Science Party . . . Take Two

I think I could happily have science parties for every kid, every birthday.  They're just so much fun.  The only drawback would be that I would get terribly bored making nothing but science cakes.

But when S requested a science theme for her 9th birthday, I was totally game.  I figured I could come up with at least one more fresh take on a science cake.

Although I can't really take much credit for the mad scientist and flasks--there were various photos online that I copied/adapted for this cake.  In the early stages of decorating, S was pretty worried that the scientist was going to end up looking like a pig.  But it's amazing what a little crazy hair and a mustache can do for a face.

The dry ice added a pretty cool effect.  I've never done a smoking cake before--other than what the candles produce, that is.

 And of course we just had to play with dry ice and colored water.  We might even have to make it a regular family activity.  It fascinates the kids.

Couldn't miss the chance to play with static.

 The rest of the party was pretty much entirely sponsored by stevespanglerscience.com.  It's a completely cool website with all sorts of kid friendly science activities.  Can't recommend it highly enough.

All the kids agreed that the geyser was their favorite activity.  Mint Mentos + Diet Coke.  Even though I've seen lots of videos online featuring this particular combination, it was still pretty awesome to do it ourselves.

The other huge hit was jelly marbles.  A.K.A. polymers.  These are what they use in landscaping/gardening when they want to conserve water.  They start out as tiny hard beads.  Then you put them in water and they absorb it, expanding up to 11 times their original size.  If the water happens to be colored, they absorb that as well, making rather tasty looking concoctions.  The first question the party guests asked when they saw them was, "Can we eat them?"  But I suppose that might have had something to do with the fact that we put them in ice cream glasses.

The birthday girl, getting too smart for her own good.