Happy July 4th!

July 4th is the time of year where everyone in the United States celebrates our Independence. We became our own nation on July 4th, 1776. We celebrate by having cookouts and gatherings with family and friends. The center of these gatherings are food and fireworks.

Fireworks is a touchy subject because there are many people (kids and adults) and animals who are sensitive to loud noises. Fireworks bothers these people and animals with noise sensitivity.

*An idea was shared with me to make fireworks in a jar and it is made with a few simple ingredients: vegetable oil, water, and food coloring.

A few of our boys are sensitive to loud noises, but they do like fireworks, just not the noise. I thought this would be perfect for my boys so that they could still experience fireworks, but a quieter version of them. Not only is it a quieter version, but it is also a science lesson as well. How science plays into it, is that the food coloring dissolves in water but not in the oil. The oil will float on top of the water. After a little bit, the color will fall from the top and it will create firework effect.

 Items Needed:

-An empty glass jar (or empty glass jars if you want to do more than one jar)

-Small bowl(s)

-Water

-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil for each small bowl(s) 

-Food coloring (any color)

Directions:

Fill the jar(s) 3/4 of the way with warm water. Then put 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the small bowl (or each bowl if you are doing more than one). Put food coloring drops in the vegetable oil. You can do one color or different colors. We did different colors. Then pour the oil and food coloring mixture slowly into the glass jar and watch as the food coloring drops to the bottom to make fireworks in a jar.

The kids did their fireworks in a jar last night since we will be going to a family gathering tonight. I had them make theirs one at a time. I let them stir the food coloring into the oil themselves. I assisted with pouring the oil and food coloring mixture into the water. Here are some pictures so you can see for yourself how fun this was for our kids.

Logan stirring his food coloring and oil mixture.

Landon was excited.

It really is so cool and beautiful how it works.

Liam enjoyed this very much.

Lucas was excited as well.

So pretty!

Again, I really love this because it is a quieter version of fireworks. I think this can be enjoyed by all ages. I am 31 and really thought it was cool to see fireworks in a jar. It is so pretty how the colors mix and fall to create the firework effect. Let me know if you will try this, not just for July 4th, but for any day.

Hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th! Happy birthday to the United States of America!

Happy July 4th from our kids!

My favorite Bible verse that is shared for July 4th.

*The idea shared in this post is not my own. It was shared with me and can be found on Pinterest or Google.