Experiments Party Theme
My son wanted an "experiment" birthday party, where he and his friends could mix things in test tubes like we do at the kitchen table.
Contents
Invitations
I designed the invitations in MS Word, and printed them double sided on letter sized cardstock, with two invitations per page.
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File:Experiment party invitation.docx |
Test Tubes, Containers, Pipettes
| Item | Supplier | Comments |
| Baby Soda Bottle Test Tubes | Home Science Tools | These are soda bottles that haven't yet been vacuum formed into large bottles. They're clear, sturdy, and wash up well. The lids are soda bottle lids, so they're easy to replace if you loose one. The lids that came with these weren't as nice as the lids that came in our science kit versions, but they worked. |
| Self Standing Centrifuge Tubes, 50ml | Frey Scientific through Amazon | These are nice, because they stand up on their own. They'd still be easy enough for kids to tip over, so I still recommend making the diy test tube racks. They're not as clear as the baby soda bottles, but they have ml marks from 5ml to 50ml, which my son liked. |
| Plastic Bowls | Dollar Tree | We used these to mix the slime. I didn't have enough regular bowls to go around, and these came out to $.50/piece. Instead of throwing them away, I'll wash and reuse them with other messy projects. |
| Disposable Pipettes, 1ml | Home Science Tools | These are like flimsy, disposable eye droppers. |
Project: DIY Test Tube Stands
| Item | Supplier | Comments |
| Tall Food Storage Tubs | Dollar Tree | Used to make test-tube stands. The tubs I used were SureFresh brand, size "tall square." They were clear, around 3 1/2 inches tall, and a three-pack was $1. |
| White Spray Paint | Hardware Store | I foolishly bought spray paint for a project that was *much* too large for spray paint, so I had quite a few of these sitting around waiting to be used. I used it to paint the green lids on the food storage tubs. The lids make the test tubes stand/stay much better, but the green color of the lids made it hard to see the liquids in the test tubes, so the white paint came in handy. Alternatively, you could use white paper, but it'll get soggy pretty quickly. |
| Rotary Cutting Tool (Dremel) | already had | Used the rotary cutting disk to cut the holes in the storage containers, and the sander to smooth and round out the edges. Use eye protection and don't let anyone crowd you, because hot melted plastic will fly as you work. |
| Dremel cutting disk | ||
| Dremel sanding barrel | ||
| Eye Protection |
Experiments
| Experiment | Ingredients | Starter recipe | Party recipe | Instructions |
Sour Milk Test tube, dropper |
Milk | By the drop |
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| Apple juice | Test tube, mostly full |
Fizz
2 test tubes Vinegar ¼ cup 2/3 test tube - Work with test tubes on a tray or in a bowl, because there will be a lot of overflow. (Think science fair volcano.) - Have each kids scoop dry baking soda into a test tube. Try to keep them less than half full. - Have a few dollar tree pitches of vinegar ready, and fill a second test tube with vinegar for each kid. - Ask the kids to pour the vinegar into the test tube. Be ready to do vinegar refills. - Hard part: having all of the kids wait until everyone has vinegar. Baking Soda 2 tablespoons Random Alka Seltzer Lava Lamp
1 Liter bottle, kids share Water 1/3 of a 2-liter Few inches in a 1-liter bottle - Overflows are possible. Plan to have kids work with the soda bottles on a tray or in a bowl. - Pour water into a 1-liter bottle, at least a couple of inches above the base. - Add a few drops of food dye, and swirl it around. - Gently pour the vegetable oil into the bottle. DON’T SHAKE IT. - Have kids drop alka seltzer tablets into the bottles, broken in half so they’ll fit. Vegetable oil 2/3 of a 2-liter Most of the rest of the bottle Food coloring Alka Seltzer (generic fine) Slime
Cup Bowl
Elmer’s school glue (some brands don’t work, so test non-elmers glues in advance) 8 oz bottle 4 oz bottle - Have kids remove lids from the glue bottles, and pour the glue into a bowl.
- Pour warm water from a pitcher into the glue bottles, have kids replace lids and shake, and then dump the water into the bowl. - Stir the mixture well and add food coloring. Warm water 8 oz (use glue bottle) 4 oz (use glue bottle) Food coloring Drops Warm water 1 cup ½ cup - Pre-mix in a small plastic pitcher (dollar store), and measure out small plastic cups for each kid. - Mix into the glue mixture Borax 1 Teaspoon ½ teaspoon
Cake
We ordered the cake below from Publix on Piedmont Road in Marietta. If you draw up your idea, they can usually do pretty cool stuff with it! In this case they used my drawing, and they used gel icing for the test tubes, the pink liquid and the bubbles. I really need to send these folks a thank-you card for a job well done!
