mad science party: the experiments, part 1

As I said before, the best part of the science party was all the fun experiments we did.  The kids absolutely loved doing all the fun things.  For me, the best part of all of it was seeing the kids faces as we did some of the fun experiments.  They were blown away by some, loved doing the hands on stuff and were just so excited to see everything.

We started the party with piles of marshmallows and toothpicks,  to make 'Marshmellow Molecules.'

 

The kids all had fun putting together different 'molecules' or structures.  They all came up with such different stuff, it was fun to see all their different personalities come through.  

This one was a drawbridge.

 

Several kids made necklaces. 

 

And ALL of the kids ate a few!  

(Some even more than a few.....)

They all had a blast putting together marshmallows and it was a good activity for while kids were trickling into the party.

Once they were all done with the marshmallows, I brought out the next experiment.

This was the cleanest version of a baking soda/vinegar experiment that I could come across on Pinterest.  We blew up balloons using baking soda and vinegar.  Because, really, you can't have a science party without baking soda and vinegar!

The bottles were filled with 3/4 cup vinegar and with a balloon on top filled with 2 Tbsp. of vinegar.  I tried several ratios and this was the one that blew up the balloon without overdoing it.  The bottle was a regular 16.5 ounce water bottle.

Needless to say, the kids were SO excited when the balloons blew up.  And, we only had one kid that pulled their balloon off, which for the 17 kids that were there was pretty good.  

The next experiment we did was a Tornado Tube.

 First I showed them how when you simply turn the tube over, the water doesn't go down too fast.  But, when you swirl it and make a 'tornado' it goes down really fast.

The kids loved turning it over and watching the water swirl down to the other one. 

 

 The next thing we did was make Elephant Toothpaste.

I found the idea here.  I didn't buy the 6% peroxide, since I couldn't find it anywhere easily.  I used regular 3%, like is found at the grocery store, and it worked okay.  

I mixed 2 Tbsp. warm water and 1 teaspoon yeast in a measuring cup and 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide, a few drops of green food color and a squirt of dish soap in a water bottle.  The measuring cup mixture was poured into the water bottle mixture.

Here is where I kind of failed.

I didn't have everything premixed and I also didn't have the exact measurements on hand.  So, when I mixed everything together, it didn't come out like toothpaste - which it had done when I tested it a few days before.  It looked more like a volcano.  So, maybe instead of looking like a big tube of toothpaste and calling it Elephant Toothpaste, we should have called it teeny, tiny volcano.  

But, really, a name doesn't matter when you have a fascinated face like that one.  

I'll be posting part 2 of experiments soon, so come back!

Photo credits to Janet Bostrom and myself