May 8: Coca Cola first sold to the public (1886).

image from dcgazette.com

In celebration of Coca Cola, why not take a stab at making cola?

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Make Your Own Cola

Materials:

• Sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered cinnamon
• Sweetened lime juice
• Club soda
• Measuring spoons
• Measuring cups
• Ice
• Glasses
• Other brands of non-diet cola
• Blindfold
• Straws

Directions:

1. Mix 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, ½ teaspoon sweetened lime juice, and ½ cup club soda.
2. To make it more fun, get several kinds of store bought colas and do taste tests.
3. Ask kids if they think it tastes the same as the other colas. Why or why not? Can they identify different colas if they taste them blindfolded?
4. Another possibility is to mix the cola with different amounts of ingredients than what is indicated above. What happens? How does it change the cola?

Source(s): SolarNavigator.net. Featured in Toolbox Training book 100 Cooking Activities for Kids (activity A5).

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Check out the full May calendar. It includes floating holidays, specialty weeks, and specialty months.

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