Tag - mad scientist

The Perfect Gift for Budding Scientists – Do It Yourself or All in One Science Kits

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

Do you have a pint-sized scientist in your life? Do they want to set up a mad scientist laboratory in your kitchen?

We meet so many parents, grandparents and other influential adults who know a child who is obsessed with science. These supportive adults are constantly looking for new ways to inspire their budding scientist, even if they themselves, are either scientists themselves or completely clueless in the world of science.

One question we are asked a lot is – what do I give the kid who loves science to keep that love alive?

Here are a few suggestions to think outside the box and away from plastic toys and video games.

We sell several different types of all-in-one science kits for kids of all ages, interests and price ranges. Here are the kits, as a mom, I recommend as the best science gifts.

1. Splash of Color Kit  $7.99

Perfect for ages 2 and up. No science experience needed! How fast can you mix 24 different colors using only red, yellow and blue water? Combine art and science as students
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Mom Creates Mad Scientist Birthday Party Celebration

Self-proclaimed Mad Scientist Lab Coordinator and all around amazing mom Cara went above and beyond in planning her son Thomas’s 6-year-old birthday party this year.

Cara created a “secret lab” at her church. All attendees were given safety goggles & disposable lab coats (purchased from a medical supply store).

Thirty children, ages ranging from 4-7 years old, performed three experiments. They began their journey through the mad scientist lab by making Atomic Insta-Worms. Each scientist was given a Baby Soda Bottle to keep their worms and transport them home. After making the worms, they were led into a small room that was set up with several black lights to watch their worms glow.

The second experiment was making Shaker Slime. This gave each child a container to bring slime home. The shakers also put the children into the experiment, as they were the ones shaking and making the specimen.

The third experiment was launching water-pressure rockets outside.

The grande finale was Diet Coke and Mentos erruptions. Cara explains, “Man that got a huge reaction as they shot approx 20 feet in the air.  I was super happy I chose a place FAR away from the building.  We only did two explosions, but I could have done them all day long.”

The party wrapped up with cupcakes placed into the shape of a beaker. Cara also filled test tubes and beakers with bright colorful candy and placed them on the table. Each child also received a certificate that said “Professor XXXX is a Fantastic Funologist at THOMAS LAB.”

Spangler Unwrapped: Mintastic Episode Airs in September

Tune into Food Network’s Unwrapped to get a peek inside the Spangler Science labs as Steve shares the science behind the Mentos Geyser all of that exploding soda. Back in December, I mentioned that a crew from Unwrapped on the Food Network wanted to get the real scoop on the popular Mentos and soda reaction. The crew spent an entire day grabbing the reaction from every angle and trying to understand how all of those tiny bubbles produce such a huge fountain of soda. The episode is scheduled to air on September 24, 2007. Consult your local listing for time and channel.

Exploding Watermelons

I love Halloween. One of my favorite activities is to “carve” pumpkins using a simple reation inside the fruit. First, you carve the face then carefully replace pieces. After creating a reaction by generating a gas inside and igniting it (ask your local chemistry teacher for the details) the face pieces are blown off with a small explosion.

Halloween is more than 100 days away and I just couldn’t wait. So I initiated the new weather anchor at the local Denver television station by introducing her to carving watermelons. The problem was, we didn’t really carve the watermelon, it exploded. Watch the Video to see how we skipped right over the carving and went straight to exploding.

Water Flowing Uphill?

Not exactly… but this stuff is really cool. It’s probably best described as a self-siphoning gel. The chemical is called polyethylene oxide or Polyox and it has an incredibly large molecular weight – about 4 million. When the powder is mixed with water (that’s the tricky part), the liquid becomes very thick and will literally siphon itself from one container to another. As a kid I order a product called Moon Blob – “The Gravity Defying Gel” – which promised to do the same thing. It did… but now I’m doing it as an adult! It’s tough to explain it… just watch the Polyox video.