These tornado tube activities are sure to entertain! A tornado tube is a cylinder plastic piece you can use to connect two plastic bottles. It is traditionally used to make a tornado in a bottle, however their are more uses for this fantastic tiny piece of plastic! Check out some ideas below.
Tornado Tube Activities; Sprinkler
Supplies
- Hose (hooked up to water source)
- Empty 2 liter bottle
- Tornado tube
- Nail or sharp object
How To
Use a nail or sharp object to poke holes in the sides of the bottle. Attach the tornado tube to the end of the hose then screw the 2 liter bottle into the other side of the tornado tube. Make sure that both ends are screwed on tightly
Find a place to hang the bottle or leave it on the ground. Turn on the hose and you have yourself a homemade sprinkler that kids will love playing with!
Classic Tornado Tube Activities
This traditional use of a tornado tube is sure to please kids and adults!
Supplies
- 2 – empty and dry 2 liter bottles
- Water
- Tornado tube
- Food coloring (optional)
How To
Fill one bottle with water, if you are using food coloring add it now. Then twist the tornado tube on to the top of the filled bottle. Screw the empty bottle onto the top of the tornado tube, make sure that both bottles are tightly screwed in. Flip over the bottle and swirl the bottles in a circular motion watch a tornado forms in the bottle!
Tornado Tube Rice Shaker Challenge
The Rice Shaker Challenge will encourage physical development and critical thinking. These tornado tube activities will have kids working gross motor and problem solving skills
Supplies
- 4 – Empty and Dry 2 liter bottles
- 1 bag of dry rice
- A Tornado Tube
- Stop Watch or Timer
How To
- Open the bag of rice
- Pour the bag into one one bottle
- Secure the tornado tube into the the top of both bubble gum filled bottles
- Screw the empty bottles onto the rice filled bottles making sure everything is secured tightly
The Challenge
- Have one person hold the bottle rice side down.
- On go, the player will flip over the bottles and shake the rice from the top bottle to the bottom bottle in less than one minute! The tiny hole created from the tornado tube makes this task very difficult to accomplish and hilarious to watch!
Tornado Tube Activities; Stomp Rockets
Build your own stomp rocket launcher using cheap items you may already have on hand. This STEM activity is a fun way to inspire critical thinking among children.
Supplies
- Empty 2 lt bottle
- Bike tire
- 2 hose clamps
- 5 – 2 foot 1” diameter PVC tube
- Scissors
- Flathead screwdriver
- Tornado tube
- Paper (printer, construction, cardstock, etc)
- Ruler
- Tape
- Pencil, markers, crayons, etc.
How to
Have you ever partially unwrapped a straw and left part of the wrapper it. What happens to the paper when you blow through the straw? The wrapper goes flying. This STEM activity uses the same concept of air pressure but on a much larger scale.
Kids will design, develop and engineer paper rockets that will fly into the air using the power of air.This fun and engaging STEM activity for kids is something they will talk about for years. Get kids thinking outside of the box while they build and launch paper rockets. See the Full Activity
Tornado Tube Activities; The Lava Tornado in a Bottle
This twist on the traditional use of a tornado tube is sure to please kids and adults!
Supplies
- 2 – empty and dry 2 liter bottles
- Water
- Tornado tube
- Colored lamp oil
How To
Pour about 1 cup of oil into one bottle. Then fill the rest of the bottle 2/3 full of water. You will notice that the oil and water stay separated. Twist the tornado tube on to the top of the filled bottle. Screw the empty bottle onto the top of the tornado tube, make sure that both bottles are tightly screwed in.
Flip over the bottle in swirl it in a circular motion and watch as a tornado forms in the center of the bottle. Note that the tornado is made up of mostly oil, this is because the dense oil is forced to the center while water pours through the tube first.
