What to do when an elephant asks for toothpaste

by | Dec 19, 2018 | General Info

If you ever had a need for elephant toothpaste, it’s while you’re in Kenya.  Those guys are everywhere on safari!  But really, if you’re looking for something fun and exciting to do with the kids over the holidays, elephant toothpaste will not disappoint.  You may already have the ingredients in your kitchen cabinet!  So, here’s the recipe…

You will need:

  • 1⁄2 cup of 6% hydrogen peroxide liquid (You can use 3% hydrogen peroxide for the experiment, though it may not produce as much foam as a 6% concentration)
  • 1 tablespoon of dry yeast
  • 3 tablespoons of warm water
  • Liquid dish washing soap
  • Food coloring (optional, but so fun!)
  • Plastic bottles of all shapes
  1. Make sure you prepare your experiment space.  We did our experiment on a trash bag outside.
  2. Mix 3 US tbsp of warm water with the yeast and let it sit.  Measure out the yeast and mix in the correct amount of water, heated to 105–110 °F .  Read the yeast packaging to see how hot the water needs to be.

  1. Combine dish soap, food coloring, and 1⁄2 cup of hydrogen peroxide in a bottle.  We used a water bottle.  A narrow neck bottle creates the best toothpaste shape as it gushes from the bottle.

elephant toothpaste

  1. Pour the yeast mix through a funnel into your bottle. Quickly stand back and remove the funnel. Make sure the yeast and hydrogen peroxide are mixed well for optimum effect.
  2. Watch in amazement!

Canopy Life students loved it!  Check it out:

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