The Foaming Pumpkin

For some reason we are into science experiments and messes around here these days.
I saw this idea in the Cosi newsletter and I just happened to have everything that the experiment requires so... we decided to take a break from our school work today and mix up another mess in the James household.
We cut the pumpkin, took the insides and seeds out (we love to roast the seeds) and added baking soda, lots of dishwasher soap, food coloring and vinegar.
We experimented with different amounts of each OUTSIDE (this MUST be done outside!!) and made our pumpkin "come to life" with lots of colorful foam.
We snuck a little science into the fun and discussed how when the baking soda and vinegar mix it makes carbon dioxide which comes in the form of bubbles that push the soap up and out of the pumpkin. All of the kids LOVED this, especially Colin. We ran out of vinegar, otherwise I think he could have experimented with this all day!