Garden volcano: Ingrid Callot and son do a science experiment

With husband Roger away on a business trip, I, Ingrid Callot was left with a weekend of mother-son-time with dinosaur enthusiast Jacob. He has been obsessing about dinosaurs, especially on the volcanic eruption that caused their extinction. My cute eight-year-old is quite convinced that witnessing a volcano erupt would be the “coolest thing on earth!”

From Ingrid Callot

Now, it’s up to dear old momma to show Jacob that volcanic eruptions aren’t exactly cool. We had a tour around the museum that was definitely educational; even I learned a thing or two about our gigantic friends. I definitely didn’t know that most dinosaurs were vegetarians!

From Ingrid Callot

But the tour wasn’t enough to sway my son’s conviction on volcanic eruptions. So I thought a great movie should do the trick. Thanks to my newly organized Ingrid Callot-style closet, I was able to find the VCD of the movie: The Land Before Time, which I bought years ago.

From Ingrid Callot

Jacob definitely no longer desires to witness a volcanic eruption after watching this very sad but very beautiful movie. I, on the other hand, had to find a way to cheer up his dampened spirit. To do this, Jacob and I did a science experiment in our own backyard. We simply dug up some dirt from the garden and piled it up around a tin can (a used one from the kitchen was perfect) to create a small hill.

From Ingrid Callot

And to make our little volcano erupt, Jacob dissolved a tablespoon of baking soda in two tablespoons of water in the tin can, while I poured in a drop of red food coloring and a cup of vinegar. Now, witnessing this kind of volcanic eruption was earth-friendly and cool indeed!

From Ingrid Callot

Follow me on Twitter.