I know summer is over, but I just had to share a fun and cool experiment with you :). Whether your kids are bored and need something to do, or you want to help your kids learn a little science, this is a great activity!

Online I recently read about someone who made their own slushies at home. I was very intrigued- because I love slushies; and they used rootbeer… which pretty much sealed the deal for me! I thought I would give it a shot and let you know how it went so you could decide if you wanted to give it a try or not!

Start with a bottle of your favorite soda. Shake it like crazy for 5-10 seconds (to increase the pressure) and put it in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Basically, you want the soda to get as cold as possible without it actually freezing. Mine was already starting to freeze at 3 hours, so you really need to know your freezer (and keep in mind that the location of the soda in your freezer can make a big difference too!) I have a newer freezer, and it’s pretty well stocked, so I’m sure that made a difference! Once your soda has hit that sweet spot of icy cold without actually freezing, take it out of the freezer, carefully open it just a bit (to let out the extra pressure), and quickly turn it upside down and then back upright again. You’ll immediately notice your soda turning into a slushy substance; pour it into a chilled/frosted glass and enjoy your fresh homemade slurpee!

This happens because the ice crystals that begin forming when you are freezing your soda will trigger nucleation when you turn it back upright. The frosted glass/bowl helps the nucleation process along by helping to freeze the soda that hasn’t frozen yet.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by this whole experiment! To be honest, I was pretty skeptical that it would work, but with a bit of a mess, we did have success:). I forgot to frost my mug, so I think it would have been more successful had I done that, but even without that step it worked fairly well:). And fair warning- open the soda carefully- mine sprayed everywhere because I didn’t really think it through ;). So gently and slowly open that lid up and quickly put tighten it again! Or you’re going to get really messy ;)

This would be a great activity to do with your kids, and you can make it a learning experience and everything! You can explain to them how nucleation is when something changes it’s state (liquid to solid, etc) in tiny little spots called nucleation sites; basically when there’s a lot of surface area and relatively little volume in comparison (like when water vapor turns into droplets in the atmosphere, or mentos explode and fizz in Coke ;) ). You could be really basic or go into more depth, but either way- what a great science experiment or fun activity to do with the kids on a hot day!

Have any of you tried this before? I’d love to hear how it went for you! Share your story in the comment below!