Share the Sweetness

Science Experiment Stations made easy for your next birthday party. You'll get a BIG reaction with some simple kitchen ingredients! Run stations and watch your kids light up for basic chemistry they can do too.
Birthday Party Experiments, Safe Chemistry for Kids, Mad Scientist Party Ideas, VBS Activities, Vacation Bible School Theme.

Cash’s 5th Element Birthday Party was an EXPLOSIVE hit! We had never really done a “friend” party before so I knew our first one had to leave an impression. Fortunately, my brother, their Uncle Nick, came to party and ran all of our Science Experiment Stations with the kids!

Before I dive in, know that I have all the sign formats that you can use during the party. You will need lots of parent help, so you may need to print a few. The FULL Science Party Suite is a Digital Download in this Etsy Listing: Science Birthday Party Printables | Science Party Labels | 24 Pages

Experiment Stations

As guests arrived, after receiving a Name Tag, they were escorted to two interactive tables. The experiments that lived here were those that created a chemical reaction when kids added a catalyst. I had main attractions at these tables: Lemon Volcanoes, Milk & Skittles & Ice Melting.

All of these experiments are done with simple ingredients you’ll find in your own kitchen. You’ll need:

Baking Soda
Food Coloring
Vinegar
Dish Soap
Whole Milk
Skittles
Lemons, halved.

Before the party, I picked up a ton of pie and pizza pans at garage sales in my area. I wanted a bunch of metal, scientific-looking trays for these experiments. I also bought a ton (too much) of scientific supplies on Amazon. Here is my full list where you’ll find all the beakers and test tubes. Excessive, but totally worth it!

Amazon | Science Party Supply List

Reaction Station

Milk & Skittles create a rainbow when you add dish soap it turns out! For this station, line a border around a dish with Skittles. Pour in just enough milk to cover the bottom. Then, using a Q-tip dab some Dish Soap in the center. The candy color coating will begin to drain off the Skittles and create a rainbow pinwheel. You must use Whole Milk and Dawn Dish Soap works the best!

Catalyst Station

These tables were both designed for experiments where the kids got to be in charge. Everything here is safe so long as they wore eye protection and knew to keep things out of their mouths. The catalyst station was simple enough: I froze a bunch of ice cube trays that had pom-poms and googly eyes in them. The kids used salt to melt them free.

We also had the Lemon Volcano here. All you need is a halved lemon, baking soda and vinegar. Food coloring was optional but a crowd favorite. The kids covered the lemon half (there was enough for each kid to have his/her own) and then drop on a few drops of color. The last step was using a pipette to drip on white vinegar. This made the lemon sizzle and the baking soda look like oozing lava. No explosions occurred. We saved that for the last station!

Nucleation Station

Oh, the classic Mentos and Coke… You’ll want to add this to your party itinerary FOR SURE. My brother Nick really had his time to shine here. I still don’t know how he was able to get this high of a reaction, but I guess a magician never tells.

We bought mini Coke bottles and LOTS of Mentos for all the kids to try it in their own trays first. Then, as a grand finale, Nick did the 2 liters. Just look at these kids’ faces! This was a party they’ll surely never forget!