Julius’ Laboratory

Okay dear friends, you probably can guess why I didn’t post last week. In case you can’t, it was a combo of trying not to go near the internet or media and prepping for Julius and Patricia’s birthdays. I won’t write too much about how disappointed I am in the US once again for failing to elect a competent female president over a sexist, racist, transphobic, homophobic, fascist, hate mongering convicted felon tv celebrity. Just know that I am extremely disappointed and now more than ever I fear for the future of America (and really the world, because goodbye climate protections, and a crazy person once again has the nuclear codes.)

I have to attempt to be positive though because how else can I raise positive kids? Well, what could be more positive than a child’s birthday?!

Right now we are in the midst of birthday chaos. Julius’ birthday was a few days ago, his party was this past Sunday and Patricia’s birthday is today. We’re hosting Patricia’s party next weekend so that I have a few days of breathing room. Both Patricia and Julius wanted to invite their entire classes. That’s not so bad for Patricia but Julius has 19 kids in his class. Luckily we were able to rent out the community center which had a pretty perfect setup for a Science Birthday. Thanks to my mom and dad who came up to help with the party plus set up and clean up. We only had an hour to setup and 45 minutes to clean up so it was tight! Without further ado, here’s how it went!

Julius’ Science Birthday

Theme

Julius has been obsessed with science experiments for the last year. So a few months ago he told me he wanted a science birthday. I’ve been thinking about this theme for a while and have been pretty pumped. I ended up doing 4 different experiments with lunch and cupcakes mixed in. For “favors” all the kids got lab coats and goggles that obviously they were to put on immediately.

Lab Safety Slide Deck (I didn’t share this one but I did share the info in it!)

Activities

Obviously we were going to do science experiments. I wanted experiments the kids could do themselves. Since they were 6&7 year olds I figured they’d be able to do some exciting ones. I tested several in advance and got it down to four that worked really well and seemed pretty exciting. The kids were extremely enthusiastic about them all and it filled my heart! Is this how teachers feel?? I did have several slide decks to explain the experiments but I really only used them for conversation. I’ve included them below if you need inspiration.

Name Badges

For a starter activity we had everyone write a name badge and decorate with stickers as they desired. People came at wildly different times so I probably should have done a longer starter activity but it worked out alright. After they got their name badges we had everyone pick a seat, which had a pair of goggles and lab coat.

Slime

Slime Slide deck here

The first experiment we did was slime, and we sort of slow rolled this while people trickled in. Everyone seemed to love the slime making. Especially the addition of glitter, which I kept under close watch at the front table.

Acids and Bases

Acids and Bases Slide Deck Here

This one was a two part-er. I did one part with an acid indicator and the other with a base indicator.

Invisible Ink

We used baking soda as a base to write on paper, and decoded it using tumeric (a base indicator). They were all pretty enthusiastic about this one too because what child doesn’t want to make invisible ink?

Color Changing Lemonade

Those Medela sterile bottles are always getting put up on free sites and my friend Mary got me a bunch of sterile sealed ones someone was giving away! I thought these would be perfect for our food science experiment! I told everyone that we were never to eat science experiments but this was one exception because it was a food science experiment. I had everyone wash their hands and then head into the lunch room for this one where we’d set up containers of butterfly pea flower tea at each seat. Then each child filled a cup of ice full of lemonade. I let everyone try the tea and lemonade before mixing and everyone hated the butterfly pea flower tea. But their expressions when they mixed it were priceless!

Rocket Launch

Rocket Launch Slide Deck Here

We did our final activity, the rocket launch, after lunch back in the science room. We launched rockets using baking soda and vinegar. It worked pretty well, and we had extra for those that that misfired. Julius said this was his favorite experiment!

Lunch

For lunch we had party pizza! They screwed up the order though and didn’t bring us any pepperoni! I also made a giant fruit salad and veggie platter with dip. We also put out lemonade and more butterfly pea flower tea with instructions in case the parents wanted to try it out. And finally we had tons of seltzers. I put out post it notes for where everything should go and my mom and Will set it up while I finished the invisible ink experiment.

Cake

Julius wanted chocolate cupcakes again this year, but he wanted chocolate frosting instead of vanilla. Honestly these were my favorite cupcakes ever. I’ve been sneaking them for the last couple days (and I am full of regret). I used the same recipe for chocolate cupcakes that I’ve been using for the last couple years, and this chocolate frosting recipe I used years ago. The combination was amazing, and both are so easy (as opposed to Patricia’s which I’ll talk about later). I made fondant decorations for the cupcakes in the shape of beakers and flasks to put on top… Julius saw these and called them “science cups” which made me chuckle. I’m pretty happy with how these guys came out!

Overall I think the kids had a lot of fun! The party was a bit chaotic at times so it was awesome my parents and the other parents were there to help out! So thankful to everyone who helped! Julius said he loved all the experiments and immediately went home and made more slime with Patricia. (Then today we launched more rockets.)