How to Make a Tornado In a Bottle
We love learning about the weather.
It’s fun to learn how rain is formed, and all about tropical climates too.
But tornadoes might be our favorite type of earthly phenomenon to learn more about. Is there anything more fun to learn about than a tornado?
The United States and Canada get the most tornadoes in the world every year.
There has been at least 1 tornado recorded in every one of the 50 states!
In some years the United States records more than 300 tornadoes before the end of March. That’s a lot of bad weather!
The best part about tornadoes is that now you can make your own.
You can make your very own tornado in a bottle. We’ll show you how below.
What You’ll Need for Your Own Tornado In a Bottle
Making your own tornado will take less than 15 minutes of time to make and begin to enjoy. Between collecting the materials, building your storm, and watching it spin, you’ll be having fun the whole time.
You may even want to make a double-bottle tornado.
More on that later.
You’ll need:
- About 15 minutes!
- Dish Soap
- A Plastic Bottle or 2 (Water Bottles or Soda Bottles Work Great)
- Glitter
- Duct Tape
- Kid Safe Scissors
Kids: Ask your parents which bottle to use. Don’t pour out a full bottle just to start your tornado!
Got everything you need? The storm is on its way.
Now we’ll start building:
1. Fill The Bottle With Water
Only fill the bottle about 3/4 full.
2. Add Dish Soap
You don’t need a lot of dish soap for your tornado in a bottle. Only add a few drops.
3. Add Glitter
Just like the dish soap, you don’t need much glitter. Sprinkle in some to help you see the tornado spin.
4. Screw on the Cap Tight
Got your tornado recipe right? Great, now screw on the cap tight.
5. Turn the Bottle Upside Down
You’ll want to hold the bottle upside down by its neck. Good thing that cap is on tight, or there would be water and glitter everywhere!
6. Stir The Bottle
You’ll want to stir the bottle in a circular motion like you’re stirring something while helping your parents cook. Experiment with how fast or slow you can get your tornado to spin.
7. Double the Tornado!
Want a fun trick to have more fun with your new tornado?
Now set the bottle right-side-up on a counter or flat surface.
Remove the cap and the cap from your other bottle. Place them mouth to mouth.
The bottles should look almost like an hourglass. Use your scissors to cut a length of duct tape and get them air tight.
8. Flip The Bottles and Stir Some More
This time it might take a little while for your tornado to start. But once it does you’ll see two forming.
Have fun guessing how long it will take all the water to move from one bottle to the other.
Flip over your tornado and try some more! We love watching tornadoes spin!
You can also check out how these guys do it in the video below!
There’s Even More Weather On Its Way!
Love learning about the weather as much as we do?
Don’s stop with making your own tornado in a bottle then. Why don’t we do some fun learning about hurricanes next?
Did you know that hurricanes can be 1000 miles wide with winds over 200 miles per hour? That’s a big and powerful storm!
Let’s not wait to find out more about hurricanes!
