How to Make a Lava Lamp in 5 Minutes

When I saw this post by Stuff Parents Need, I had my doubts... but coming from someone who doesn't have kids and who is easily entertained, I thought this was pretty darn cool!

All you need is:

An empty bottle (I used an old water bottle)

Canola oil (original post says any oil will do but I decided to stick with what she used)

Food coloring

Alka-Seltzer



Pour in two-thirds of oil and one-third of water into the empty bottle, leaving an inch at the top.

Next, pour in 10 drops of food coloring:

And finally, crush up an Alka-Seltzer and drop pieces in. And voila! You're done!

...still don't believe this works? Watch the video below - after 1 minute, I drop in a bigger piece and it really starts to go! Note: no cats were harmed in the making of this video:

TOTAL COST: Free!
Assuming you have an empty bottle, oil, food coloring and Alka-Seltzer at home

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 5 minutes or less

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
This would be a great experiment for kids or for the kid at heart!