Elephant Toothpaste Experiment | Dental Worksheet

When you brush your teeth, you only need to use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. But elephants are bigger than humans, so they would need a lot more toothpaste. Follow the experiment provided on this dental worksheet to see how much toothpaste an elephant needs to brush their teeth. Get help from an adult to have fun with this interesting experiment!

For this activity, you’re going to need an empty 20-oz soda bottle, a tray to catch the overflow, a teaspoon of yeast, two tablespoons of warm water, a bowl, food coloring, dish soap, ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide and, if you would like, a funnel.

To begin, you’re going to put the soda bottle on the tray to catch whatever overflows from the bottle. With the help of an adult, mix the yeast and warm water together in a bowl. In the meantime, pour your hydrogen peroxide into the soda bottle. Use a funnel if you have one.

Then, squirt in some of the dish soap to make it foamy. Based on the “flavor” you want the toothpaste to be, put in some food coloring to flavor the toothpaste. Return to the yeast and water mixture, and pour it into the soda bottle. Finally, stand back and watch the growth of the elephant toothpaste!

Because this experiment works by making a chemical reaction, the bottle will heat up and get steamy. Be careful when handling it.

This cool experiment allows you to see the amount of toothpaste an elephant might use! Even though this is a “elephant toothpaste,” do not use the mixture as actual toothpaste. Be sure to brush your teeth with your own toothpaste twice a day, once in the morning and once at night.

And be sure to share this experiment with a friend or family member so they can make their own elephant toothpaste too!