Kid Safe Monster Toothpaste

Today we decided to finally make a “kid-safe” Monster Toothpaste. Let me explain.

I am the author of the book series Halley Harper, Science Girl Extraordinaire and let’s just say that the hero, Halley, is prone to science disasters. In book 2 of this chapter book series, Halley is asked to do an experiment at her best friend Gracelyn’s haunted house. (Reasons why it’s called Monster Toothpaste for Halloween’s sake.) Disaster ensues when Halley grabs the wrong ingredients and ends up making a giant mess and loses parts of her hair!

So you can imagine my hesitation to make Halley Harper’s Monster Toothpaste as seen by the cover! But today we decided to make “kid-safe” Monster Toothpaste and it was a hit (especially with my 3 year old)

What you need: 1/2 cup regular 3% hydrogen peroxide (the kind you use for antiseptic), one packet of active yeast, water, dish soap, food coloring, an empty bottle, a small cup, and a pie pan

What you do:

1. Mix 2 tablespoons of warm water with one packet of yeast in a small cup. Let it sit for 3 minutes to re-hydrate.
2. Pour 1/2 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide in a separate plastic bottle
3. Add two pumps of dish soap to the hydrogen peroxide
4. Add green food coloring to the hydrogen peroxide
5. Place hydrogen peroxide container in a pie pan to catch the results
6. Note the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide by touching the outside of the container
7. Yell, “Monster Toothpaste. Monster Toothpaste.” for effect! 😉
8. Pour yeast-water mixture into the hydrogen peroxide solution
9. Touch the foam to feel if the temperature has changed.

What’s the science?

Hydrogen peroxide is made up of water and oxygen and is used as an antiseptic because when it is applied to a cut, the blood reacts with the hydrogen peroxide and releases the oxygen.

In this experiment, we are using yeast that acts as a catalyst to speed up the break down of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The dish soap captures the oxygen resulting in foamy kid-safe fun! Also, this reaction is exothermic so it lets off a little heat that is safe enough to touch.

We hope you try out Monster Toothpaste and pick up your copy of Halley Harper book 1 HERE and book 2 HERE to enjoy more fun science-y adventures with Halley Harper!