Soap Monsters

OK.  I admit that doing weird/unusual things for science is something I love!  I often tell people that I am a science nerd.  My hubby and I really enjoy basing almost everything we do around science.  (eg:  we take family vacations and do the science center, visit the nature places when we camp...etc)

So, when I find science books in the library I often take them out and check it out for fun stuff to do.  This experiment was no exception. 

You need some bar soap.  In our house we generally don't have bar soap (lots of little boys that have trouble lathering bar soap) so we we went out and picked up the cheapest soap they had.  It just so happened that it was Irish Spring.  (heads up, you want to use some WAY LESS stinky soap for this if you do it!)

Place it on a plate and stick it in the microwave to blow it up!  We did 2 min on high (because that is what it said in the book).  I have always wanted to blow something up in my microwave! 

Look at the funny shapes you get.  Each of these were put in the same.  Same bar of soap, same plate, same place on the plate, but totally different "monster" came out! 

After it cools off (ours took about an hour) you can decorate it.  Using paints, eyes, etc...whatever you have around the house, make a monster out of your soap, decorate, decorate, decorate.   What fun little creatures you can make! 

Then we of course had a very small science behind the reason it blows up:

The water molecules (that are in everything) start moving really fast and turn into gas.  This creates a pocket that blows the shape up.  Because there are so many molecules it makes that small square a totally different shape.

Super easy science.  You could do a way more in depth explanation but we did super simple for this.

Try a few different things...use different types of soap. (lotion based ones, glycerin based, shaped soap, etc) Which ones make the coolest shapes?  Which ones blow up the best?  What other things could blow up in the microwave?  (hint, marshmallows were a HUGE hit in my house!)  Does decreasing the time effect the shape of the soap? 

Have fun!

Jaime is a self proclaimed science nerd.  Doing things with her favorite 4 boys on the planet (3 kids and a hubby that is really more of a kid than them sometimes!) is her idea of Heaven on Earth.  Getting dirty is a bonus of living with little men, good thing that is also an interest of hers!  She loves photography, kitchen things, and crafty stuff.  She is currently trying to find a magic way to get her sheep farm with her hubby and adopt those kids that Heavenly Father has decided are hers (they just don't know it yet!).  You can read more about some science experiments and fun over at her personal blog at Welcome to the Madness.