Virtual STEAM Ahead

Tissue Paper Campfire

Your little campers will have a blast sitting around the campfire roasting pretend marshmallows and singing camp songs or telling ghost stories!

For many people, summer means camping and camping means a campfire.  Enjoying a campfire is a fun thing to do!  We know we build campfires with wood, but do we know why wood burns?

Wood is organic.  Organic means material that comes from living organisms -- in this case, trees.  Nearly all organic substances are flammable (will catch fire).  The organic molecules in the wood vaporize (turn into gas) under extreme heat, then they react with oxygen in the air, making a flame.  What we see in this chain of events is first smoke, then fire.  A flame requires three ingredients:  oxygen, fuel and heat.  Oxygen is in the air, the wood is our fuel and the initial heat, in the case of a campfire, is provided by matches.  The color of flames change with their temperature -- white or yellow is hottest, next to the burning wood.  Farther out, the flames are lower in temperature -- orange then red.  But it's all burning hot!  The next time you enjoy a campfire, think of all the chemical reactions you are observing!

The number one concern  with campfires is safety.  Never make a campfire in an area that prohibits building fires.  Never attempt to build a campfire without adult supervision.

Let's create a campfire that we can enjoy anywhere! 

Glowing Campfire Craft for Kids

• Materials for Glowing Campfire Craft
• Clear plastic cup
• Tissue paper in red, orange, and yellow
• Liquid glue 
• LED tea light
• Twig or thin craft stick
• Cotton balls
• Brown construction paper
• Scissors
   

Directions for Glowing Campfire Craft
1. Cut your tissue paper up into little squares (or you can buy precut tissue paper squares).

2. Scrunch up a piece of tissue paper and glue it to the outside of a clear, plastic cup. Continue until the entire cup is covered.  

3. As your tissue paper is drying, make a marshmallow roasting stick by gluing a cotton ball onto the end of a twig or thin craft stick.

4. Add some logs to your campfire by cutting strips of brown construction paper. Use a brown marker or crayon to add some details to your logs.

Now it’s time to set up your campfire! Start by setting up your logs. Place your LED tea light on top the logs and then put your tissue paper cup over the light. 

Go somewhere dark and watch it glow. It looks just like a real campfire!

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