(Gifted) I was very impressed with how much there is to do in the National Geographic Build Your Own Volcano kit.  For a price of £15.99 there is plenty to keep the kids out of mischief!  It’s a great set to buy for the summer holidays to keep your children entertained.

Build Your Volcano

Firstly, they get to build the actual volcano.  Not many sets have this as an option.  Usually you just get a “volcano” shape and skip straight to the explosion!  But here you get to create your volcano from scratch with plaster and water.

You do need to give yourself time to build your volcano.  You can speed up the process by letting it dry for a few hours in the oven.  But we waited for it to air dry on the windowsill.

Decorate Your Volcano

Also included in the sets were paints and one paintbrush to then decorate your volcano once its dry!  Your kids are getting to be creative!  So, with one kit they are getting to do so many things.  Ignore the multiple paintbrushes in the picture some of them we owned already!

It’s very educational too.  Included is a learning guide letting you know all about volcanos, such as the structure of the earth, plate tectonics, the parts of a volcano and the different types that exist.

My boys were fascinated with the booklet.  Especially with the statistics of the largest volcano on earth and reading about the rocks that are created from volcanoes.  It sinks in better too because National Geographic include a pumice and geode rock in the kit!  You can see first-hand what volcanoes can make!  The boys love keeping these types of rocks and have them proudly displayed in their bedroom.

Volcano Eruption

When your volcano has been made and painted you then move on to the explosion!  This part can get a bit messy, so we were glad we did it outside.  You get to do a few eruptions with the included citric acid and sodium bi-carbonate powder.  The boys enjoyed seeing the lava bubbling from the chemical reaction.  It’s bright red, so do be careful with your clothes as it can stain.

Included are tips if your children want to see bigger eruptions.  I like how comprehensive the instructions are, so you really get the most of the experience.  We did add more powder and less water on our later attempts.  But we didn’t try adding some drops of dish soap!  So that’s something we will be keen to explore in the future.  You can also continue to us your volcano with baking soda and vinegar when you have run out of citric acid and sodium bi-carbonate powder.  It’s good the fun doesn’t end when you have exhausted the included items.

I am delighted with the National Geographic sets; you can see just how much from my earlier positive reviews.  They were Break Open 2 Geodes, Dig Kits and Crystal Growing.  So, if you want inspiration of what to buy to occupy the kids over the long holiday refamiliarize yourself with my earlier reviews and get shopping!

The sets are all available to buy from Amazon.