The 5-yr old is fascinated with volcanoes. Got recommendations?

[Fred_Also]

We used to make them from Glycerin on a bed of Potassium Permanganate. Kind of violent for a 5 year old though.

http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCESOFT/CCA.../PAGE1.HTM


Fred Also

[DaviDC.]

Take him to Iceland!

[Mike Johnson]

So is my five year old. I haven't seen a good book on them -- I've looked -- but there are some pretty good teevee shows. There's a good episode of Dirty Jobs, and a Most Dangerous episode of Modern Marvels. His favorite, though, was a Nova episode about Hawaii.

We took him to Hawaii last winter and this summer we're headed for, yup, Yellowstone.

Recently, though, he's been getting more into bugs and beetles.

[RAMd®d]

...Earth.

The first episode is about how the Earth formed and how volcanos played their part.

Fascination, HD, narrated by Iain Stewart.

[davester]

I'm with Paul F...go to Hawaii or Yellowstone (or Mt. St. Helens). Bear in mind that the Hawaii volcanoes (aka Shield Volcanoes) are the most mellow and mundane of all volcanoes. No giant stratovolcano cone, no explosive eruptions, just mellow slow-moving lava going into the sea (that said, it is reeeeeeeeallly exciting to hike up to the active vent and peer into the lava lake (an activity only for nutter geologists like davester and friends).

Seriously, this is the age to actually go to the real thing rather than settling for book knowledge.

[BCam]

Mt. Ste. Helens.

Two reasons. A - it's a real Volcano, and B - driving up to the observation point and seeing the flattened forest all around you really makes you realize the scale and power of an eruption. I took my girls there when they were six - and they still talk about it at 17.

[michaelb]

I took my kids to Lassen National park when we were in the Cal last year and that was very impressive too (before Mt St. Helens erupted, Lassen was the big deal for volcanic national parks). We enjoyed hiking in the lava tubes underground.

[DavidS]

It would also be a nice excuse to go to Italy and see the ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Another way to put the destructive nature of volcanoes into perspective.

I look forward to when my 4 year old hits that stage. He is currently into race cars and dinosaurs, but still has a fondness for Thomas and Friends.

[the_poochies]

Wow, these are great tips all around. Little Poochie is a big volcano fan too.

A trip to see the real thing is well outside our budget, but our local library probably has two dozen books and videos about them.

And we also made a volcano with an empty Snapple bottle surrounded by clay. We filled the bottle with baking soda, vinegar and red food dye and voila! Instant volcano.

[kj4btkljv]

I was gonna say... what are you planning on spending to get your 5 year old in front of a volcano?

Hawaii? Italy? You could probably do it cheaper by getting a big 50" or larger plasma TV, pop him in a chair right in front of it, then start the DVD player.



Jeff