Mad scientist lab

What it is

A hands-on science party where every child does the experiments themselves. Everything uses safe kitchen ingredients and gives a big visible reaction: things fizz, erupt, foam and change colour. It works indoors on a wipe-clean surface or outside on a table.

Plan ahead

• Two weeks before: send invitations as “lab appointment letters”. Warn parents that clothes may get messy.
• One week before: buy goggles, test tubes, pipettes, PVA glue, contact lens solution (for slime), baking soda, vinegar, food colouring and a red cabbage.
• Two days before: do a test run of each experiment so you know quantities and timings.
• The day before: make the cabbage indicator: chop half a red cabbage, cover with boiling water, steep 30 minutes, strain and refrigerate the purple liquid.

Set the scene

Cover tables with plastic tablecloths. Label stations with signs like “Danger: Experiment in Progress”. Put coloured water in beakers and jars with dry ice-style fog (or just glow sticks) for decoration. Give each child a tray to work on; this contains most of the mess.

Activities

Volcanoes

Each child gets a cup with 2 tablespoons of baking soda, a squirt of washing-up liquid and a drop of food colouring. They add vinegar with a pipette or small cup and watch it foam over. Let them experiment with more or less vinegar.

Slime lab

Per child: mix 120ml of PVA glue with half a teaspoon of baking soda and a few drops of colour. Add contact lens solution a teaspoon at a time and stir until it pulls away from the bowl, then knead. Add glitter. Pack it in a labelled pot to take home.

Colour magic

Pour cabbage indicator into clear cups. Children add lemon juice (turns pink), vinegar (pink-red), baking soda solution (blue-green) and soap (green). Ask them to guess what will happen first.

Geyser finale

Outside, away from people, drop 5-6 mints into a 2-litre bottle of diet cola using a rolled-up paper tube. Stand back.

Food and drink

• “Test tube” smoothies or juice in plastic test tubes
• Jelly in beakers with sweets suspended inside
• Pizza cut into “cells”
• A cake decorated with beakers and bubbling potions

Tips

• Goggles on for every experiment, no exceptions.
• Keep the contact lens solution and glue with an adult; hand it out by the spoonful.
• Have a bucket of soapy water and towels for hands between experiments.