Science mad - not mad science

OK so my son turned 8 and he asked for a science party {not that he has ever shown any interest in science before.} Sounded easy. Except I was severely let down by my ever trusty best friend Google. Not many people have had the kind of party I was searching for. Lots of people have had mad science parties, which would be really fun for halloween, unfortunately not what my son wanted. Fussy for someone who doesn't do any of the work!

So I decorated the best I could with the theme, which after research I decided was tricky and incredibly BORING! No offence to any scientists, I'm sure your smarter than me. I could barely work out the websites that sold laboratory supplies. So what to do? 

Science food? No such thing. In the end I went with the {sort of} obvious volcano cake that erupts and spews out lava. A spider station so the kids could concoct there own colourful drinks. Cake pops that looked like rocks {the ugliest and most boring kind of cake pops you'll ever see} exploding cookies {covered in pop rocks} and official looking labels and warning signs. 

Science decorations? A black board, a white sheet and lots of aluminium foil. 

Science games? Well that was definitely not boring. 

Rocket Blasters {mentos and soft drink}

Lab work {we made flubber}

Sink and destroy {dropped things into the bath, if it sinks your team gets a point} 

Magnitude {pick things up with a magnet, if it sticks your team gets a point} 

And for the finale we basically just blew a range of things up in the microwave. Huge hit. Soap, CD, empty chip packet, marshmallow, steel wool etc.

There are actually companies that will come and conduct science experiments for kids parties for around $300. Not in my area and at that price I wouldn't bother because the kids were impressed with my lame experiments anyway.

OK one of my biggest problems was the size of my outdoor table. It's HUGE. 2.5mtrs long and 1.10mtrs wide. I struggled to fill it with stuff. Boxes covered in foil made it look less 'too big' and gave the cake a bit of a boost. It was the smallest volcano ever. 

One box was covered in specimen jars that Fyn had fun making. The jars are from my mum, for some unknown reason she keeps empty jars? Weird but handy. Fyn choose some of his toys covered them in water and added a couple of drops of yellow food colouring. I got a fish for the large jar and some noodles for another.  Again you can get some spooky ideas and labels online for halloween specimen jars which would be awesome for a mad science party. My labels were very boring official looking though. 

The other box had some science looking vinegar jars. And a vase I owned that looked like a beaker {ikea} filled with water, food colouring and dry ice from here. Dry ice is cheap but there's not much choice in my area so I payed a high price, $9 for a kilo of pellets. Although he gave me about 3 kilos to keep it solid for longer. It was the most awesome thing about the party and perfect for 8 year old boys.

To make the huge blackboard I got a big sheet of MDF from bunnings cut to size, that is a total cost of $10. Blackboard paint is $12 but I got the big tub for $15 just in case. In true procrastination style I only painted it the night before the party, which is when I found out you need a primer for MDF, at least 2 coats and a total of 3 days to paint. With no choice Fyn and I just did one coat with no primer, it worked out fine and I had lots of paint left over. Phew.

Ready for paint.

Cake pops: Cake and icing in a food processor blitzed into one big cake ball. {I used a chocolate cake roll that comes with icing inside it} shape into {in my case} various ugly rock shapes. Dip in white chocolate coloured with black food colouring. I used a couple of different shades to get that realistic marbled rock look. Place on a bed of dirt {Oreos blitzed in the food processor} and serve in a foil tray. You can buy candy chocolate rocks that are completely realistic, I only thought of that the day before the party though. Not a genius. 

Spider station: A couple of sauce containers. Blue is ice-cream topping, green is very diluted jelly. Those cheap vases again full of sprite and a bit of ice-cream in the cups just before serving. 

Jelly bugs: You can buy these jars online 20 for $9 but these were free from my doctor. Worm lollies in clear jelly. To make clear jelly you buy the 'make your own flavour' jelly. I added sprite to mine, they tasted good and were a big hit. Probably because the kids do not know what these jars are used for! 

Cookies: I found this cutter in my play dough supplies dipped the bottom in red icing and covered in pop rocks. 

Cake: Lots of cool volcano cakes online, basically you place a cup in the centre of the cake and fill with dry ice pellets. Pour some water coloured with red jelly crystals into the cup and then watch it erupt and bubble over with lava. Awesome. 

As a twist of lazy fate my lights are still purple
from the last party, looked extra cool.

We erupted this volcano so many times the jelly set in the cup.

Take home containers.

Foil pie tins for plates.

Flubber station.

This was a really cheap party and the kids had a great time. Fyn had a great time planning it all with me too. So proud to have a party planning son!

Best dirt ever!