Hi I was wondering if any of you moms out there have any ideas for chemistry experiments that can be done at a kid birthday party. My son is turning 9 on the 19th and we are having a "Crazy Chemistry" birthday. I am doing the Mento eruption out of soda bottle and blowing up a balloon with baking soda and vinegar, but that is pretty much all I have so far. I need things that are pretty quick and easy, but have the excitement to hold kids attention that are 9 and under. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!!
We had a GREAT time!! Thank you for all of your resonses. We started out our party making slime (Silly Putty recipe from Dawn C just with all the water). Which was by far the highlight I think. All of the kids had such a great time measuring, shaking and mixing the slime. Oh and of course playing with it. We brought little sandwich baggies along so each kid was able to take home some slime. It was great!! Then we made icecream. The kids took turns shaking the bags and after a short time actually had a frozen treat to have with our cake. We followed up the cake and presents with using vinegar and baking soda in bottles to inflate balloons. (not as impressive as I expected) and then topped it off with the Mentos soda eruption. This birthday party was a huge success and everyone (even adults) had a great time. The kid's ages at my party ranged from 4 to 12 both boys and girls and everyone enjoyed themselves. Funny thing is that with a little preparation I found this party to be less stressful than my daughters Chuch E Cheese party where everything is suppose to be done for you!! Anyways, THANK YOU again for all of your input and helping make this party a success. Best wishes to you and your families. God Bless!
Go to 9news.com and click on "as seen on 9 news" on the side bar and go to Spangler Science. They have an archive on experiments and usually everything he does can be done with things around the house.
Have fun!
L.
Hi C.,
I'm an elementary school teacher and taught science over the summer for a fun science camp program. Check out this website... it has some really neat stuff that my students LOVED!
http://www.spartechsoftware.com/reeko/
The kids' favorite was making silly putty out of Elmer's Glue, Borax and water. It was really easy and they still talk about it to this day! Each child made their own in a ziploc sandwich bag. They each needed a small bottle of Elmer's Glue. Don't use the washable kind - Elmer's regular glue works the best. I also skipped the food coloring to avoid a disaster! Here's the recipe:
Silly Putty Recipe
This will bounce and pick up pictures from the paper just like the name-brand stuff.
Add: 1/2 cup water to 1/2 cup Elmer's glue (Not School Glue!)
Mix and add 3 drops of food coloring (optional)
Make Borax solution: Take 2 tablespoons borax (You can buy this at a grocery store or online) and add to 1 cup of water and stir.
Add 1/2 cup of Borax solution to water and glue mixture
Stir and store in a plastic bag
Mix well. Add food coloring if you wish. Let it dry about an hour. When ready, it will be smooth and rubber-like. Store in an airtight container.
What a great idea! Just do a Google search for "kids chemistry experiments" and it comes up with tons of cool ideas. One good site that turned up was a homeschooling site. I think the guys would have fun making Gak that you just make with Elmers glue, food coloring and liquid starch. Good luck!
There's a company that actually comes to your home and does all kinds of science experiemtnt stuff for the kids. Go to
www.madscience.com to get in touch with someone.
Have fun at the party!
There are some great chemistry things you can do. I know that there are a few chemisty type toys that you can eat what you make, probably at toy-r-us. Also when I was in 5th grade we made is solid liquid concoction. It was made with elmers glue, corn starch and water. You can find the resipe on line. Also if you go to yahoo kids, you can find some ideas that might be fun.
Hey - I will send you a message soon with some ideas - my mom used to teach a chemistry class for kids aged 8-10 and i know she has lots of cool experiments she did. I'll get the info from her and let you know. I remember one is with vinegar and raisins... It sounds like it will be a fun party!!
what about getting rocket kits from a craft store and having the boys put them togehter and launch them. my boys always loved rockets, they ahve some that are pretty inexpensive mad out of cardboard. make sure that you do a rial run before the party so you know how everything works.
Hi C.,
What a great Idea for a party....my advice to you is to check out ask.com and type in "kid's chemistry" and there are a number of web sites linked there that have great ideas that only take a few household ingredients and no time at all!! some examples are "how to make slime" and "15 minute construction paper crystal art" I hope the party is a success and that this advice helps.
K.
Martha Stewart had a guest (Saul Griffith) on yesterday that did all kinds of science experiments for kids in his book "Howtoons". I was ready to go out and buy it right then myself!
You could make slime. conrstarch, water and food coloring. try it ahead of time to get the mix right buy know that it doesn't sit real well. You would need to add more water if it sits too long. It is the right consistency when its a moving blob.
An experiment with magnets would be fun. It could be a scavenger hunt in teams to find things that are magnetic, who ever finds the most wins.
I bought a kit called "mind blowing science" for my son - you can get it at Target now (I think I got it off fatbrain.com) at the time. It has lots of fun experiments with color changes. There are others too - I think one with chemistry - go to fatbrain - it may give you some more ideas. It sounds like such an awesome idea - maybe I'll do that party with my son sometime! Good luck!
No experiments, but what an AWESOME idea! Defidentally let us all know how it turned out!
If you go to 9news.com and look for the science guy link, I sure you'll find plenty.
No suggestions, but what a great idea!!
I will save this for later!
Hope you have a great party!
D.
