During a hurricane, chances are you and your family will be spending a lot of time inside. After you’re done preparing for the hurricane and securing the outside of your home for extreme weather, you are left sitting inside waiting until the storm passes. If the power goes out you won’t be able to watch television all weekend, but you can have some fun making hurricane crafts by candlelight. When Mother Nature is pounding at your door you can always camp out inside and gather the family together to get creative.
Here are some ways to have fun with your kids during a hurricane:
Make a volcano
This is a fun way to spend some family time together, and you will most likely have these key ingredients in your house already. Kids will love to see the chemical reaction between the baking soda and the vinegar when the volcano erupts. Grab a plastic water bottle, a coke can, or any small container will work for the volcano. Place the container on a cookie tray covered in wax paper and then cover the container in orange or brown clay, forming a volcano shape. Let it dry for an hour. Mix a few drops of red food coloring into a cup of vinegar and pour the mixture into the volcano. When you are ready to see the volcano erupt pour two tablespoons of baking soda into the volcano. Enjoy!
Hurricane or tornado
Creating a hurricane out of two plastic bottles will generate a vortex when you start swirling the water around in a circle. In this experiment start by filling the first empty soda bottle until your bottle is ¾ full of water. Add a couple of paper clips or other small items inside the bottle to better see the movement of the water, and you can also add some food coloring for fun. Flip over the second empty soda bottle and align the mouths of the bottles together. Next, use duct tape to secure the two bottles together. Once the duct tape is secure flip the bottle upside-down and start swirling the water in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion. Watch the water vortex into a centrifugal force.
While these crafts mimicking natural disasters are fun, the real thing isn’t. Be sure to thoroughly prepare the outside of your house for a hurricane with armor screens or roll up shutters. When the outside of your home is protected then you will be able to have fun on the inside of your home creating science experiments filled with volcanoes and hurricanes. Check out Brevard Shutters for more ways to better protect your Palm Bay, Florida home during a hurricane.
