Children can easily build the Lava Rock Volcano and then watch it erupt. The kit comes with almost everything needed to make the project except for vinegar, newspaper, and scissors. It provides a unique twist from other volcano products available in that it allows a child to squeeze the vinegar into the volcano (using a squeeze bottle attached to the side of volcano) to control the eruption. Our testers found that it was best to hold the squeeze bottle a little above the level of the volcano when adding vinegar to it. Otherwise, the vinegar and baking soda mix may come back into the bottle after it's been squeezed.

Parents should know that building the volcano requires the use of plaster. The project can take up to three hours from beginning to end, if you include the wait for plaster and paint to dry. Though the directions state that the plaster will take an hour to dry, it may take twice that time.