I can clearly remember sitting in my 6th floor apartment as Hurricane Irene came spiraling through Hoboken. The upcoming festival's flag that hung over Sinatra Blvd flapped so violently that I swore it would soon make its way into the Hudson River. Similarly, just a year later, I can easily recall the gallons of water that rushed into the basement level of my Hoboken townhouse as Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc on much of the New Jersey coastline. Not only did these incidents open my eyes to the horrific damage that water and wind can cause, but they also sparked an interest in me that comes back each and every August - October!
While leaving Hoboken may have been a "smart" move with my intentions of starting a family, it was not necessarily preventing me from running into hurricane issues in the future. Luckily, the past 6 hurricane seasons in our Jersey Shore town have not been as eventful as they were in Hoboken, however, I still remain attentive as the news reports start about upcoming hurricanes. With Tropical Storm Isaias approaching New Jersey this week, I figured it might be fun to teach my son about hurricanes and tell him all about the storms that rolled through before he was born. With a few simple supplies and a bit of creativity, my son and I built our own "Hurricane in a Bottle."
Here are the supplies that you will want to have on hand before beginning:
- an empty soda bottle
- soap that contains Glycol Stearate (make sure that it is opaque and not transparent)
- water
- food coloring (optional, BUT fun)
Before beginning, my son and I gathered all of our supplies and placed them on the kitchen counter near the sink. This was key not only for a type A mom like me, but it was also helpful for my 3 year old who tends to get side tracked when vacating his stool. Being as though he is very determined to do everything on his own, I let my son fill the soda bottle approximately 1/3 of the way with soap before I moved the bottle to the sink to finish filling it with water. When the water reached the top, I continued to let the water run so that the bubbles overflowed and finished forming. 
After drying the bottle, I placed it back on the counter so that my son could put 2 drops of blue food coloring into the bottle. (Blue was his "favorite" color that day, but had we done the experiment a day later, I'm sure the color would have been different). Once done, we screwed the cap on SUPER TIGHT and SHOOK the bottle! Amazed by the sight, we kept turning the jar upside down and back and forth. The liquid looked just like a hurricane when we got it to spin quickly!
In true 3 year old fashion, once the spinning stopped, our excitement about hurricanes ended. While I was hard-pressed to fit in a complete science lesson, I loved filling him in about the time that my husband and I had floor damage from a hurricane while living on the 6th floor!
