Fun Science: How to Make a Dough Volcano

Jamster had a natural disaster school project to complete over the half term break and after the initial tuts and sighs about homework in the holiday he was very keen to get stuck in. He actually enjoyed it far more than he expected and I know he felt proud once it was complete knowing that he had put time and effort in to create it himself.

I thought I'd share the details on how it was made so you can give it a go at home too! I feel by using dough instead of card or paper mache it looks quite textured and therefore more realistic.

What you will need

Fatballs - Make your own bird feeder

A bank holiday weekend in England generally means rain! We were well prepared though with some indoor activities on the agenda to keep us busy in the warm and dry.



Bird feeders are a great way to attract some new wildlife to your garden that the kids will love to spot. These are very quick, simple and cheap to make - always a bonus.

What you will need:

Empty pots, lard, string/ribbon, lollipop sticks, nuts and seeds.
Pan, wooden spoon, mixing bowl.

Method:

1) Cut lollipop sticks down to the width of the bottom of your pots.
2) Tie string or ribbon around the centre of the sticks and put them into the pots with the string hanging out of the top
3) Add the lard to a pan and melt it on a low heat.
4) Tip the lard into a bowl with the nuts and seeds and stir until they are coated fully.
5) When combined spoon the mixture into the pots ensuring the ribbon/string is in the centre of the mixture and hangs out the top of the pot
6) Leave in the fridge for around 3 hours to set fully.
7) Ease the fatballs out of the pots by pushing the base of the pot or pulling the string gently
8) Hang outside and wait for birds to start munching them!

Hopefully it wont be long until you have some robins and sparrows in the garden for a nibble!