It looks like our Insta-Snow® or (Instant Snow as many people call it) is showing up on lots and lots of “Top Gift Ideas” lists that are prevalent on so many blogs. When we first created the Insta-Snow product back in 2002, we knew that science teachers would find a great use for the superabsorbent polymer, but we never thought that a powder that erupts into snow (okay, fake snow… but it looks so real!) would become this popular.
Here’s how it works… Just mix a cup of water with a scoop of Insta-Snow polymer and within seconds, the liquid turns into a solid and then erupts into a fluffy white, snow-like material. How does it work? Insta-Snow® is actually derived from the superabsorbent polymer found in baby diapers. The only difference (and it’s a big one) is that the Insta-Snow polymer not only absorbs water but the long chains of molecules swell to an enormous size. The polymer soaks up water using the …
We might like to play the same game during the holidays… Guess which toy the kids will play with the most after everything has been ripped open and the house is a disaster. That’s the criteria we used in selecting this year’s Top 25 Holiday Gift Ideas from SteveSpanglerScience.com. If you’re looking for a toy or gift that makes the person receiving it say, “This is so cool!”, you can’t go wrong with anything on the list.
Fun Fly Stick It’s an ingenious, battery-operated static electricity generator that allows you to float cool tinsel shapes on a cloud of electrons. Bring the family over for Christmas, pull that tinsel off the tree and get ready for the applause… it doesn’t get much better than this. Oh, and if you don’t want to tear apart the Christmas decorations, the Fun Fly Stick comes with five tinsel shapes that are
Spangler introduces Tim and Megan to Insta-Snow and "reverse helium"
The news anchors at Fox 4 News in Dallas wanted to see if I could find a few ways to make science fun on their Good Day show. Let’s see… I could show them pictures of my science project from 3rd grade… or discuss freezing point depression… or make it snow and change their voices. I’ll pick door number 3. As you’ll see in the video, we covered the interview counter with erupting Insta-Snow and allowed Tim and Megan to experience the “reverse helium” effect using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). This appearance on Good Day Dallas is the kick-off to a week of science workshops and presentations at NAEYC and the Texas Association of Science Teachers annual convention.
If you’re a fan of the Ellen Show, you know that the show recently moved to a new set on the Warner Bros Studio lot. The new studio is huge… great for exploding clouds of liquid nitrogen! Watch the video, but keep reading to learn what happens behind all of those clouds. I’ve mentioned this before, but it deserves a second mention. Ellen DeGeneres and the people who make up her staff are absolutely top-notch, first-class, amazing people who love their jobs. From the moment we arrived on the lot, there was someone ready to help us with anything we needed. And unlike a normal guest, I have a bunch of weird stuff to set-up backstage. The request list that I turned into the producers for this segment included rain coats, fire extinguishers, liquid nitrogen and a huge jar of pickles. With lots of stuff comes lots of set-up time backstage and probably more interaction with the Ellen Show crew than most guests get. Aside from having a great time, the big take away for me during this visit was the way the Ellen staff does …
It’s great to get your e-mails and photos of your children and students doing the science activities featured in our Experiment of the Week. These photos are from Sheila Allen, just one of a number of great teachers in the Department of Defense Schools at Ramstein AFB in Germany. Sheila writes… “Well today was the big day and boy did the children have fun! I think my favorite was the Expanding Ivory Soap activity, and I picked just the right kid to trick with the Do Not Open Bottle. We were doing an A-Z countdown to the end of school and so for E we did experiments, and we thought your activities really hit the high point for us! There are 9 kindergarten classes at Ramstein Elementary school (K-2) , and it is a good place for science to happen.” Sheila Allen and her team of mad scientists are a great example of how early childhood teachers are having an incredible impact on the science concepts that young children are being exposed to in the early years of their education. Over the last 15 years, I’ve seen countless examples …
It looks like our Insta-Snow® or (Instant Snow as many people call it) is showing up on lots and lots of “Top Gift Ideas” lists that are prevalent on so many blogs. When we first created the Insta-Snow product back in 2002, we knew that science teachers would find a great use for the superabsorbent polymer, but we never thought that a powder that erupts into snow (okay, fake snow… but it looks so real!) would become this popular. 
