Kids party ideas

[Tuatara]

OK. I'm going to risk asking a bunch of psychotic gun/explosive/poison enthusiasts for ideas for my daughters party :eek:
Its a 'Harry Potter' party :rolleyes: , and guess who gets to be Prof Snape :p

So I need a few ideas for simple things the kids can mix up that will do interesting stuff, like acid + carbonate = fizz, acid / base + indicator = funny color, something + something = goo. Ideally I want four groups of kids mixing apparently identical ingredients to get very different results, (basically so I can then ball them out for screwing up :D ).

Obviously there are a few rules: no nasty poisons, explosions or fire. Pretty much anything else goes, especially if its spectacularly messy.

Doubtless some charlie is going to post a recipe for Sarin: please don't

Hopefully there are other Dad's out there in EWF land who'll get some interesting ideas to entertain their own offspring, and the spotty kewls will have something harmless to try while their AP is cooking.

So far I've got:
1/ Citric acid + bicarb + indicator = fizz plus color change, color variable by changing acid / bicarb ratio

2/ polymerising poly vinyl alcohol with sodium tetra borate (?) to make goo.


ps: bad smells are highly acceptable (its a bunch of 7 year olds)

[Sarevok]

Yawn... sounds boring. Why don't you pay someone to entertain the brats, like everyone else does?

I think that you should NOT do this. Despite your goo-making and color-changing being utterly harmless, the parents of your daughter's friends will surely sue you for exposing their children to evil chemicals.

At least you should ask their parents before, just in case.

[dogbone103]

most people already know this, it is a very safe mixture to make is (sodium bicarbonate) bi-carb soda and vinegar. It is mixing an acid with a bace and it will bubble and fizz, it will do no harm. you can add a bit of food dye to make it bubble colours but this might stain a bit.
i will try to find more for you.
Happy hunting. :D

[dogbone103]

i dont know where to get most of these chemicals but you could try a pharmacy or a search enigine might tell you.
i got these expriements from my school text book.

glucoce + benedicts solution + heat = orange colour.

copper sulfate solution + sodium hydroxide + geleton = dark blue jelly (not edible).

iodine solution + starch = blue to black.

because glucose and starch are present in food you can make a paste out of some foods and add the indicator.
Here are some you can use with iodine solution.
biscuit + iodine solution.
bread + iodine solution.
rice + iodine solution.

here are some you can mix with benedicts solution.

biscuit + benedicts solution
bread + benedicts solution

I dont know too much about these chemicals so you should find more infomation before you use them.

my sister has told me that corn flower AKA corn starch can be mixed with water to make a goo.

here is a good drink for the little ones. mix lemonade, coka cola, fanta. any type of fizzy drink with ice-cream it will bubble and disolve a bit and it tastes great.
Happy hunting. :D

[zaibatsu]

Tuatara, your second option is quite good for kids, and the stuff bounces if you add less PVA glue. However don't let the children make the same mistake as I did when I was younger, and add food colouring to it the handle without gloves on. My hands were stained orange for quite a while after that...

EDIT: Doesn't corn starch and water act in the same way as quicksand? When you apply pressure it goes hard, but when you remove it it goes back to a liquid goo. That could be quite informative and interesting for them.

[dogbone103]

hmmmm, mabye corn startch does. you could try it out, normel flower would work too but be messy and stick to your hands.

Tartura, tell your daughter happy birthday from me.

[Skean Dhu]

Yea cornstach+water does that. It becomes rigid when struck, but when pushed it moves out of the way. Theres some fancy word for it but i can't remember it.

heres a link for some "flubber" be careful it may stain the hands for a few hours if you use too much coloring
http://www.groovy-mom.com/crafty/old/000101.shtml

get a couple empty egg cartons(one for each kid or pair of kids)
then make the standard red cabbage acid/base indicator, put some in each section and add vinegar/baking soda solution to some and tell the kids they have to make a path across by adding vinegar/baking soda until they are neutral(fill them in on the different color shades for 'too acid', 'too base' and 'just right') you can make up some story about workers being trapped and you need to make a path to safety for them.

geta few carnations and let them dye the petals different colors w/ food coloring in teh plants water.

[tom haggen]

you could make an PH tester with some red cabbage. and get some different color changes, with some clear acids and some clear bases. The chemicals will look the same but the color changes will be different.

[dogbone103]

When you boil red caage it stink out your home and i dont think that these 7 year olds should be playing with acids or bace solutions because they are crossasive and will burn.

[Tuatara]

First off, thanks for the suggestions and interest.

There are plenty of 'safe' acids and bases the kids can play with - citric, tartaric,acetic acids, - baking soda, washing soda, for bases, so I'm not worried about that. I might visit the supermarket for some 'dragonhide gloves' (latex).

I'm going to be making the pH indicator from Viola Tricolor , also know as Pansy or Heartsease. I've done it before, and the color range is magnificent (deep red through yellow, green, blue to violet - a whole rainbow from one indicator).

I thought some precipitation reactions might be good too - CaCl2 + Na2CO3 => milky white mess from two clear solns.

[Hang-Man]

One that is not safe on account of the H2SO4, but is quite amusing is Sulfuric acid + sucrose. It makes a piller of carbon rise out of the beaker.

[Sparky]

Not to belittle other suggestions, but when I was a kid things like "magic mud" (corn starch and water IIRC) and baking soda and vinegar were old hat and hence boring (magic mud being the lesser of the two). Normally I would scorn at "making goo" and dumbed-down things but considering the party environment, you're not going to be able to do much interesting anyways. Consider that if you treat the kids like morons they will probably get bored (first hand experience talking here).

My dad used to be a Beaver leader and being a chemist would think up something every once in a while to entertain them. I can't remember exactly what this example was but it went something like this (it entertained 6-7 year olds fairly well but remember it's all in the presentation):
Make up some slightly basic methyl blue solution and pour it into cups. Or put some sodium carbonate solution into cups, then pour in the neutral methyl blue solution in, and it turns pink when it enters the cup. Then the kids are challenged to blow into the cups with a straw and make the solution turn blue (from carbonic acid). Afte almost hyperventilating ;) it would finally turn blue. Then he would come around and sneak some sodium carbonate solution into it again when they weren't looking and they would be all baffled and have to start over (or at least the slow ones would be baffled ;)).

I know you said no flames but he once electrically (saying the magic word) started a fireplace for the beavers and it worked out really well.

Other things come to mind, like making rayon and passing the thread around as it comes out of the beaker, and chemiluminescence stuff (you could break open glow sticks). Glass wool and 'invisible flames' from methanol (it's difficult to see in sunlight) was one of the more interesting activities.

Water rockets are fun but it may be a bit cold out this time of year.

The idea which was by far the most fun was playing with dry ice. LN2 is OK too but the typical smashing flowers gets old fast so one needs more original ideas, and LN2 is a bit harder to get and more dangerous. Dry ice is fun because you can actually pick it up fairly easily (throw it between hands or just wear winter gloves) and play with it. My dad would collect YOP bottles which happen to have a pop off lid to them. So after putting some dry ice in, the pressure would build up then the lid would blow off (either shoot them at someone or become more original). Of course it doubles for use in a "witches brew" type thing. If you hold it just right on a spoon it begins to make a ringing sound. The great thing about dry ice is you can basically hand it over and let them fool around with it which is way more fun than some supervised crap. Giving a crash course in handling it at the beginning should be sufficient.

[Zeitgeist]

Hypergolic ignition with KMnO4/Glycerol perhaps

I know, get a tall, narrow glass cylinder. Mix dish detergent liquid with H2O2, high conc if you have it, about 1:1, and add a bit of KI or KMnO4. Do it outside!!!!!!!!

[ossassin]

zaitabsu, I remember doing the same thing. Those were the days. I'd recommend one of the types of goo, as little kids like things that they can take home. The corn starch kind is much messier than the Borax kind, so be careful. Be careful when you're cleaning up after making it, too. When I was "cooking" the other day, I , without thinking, tried to wipe up a pile of corn starch with a wet rag. :)

[Wild Catmage]

Pictures drawn onto paper with KNO3 will smoulder, as the image is burnt out. The fun thing is that you can't see what the image is until its finished burning.

[tom haggen]

I think I have seen somewhere, a color changing demonstration where the color change takes place with impressive speed. Don't remember the colors or what chemicals they were but this thought has been eating at me for like 5 days now. It would definitely be a fun experiment and experience for the kiddos. P.S. Harry Potter makes me blow chunks.