Are you wondering how to make a tornado in a bottle? It’s not that hard to do at all. It’s such a great science experiment for the kids, too!
Tornados are a scary natural disaster where wind forms a circular pattern in the air, which creates a vortex of air. When a tornado touches down onto the earth, it can cause devastating damage to the surrounding area.
While tornados are scary and dangerous, you can teach about them safely by making a water vortex in a bottle, which is created the same way that tornados are made, just with water rather than air.
Learning how to make a tornado in a bottle can help show kids how tornados are formed, and they are also fun to play with.
Follow along to learn how to make a tornado in a bottle below.
How to make a tornado in a bottle
Making a tornado in a bottle is surprisingly fun and relaxing. Watching the principles of vortexes at work is fun when there are no high stakes involved. Follow along with our tips to ensure you can have success when making your tornado in a bottle.
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How to make a tornado in a bottle supplies:
There aren’t a ton of supplies needed for this simple science activity so that process doesn’t take long to set up at all!
Now is also a good time to talk to the kids about Earth Day as well! The more that you can talk about weather patterns and Earth, the more knowledge the kids will have.
You will need the following ingredients:
- Large bottle with a lid (smooth glass works best)
- Dish soap
- Glitter
- Colored paper (use this if your walls are light-colored and you are having trouble viewing the vortex)
How to make a tornado in a bottle
Follow along with our tutorial to make your very own tornado in a bottle!
Fill the bottle most of the way with water. Fill the bottle just to where the bottle starts to curve to make the top of the bottle.
Add two or three drops of dish soap.
Sprinkle a shake or two of glitter onto the water.
Close the bottle tightly.
Swirl the bottle around in a circular motion. The longer you shake it in a circle, the longer the vortex will swirl.
Place the bottle on a flat surface and watch the vortex spin!
Place a piece of dark paper behind the bottle to view the tornado in a bottle in more detail.
Make certain to let the kids take charge of this fun tornado experiment. They’ll love reading the directions on how to make a tornado in a bottle and then they’ll get to show off their science skills in implementing them!
We also love this experiment on How To Make A Lava Lamp as well!
Tornado in a bottle science
A tornado forms when hot and cold air creates a circular pattern in the atmosphere. When the conditions are just right, an air vortex forms, creating swirling clouds, rain, and dirt that can cause immense damage to cities and structures.
The tornado in a bottle is made in the same way- by creating a circular pattern in the jar, which then creates a vortex in the center of the bottle.
Did you enjoy this process of learning how to make a tornado in a bottle? Science is just so fun, right?!
While we love to do science in our home, we’re all about all types of learning, too. Please check out my shop to see all the ways that kids can learn with printables and fun activities.
If you liked this tutorial on how to make a tornado in a bottle, here are some other fun science activities for the kids:
[…] Tornado in a bottle is a classic that has entertained generations of children again and again. It’s fun, easy, inexpensive, and teaches science. Can’t ask for much more than that. […]