An Ivory Soap Explosion!

I love Pinterest for school ideas. I saw this and we just had to try it. Apparently Ivory soap has more air and water whipped into it than other bar soap. When the gases heat up inside the soap bar, they expand, creating these really cool explosions or clouds, depending on how you look at it. It was a smash hit, of course. Except for the smell. Somewhat overpowering. Do this on a warm day and open the doors and windows.

First, it has to be IVORY soap!  

We unwrapped the bar of soap and put it in the microwave on a piece of parchment paper.

Microwave it on high for about 2 minutes, or until it quits expanding.

And voila, you end up with a big puffy cloud! We did it twice so we'd have enough to play with after and the first time we didn't leave it in long enough so it immediately shrank down when we opened the microwave. It's not hot when you touch it, just warm and it feels something like a paper/paper towell cross. I don't know how to explain it.

Then we put it in a big bowl and they crumbled it all up. I added a bit of water back into it just so it would stick together, along with some food colouring and they made mini soaps with cookie cutters but it's so smelly I let them play then tossed it. They didn't mind. 

We had a lot of fun with it. My microwave still smells Ivory fresh but it is fading, thankfully.

Here's some more info on why it expands. Go try it!