What is Fizz Wizz and Jammin Jelly and Elephant’s Toothpaste

I like to do Chemistry Camps—really any science camp.  Two kid friendly labs are Fizz Wizz and Jammin Jelly (Class set) and Elephant’s Toothpaste.

Fizz Wizz has recipes for jelly and soda.  The kids love Fizz Wizz so much, I have materials on hand for refills: baking soda, citric acid, sodium alginate (food grade), calcium acetate (food grade), red cabbage powder, and sugar.  Edible Chemistry is the same set as Fizz Wizz.  The mini scoops in the kit measure about one gram of solids.  Food grade calcium chloride may substitute for food grade calcium acetate—which is hard to find.)

The Fizz Wizz or Edible Chemistry Kit $10-18–pricy for one kit.  How about Fizzy Lemonade? (Add baking soda to home-made lemonade.  You could make fizzy Koolaid, too.). Here is a recipe for edible gummy worms with sodium alginate (This recipe uses food grade calcium chloride.).


The elephant’s Toothpaste is fun.  Steve Spangler has detailed instructions.  Get a one liter bottle and add two or three teaspoons of dry yeast and a squirt of dish soap to the empty soda bottle.  Dry a little food coloring along the sides of the bottle.  Add 3% hydrogen peroxide and watch the foam flow out.
Steve Spangler does the same experiment with a  stronger concentration of hydrogen peroxide—the 40 volume hydrogen peroxide hair dressers use.  The hydrogen peroxide should be fresh.  The reason hydrogen peroxide is sold in brown bottles is because it’s sensitive to light and degrades to water and oxygen.  If you have 3% peroxide on hand, add a little to a bit of yeast to see if it bubbles.  The bubbles indicate the peroxide is still usable.

Want one more cool experiment with sodium alginate?  Look at this edible water bottle.  Amazon has calcium lactate and sodium alginate for $18.  I think the calcium lactate can substitute for calcium acetate and calcium chloride.  I’ll get back to you.