How to make simple melting love hearts

I know that Valentine’s Day is few weeks away but today I’ve teamed up with some other parenting bloggers to bring you some fun Valentines Day learning activities. Every craft activity is also a learning experience and I’ve combined a little bit of science into this fun activity, making simple melting love hearts.

You will need:
Bicarbonate of soda
Water
Red food colouring
Vinegar
Silicone mould

How to make simple melting love hearts

Mix a little water with a lot of Bicarbonate of Soda to make a paste. Add red food colouring if you wish, pour the mixture into your mould and place in the freezer for a few hours. I did this bit without my children but there’s no reason they couldn’t do this part.

I popped the hearts from the mould and set up an invitation to play by placing a couple of hearts in a plastic tub, along with a spoon and cup of normal, household vinegar. I put all this on a tray in case of any mess.

My daughter soon figured out what she needed to do and she had fun adding spoonfuls of the vinegar to the hearts. Slowly they started to fizz and bubble as the chemicals in the Bicarbonate of Soda and vinegar reacted.

We observed the reaction by looking and listening. The hearts fizzed quite slowly as this isn’t a quick experiment. You can probably guess that soon my 4 year old was adding more and more vinegar until we had a lot of fizzy bubbles!

Eventually the bubbles subsided and we could see how the hearts were melting.

Eventually they melted away to nothing.

This is a fun experiment for inquisitive kids and a great introduction to science. I made plenty of hearts so my 5 year old was able to have a go too and I liked the way they both had completely different observations.

Why not take a look at some of thee other fun Valentine crafts for kids taking part in the For the Love of Learning blog hop:

Visit these blogs to see more For the Love of Learning activities:

Matching Stickers Lacing Cards by Teach me Mommy
Valentine’s Day Cupcake Graphing by Life over C’s
Heart Number Bonds by Adventures of Adam
Melting Heart Experiment by Crafty kids at Home
Fine Motor Heart Garland by Powerful Mothering
My Heart Beats for You Printable by Kelly’s Classroom
Sticker Words by Rebecca Reid Homeschool
Melting Love Hearts by The Gingerbread House
Valentine Alphabet Match by The Kindergarten Connection
Valentine Playdough Mats by Kidz Activities
Lines of Symmetry Loving Hearts by Peakle Pie