Fizzing Pavlova

Happy Australia Day! Today I'm excited to share with you our Fizzing Pavlova. Having shared with you earlier what a fan I am of Growing A Jeweled Rose, if you're also a fan you'll find it no suprise that we really enjoy playing with bicarb and vinegar. When I was trying to come up with ways to play coming up to Australia Day I really couldn't go past making our very own bicarb pavlova!

 This sensory activity was so much fun to create and play with. I began by asking Bubbles if she'd like to make a pretend pavlova-she very excitedly said yes. We then mixed up a 'playdough' type base with bicarb and vinegar (recipe below). We shaped the playdough into a base and left it outside in the sun for about 2hours-long enough for Bubbles to have her afternoon nap.

 After Bubbles nap we topped the bicarb pavlova with shaving cream and some plastic fruit.

 Then came the fun bit! Whilst Bubbles had slept I'd filled an old chocolate topping bottle with vinegar and a little Milo. I gave Bubbles the bottle to drizzle chocolate all over the pavlova (we don't normally do this with our real pavs but it was the way I came up with introducing the vinegar to our play).

She was so excited to see the pavlova fizz and bubble up over the place and onto the ground. Once she'd used the vinegar up she asked for more-it seems no matter how much vinegar I give her when we play with bicarb and vinegar I can never give her enough-we used 2 litres doing this little experiment. :) We were able to drain the vinegar off the bicarb pavlova and reuse it 4 more times before it completely disintegrated. 

It was a fantastic day of play. Squiggles sat in her swing whilst we were playing and whilst she did join in towards the end but that was a mistake on my part as she immediately tried to eat the shaving cream!

Bicarb Pavlova Recipe:
Ingredients
500g bicarbonate of soda
Approx. 7tbs water

Method:
Place your bicarb in a medium bowl. Add water, 1tbs at a time, mixing well until a soft mouldable dough is formed.
Shape dough into a pavlova shape and leave in warm, dry place until hard.
Top with shaving cream and plastic/wooden/foam fruit.
Simple!

How are you and your family celebrating Australia Day?

-Victoria

Please always supervise your infant/child at play.  Please stay within arms reach and never leave infants/children unattended.  You know you're infant/child best, use your own judgement-considering your infant/child's temperament, habits, behaviour and development before you play with a new play medium.