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We are having DS5 (almost 6)'s birthday party in two weeks. The theme is science but most of the guests are between 3 and 6 years old. We are planning to set up various stations with hands on experiments. I wanted to ask everyone here (since you are great resources) to suggest any experiments that I may not have already planned. So far we plan on doing:

-Egg sucked into a bottle
-Ooblec (cornstarch and water)
-Make our own silly putty
-Float and sink station (testing various objects and keeping a log)
-Conduction station (testing various objects and keeping a log)
-Eye Clops station (I love this toy, especially with a 50 inch TV)
-Milk, soap and food coloring

I think I need something with baking soda reaction but I'm not sure what would be the best for a party setting. Thoughts, suggestions?

Haha, a paper mache volcano!

Blow up a balloon with baking soda/vinegar



An aside--make sure none of the guests have food allergies! Some of these experiments would be a no-no for my kids.

Which allergies in particular would these experiments affect?

ETA: I know of one child with an allergy to pistachios.

oooh! volcanos are really cool - put red food color in a wine bottle with the baking soda and you get LAVA!

also, cleaning really dirty copper pennies with vinegar and salt are always a big hit at our house

I love the cleaning pennies idea. Thanks.

The volcano seems like it might be a bigger project then I am ready to take on during the busy holiday season. Maybe motivation will strike this weekend. Blowing up the balloon seems a little easier to prepare. Thanks.

The top eight food allergens are: peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish. Corn allergy is becoming more common.

Milk and egg allergies are especially prevalent among young children.

I assumed common milk and egg allergies were by ingestion only. Would a reaction occur from just being near/touching milk and eggs?

Thanks for the information. I have children with asthma but no food allergy component so I haven't really done the research.

Yes, some kids do have reactions from touching protein residue from foods (my DD is one) or from inhaling aerosolized food proteins (think severe asthma attack.)

The bigger concern is that kids could ingest protein residue that is on their hands by putting their fingers in their mouths, touching their food or utensils, rubbing their eyes or noses, etc. For some people, it doesn't take much to provoke a reaction.

As a mom of kids with anaphylactic food allergies, I appreciate a heads-up whenever there is going to be project involving food. Then I can prepare my kids to skip a certain thing, or provide a safe alternative.

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread I just can't help it because when I see science experiments involving eggs (DS is allergic to them) it makes my hair stand on end!

Most likely none of your guests are allergic to milk, eggs or corn. If they were, they probably would have told you already that they are bringing their own cupcakes (that's what we do when we're invited to b-day parties.)

Here's another experiment idea;

Mentos+Soda pop. I think that's one to do outside