientists will love this investigative activity exploring the differences between baking soda and baking powder.

What's the difference between baking powder and baking soda? Find out in this epic science experiment of eruptions!

Balloon Science

Like our bottle rockets, in this activity we are capturing the CO2 gases that result from a baking soda and vinegar reaction. Using our STEM skills we tested different ratios to see how it affects the inflating of our balloons. We have done this experiment for Groundhog Day and Halloween. It is great fun and can be easily adapted for any theme and is super easy to do.

Ground Hog Day Kids STEM Activity is a fun way to explore this very old tradition that was used to predict the coming of spring. With this STEM activity, kids can test to see if their animal will see it's shadow.

Halloween Balloon Science Activity for Kids

Volcano Slime

After years of failure we finally found success making slime with contact lens solution and baking soda. Well it didn’t take long for the kids to start asking… what would happen if we added vinegar? And our Erupting Volcano Slime was born!

Erupting Slime - A Saline Slime STEM Activity that incorporates the traditional volcano science experiment kids love, with a new slime twist.

Puking Pumpkin Volcano

Take your fall Halloween celebrations to a new level of “EEEWWWW” with Puking Pumpkin Volcanoes! This simple activity always delights the kids.

Apple Volcano Experiment

This Apple Volcano is perfect for Back to School and Fall Science. Kids love Apple Science Experiments, and this colorful one is always popular.

Christmas Tree Chemistry

This is a great Christmas STEAM activity, but if you need something for a different time of year, simply switch out your Silicone Molds to change the theme of this activity for any holiday or event. We’ve done it for Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, Dinosaur themed and more. Kids get to decorate their Christmas Tree then make it erupt in a colourful chemical reaction.

A STEAM Christmas activity that incorporates some art with chemistry for some fantastic hands-on learning.

Invisible Ink

Another fun use of acids and bases is to make invisible ink. This is such a fun experiment with big wow moments for kids!

Have a great time exploring the amazing reaction between baking soda and vinegar! Your kids are going to have a blast!

Ready to dig into more Chemistry learning in a fun, interactive way? Try our Periodic Table of Elements BINGO game!

A periodic table of elements bingo game is laid out in midplay with some tokens in place. Overlay text says Periodic Table of Elements BINGO Game

Have fun learning and exploring with chemistry!