Scientists at work. Caution: Explosions may occur!

After much deliberation, (so many choices!) Hunter decided he wanted to have a science birthday party. It was so much fun and the kids LOVED it.
The preparation for the party was pretty simple since we already had most of the supplies. I decorated with orange and lime green crepe paper and balloons and used a foil looking table cloth. I figured those colors seemed sciencey. As the kids arrived, I took their picture with Hunter in their Lab coats (Will’s white Sunday shirts) and “nerdy” glasses (dollar store). While we waited for the rest of the kids to arrive, they say down and made their own molecules out of toothpicks and Dots candy. We had some pretty interesting shaped molecules :)

Once everyone arrived we started the experiments. We did several experiments, all of which I found on Steve Spangler’s website. I guess we didn’t take many pictures of the experiments since we videotaped it instead.
The first experiment we did…quite unsuccessfully I might add (embarrassing!) was the egg in a bottle trick

Here is the picture of us watching the egg NOT go in the bottle. During the course of the party Will did get two eggs to go in. I think it would have worked better with a glass bottle.

Next we made our own lava lamps. The kids really enjoyed this one and even liked learning about why the water and food coloring don’t mix with the oil. Once you put water, food coloring, and oil in a bottle you drop a piece of Alka-Seltzer in, which makes the colored water float to the surface, then back down. They all went home with some Alka-seltzer in their party bag so they could show their family.

Next experiment was snow. At the Target dollar spot, I found “snow” powder. You just mix a small amount of the powder with water and it makes something that resembles snow. This was a hit since we don’t get snow here in this part of Texas.

I wish I had a picture of the next experiment, but I’m sure you have all seen it. We made
quick sand goo. I could probably play with this stuff all day. I really debated if I wanted to do this with the kids since it can get pretty messy. I had dreams of all the kids getting it all over their clothes…stupid thing to dream about, I know. It ended up being fine and the kids listened really well.

The kids probably liked the last experiment the most. We did a Mentos geyser It worked really well and it was cool.

Will insisted on making the cake. I was fine with that…trust me, I’ve made plenty of cakes and I’m always disappointed with the outcome. I think it would be so fun to know how to decorate cakes well. Anyways, Will decided to make this brain cake I just laughed in his face. Not that I don’t think he could do it…but…okay I’m pretty sure he couldn’t do it. I mean…he didn’t even know what fondant was. He ended up with the idea to cut a hole in the cake and put dry ice in it. Here is what he ended up with. Not too bad for a first-timer. The sparkler candles made it look pretty cool.

We also used the dry ice in the punch



Hunter’s friend Kailey showed everyone how to make static electricity with a balloon


It was a great party. The kids were so good during the experiments, but any down time they had was crazy. I couldn't get them to take a decent picture…this is what I got


Hunter the MAD scientist!

I had to laugh because the day of his party his front tooth was hanging by a thread. It looked disgusting, but oddly fit his mad scientist character perfectly.