Candy Experiments

Last year in What's the Deal with Halloween?  I posted about my frustrations regarding Halloween.  Such a simple holiday.. and after years of fear and over commercialization we have turned it into something that stresses people out!  And because we were so afraid of letting our kids Trick or Treat door to door, we started providing so many 'other options' to get candy that our kids have too much candy!

The same people who days before Halloween were stressed out are now now complaining their kids have too much candy and are talking about throwing it all out!?!  Over commercialism/consumerism and The Wal-Mart Effect at it's best!

So what do we do now that each of our kids have a punch bowl full of candy?  Here are some ideas:
Awsumb's class is sending leftover candy to the troops. Save some for Christmas (I have been known to do this).  Ship it to your brother in Africa (done this one too!)  Or there is always.....

Candy Experiments! is a fun blog by a local mom.  I have met her before, but ran into her again this weekend at the church Trunk or Treat.  She wrote an article found in Parent Map regarding this new dilemna.

Try these with your kids and tell me which Candy Experiments they like best!  What do you do with all your extra Halloween candy?

Baby Soda Bottles

What is a baby soda bottle?  They are the preforms used to make 2-liter bottles.  The tubes are placed in a vacuum mold and heated to become the shape that we are used to seeing filled with soda pop!

Steven Spangler (you have probably seen his You Tube videos with mentos and coke) suggested the idea of using them as test tubes for kids. They are indestructible, you can seal them with their lid and they are super fun!  You can buy them at StevenSpanglerScience.com.  We used these for our Harry Potter Pop Rocks Potion at my son's birthday party.

Other Baby Soda Bottle Activity ideas

1-A Discovery Tube – Collect treasures on your next nature walk. Use the test tube to collect dirt samples, leaves, good old bugs or samples of water from ponds and streams. Study with a magnifying glass or microscope.

2 - Roots with a View – Grow simple green plants in the tube and watch the sprouting process. Learn about growth and plants needs by placing loosely packed soil or growing medium in the tube along with a few radish, pea or bean seeds. Over the course of a few days, watch how the plants grow and how the roots spread out for water and nutrients.

3 – Wave Bottle – Fill test tube ¾ full with vegetable oil. Fill the rest of the bottle with water. Add a few drops of food coloring and seal with the cap. Notice how the dye colors the water and not the oil. Tip bottle back and forth to create wave.

4 – Time Capsule – Use the test tube to hide and protect a secret message to be opened in the future.

5 – Color Shake Up – This activity requires a small amount of colored lamp oil. Be careful not to get the lamp oil around any open flames. Fill the test tube with equal parts of lamp oil and water. Food coloring can be used to color the water. If you are using yellow lamp oil, color the water with a few drops of blue food coloring. Seal the test tube with a cap and shake up the liquids. Yellow & blue makes green.

6- Dancing Beads – Fill the bottle half full with small Styrofoam beads (like those found in beanbag chairs). Add water until the beads begin to overflow the bottle. Seal with a cap and watch the Styrofoam beads jockey for position in the bottle. This is an easy sway to help young scientists get a better grip on the notion of density.

7- Magnifying Glass – Fill the test tube to the very top with water and seal it with a cap. Hold the test tube up against newspaper print to magnify the letters. The water magnifies the message.

8- The Erupting, Bubbling Blob – Fill the test tube ¾ full with cooking oil (ordinary vegetable oil works well). Add one cap full of water to the oil in the test tube. Notice how the oil and water to not mix. Drop one or two drops of food coloring into the test tube, but do not seal the tube with a cap just yet. Notice how the dye colors only the water and not the oil. Divide in and Alka-Seltzer tablet into quarters and drops one section into the tube. Watch what happens to the bubbling water on the bottoms of the tube. After the lava blobs have stopped bubbling fill the rest of the tube with oil until it’s almost overflowing. Cap the tube tightly. Tip the test tube back and forth and watch what happens. The tiny droplets of liquid join together to make one big lava-like blob.

9- Glitter Wand – Fill the test tube ¾ with cooking oil , add heavy colored beads, glitter and mylar confetti. Top the tube off with cooking oil, seal with a cap. Tip the tub back and forth to make your concoction move and sparkle.

10- Color Mixing with your eyes – Fill three test tubes almost to the top with water. Add drops of blue food coloring to one test tube and seal it with a cap. Do the same thing with the other two using yellow &red food coloring. Hold each test tube up to your eyes near light to observe the color. Now, cross the yellow & blue tubes in front of your eyes, looking through both of them at the same time. What color do you see? Green! Cross the red & blue tubes in similar fashion to make purple. What color does red & yellow make

11 – Test Tube Twist – Stretch a rubber band around all three test tubes you make in the previous experiment. Hold the tube trio up to your eyes and look at the light. What colors do you see? Now, slowly twist the test tube and a watch the colors changes before your eyes. Cool!

12 – Make Your Own Twister – fill the test tube ¾ full with water and add a few drops of liquid soap. Seal the bottle with a cap and start twisting. The swirling motion of the soap and water will make a twisting turning vortex. It’s your very own pet tornado!

13 – Pop Goes the Weasel – Find a cork that fits snugly into the open test tube. Fill the bottle half full with water. Divide and Alka-Seltzer tablet into quarters and drop one section into the tube. Quickly seal the test tube with the cork and point the corked and way form anything living. Pow! The cork goes sailing.

What fun things can you think of to do with baby soda bottles?

Harry Potter Pop Rocks Potion

1.  Fill Test Tube half way with H2O

2.  Pour in the Pop Rocks and you will hear the popping sounds as it releases the essence of euphoria,(CO2 or Carbon Dioxide).

"Pop Rocks, let me hear, the future is near!"

3.  Pour in a teaspoon of the crystalline powder (NaHCO3).Bakers use this chemical compound to make their bread spirits raise.

"Give me a notion of the Pop Rocks potion!"

4.  Add a few drops of food coloring.

"The professors are strange, let the color change!"

5.  Squeeze Lemon (Citric Acid, C6H8O7) into the concoction,watch the potion bubble up and fizz out of control.

"Lemon so tart, make me magically smart!”

6.  Add sugar.   As you add this last ingredient, make up your own phrase to activate the Potion.Ex: 

 "I drink this potion to make me fast in motion!"

7. Drink if you dare!

Awsumb was so excited to do this little experiment at his birthday party.  We used baby soda bottles which can be found on Steve Spangler's Website.  You have probably seen him on You Tube - Coke and Mentos explosion guy?!  We did this experiment at Awsumb's Birthday Party and the kids loved it!   Then all the kids were sent home with their sticky test tubes!
And what Halloween would be complete without Awsumb's Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld!



Check back later this weekend for the most Totally Awsumb Harry Potter Birthday Ideas Ever!

Totally Awsumb Harry Potter 9th Birthday Party

 

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

For Awsumb Kenneth Hardy’s 9th Birthday Party

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 23rd

Hogwarts Express leaves Platform 9 3/4

at precisely Ten O’Clock AM and will return at Noon

Please RSVP by way of Owl to

Wendy Headmistress, Frolic and Feasts

or use the Floo Network (phone)

Students should come dressed in their

wizarding robes

or favorite Halloween costumes

But not your dress robes

 as the journey may entail physical activity

as well as working with messy potion ingredients!

I printed the invites on scroll paper.

To decorate the envelopes I printed some Hogwart’s stamps and logos to make them look official.

Awsumb had a great time driving around delivering

invites while dressed up in his Harry Potter costume. 

As I usually do for Awsumb’s parties I invited all the kids
to come dressed in costume. 

October Birthdays are fun like that!

For decorations I printed off

Awsumb’s Halloween Portraits

and a few other things such as:

Hoggwart's Crest, Gryffindor banner, a Platform 9 ¾ sign

and the class schedule onto leftover scroll paper.

Add some colorful balloons and crepe paper and it’s a party!

  As the kids arrived I handed out
Wizard Party Hats and Harry Potter glasses.

Kenneth played Professor Wiggles in his black bathrobe and ran the party games:

Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans Game –

 A simple spin the arrow game with four categories:

Sweet, Sour, Your Pick, Blind Pick
 
I made this game out of a Bertie Bott's Beans Candy Box

Divination –

"Professor Wiggles" used his Wand & Magic 8 Ball to answer silly questions. 
(The kids loved this and kept the fun going longer than we expected)

Transfiguration –

Spirit Light Magic Trick

 performed by Awsumb

Potions –

Pop Rocks test tube experiment

 with baby soda bottles
(see Pop Rocks Potion)

Herbology –

Planting gummy worms in
crushed cookies and chocolate pudding!

(served in lieu of cake)

Defense of the Dark Arts –

I don't know who sends their kid to a party with a big stick...

but it worked well for the Pinata!

We sang Happy Birthday and served Caramel Apple Ciders

(warm spiced cider, a squirt of and whip cream)

Next thing we knew it was time to open the gifts

and send the kids home with Goodie Bags labeled
“Honey Dukes Sweet Shoppe” 

Filled with:
Bertie Botts Beans, Chocolate Frogs,
Drooble’s Gum, and Pop Rocks.

I also sent the kids home with their Harry Potter Glasses

and Test Tubes with the potion recipe and other experiment ideas.

 Special Thanks to

my brother Brian and his girlfriend Kate

who really know how to Party Hardy!

There are so many fun ideas out there such as:

A treasure hunt to ‘Search for the Sorcerer’s Stone’,

plant beans in that gooey clear stuff,

decorate wands, etc.

If you need more ideas or would like some clip art, etc.

so you can have your own

Totally Awesome Harry Potter Birthday

I would be happy to share my files!

Totally Awsumb Harry Potter

It's party time around here!  Awsumb is so excited for his upcoming Totally Awsumb Harry Potter Birthday Party.  Awsumb's friends all received invites to attend a special session of Hogwarts School of Wizardry.  I have wizard hats and Harry Potter glasses for all the kids. Plus I bought the candy store out of Bertie Botts Beans, Chocolate Frogs and Poprocks!  Be sure to check back to see pictures of the fun games and experiments we have planned!

Although I never read the Harry Potter series I am glad Awsumb is enjoying them so much. I know that these books can be a great escape. I saw an interview recently with the author.  She said writing them helped sort through her feelings about her mother's death and how she felt about death and life after death.

Betie Botts Beans Anyone?  These are absolutely revolting.  And the afternoon Awsumb decided to break into his bag I felt obligated to share in the fun with him.  After all, if your going to puke, you might as well do it with a friend!  Seriously with flavors like onion, sausage, vomit and booger just the smell of them make me sick!

Get the kids and click to watch

Awsumb's Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld

What's the deal with Halloween?

In the style of Jerry Seinfeld, "What's the deal with Halloween?"

It seems like during the month of October at least once a day I read a post online from someone saying, "Don't you know it's Pagan holiday?" I say, "So What!" Halloween as we know it in America no longer resembles pagan rituals. Like everything else it's been commercialized to death and has become the night (or week) of "get candy, get candy, get candy!"

Then there's the whole trick or tricking paranoia. My generation has been totally convinced that we are going to be poisoned by Halloween candy... or worse, the dreaded razor blade in the apple myth. Remember when you could take your candy to the ER to have it X-rayed! LOL! Did you know there had NEVER been a reported case of razor blades in apples anywhere in the U.S. And the only poisoning scenerios involved family members!

It's like the whole kidnapping thing. Your child is more likely to be struck by lightening than kidnapped! So send your kids out to ride bikes people and let them play until dusk! They need to get some exercise after all that Halloween candy they've been eating!

In the end, our fear of traditional door-to-door trick or treating has lead to a week long of alternative halloween fun such as, Trunk or Treats, trick or treating at the mall or office, and of course halloween parties at every children's activity that week, including dance and soccer practice! The whole mess leads to an over load of candy. Half the parents I knew threw most of it out. Why are we buying so much to pass out, only to throw it out? This is such a waste and is a perfect example of our affluence in America. What about providing other things during the week and saving the candy for Halloween night?

This year we planned to spend Halloween with my parents in Utah. Because we live in a neighborhood with only a handful of children, we were looking forward to a real old fashioned night of trick or treating. We were lucky enough to experience this in 2003 when we visited my Aunt's in California... so we were pretty excited!


After all the cousins arrived we started out under a clear sky and a bright new moon. In just a couple of blocks we were offered, doughnuts and hot cocoa, cider, the sherrif grilled hot dogs and a few families offered bowls of soups and stews. Awsumb collected the least amount of candy hae ever has, but the thrill of real trick or treating, running in the dark from house to house was what this experience was all about.

And my final rant.. what's the deal with teenagers trick or treating anyway? I hear so many people complain about teens trick or treating. They brag about only giving them pixey sticks or just slamming the door in their face. What's the big deal?! I will happily give candy to anyone who comes to my door dressed in a costume! Better than having your pumpkins smashed? Who says Halloween is only for 10 and under.

Click here to see Awsumb perform Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld...

Check back for more about the history of harvest celebrations and the real history of Thanksgiving and my search to find a book about Thanksgiving that doesn't include a fake Pilgrim and Indian Thanksgiving dinner...

Twinkie Deconstructed

A while back I saw an Andy Rooney segment about the ingredients in Twinkies. One of them was the byproduct of jet fuel! (Insert video here! First one to find it wins a prize.) So when Kenneth put the book Twinkie Deconstructed on my Ipod I was excited to read it. The author decide to research the topic after his children asked him to explain the ingredients list on Twinkie package.

When it comes to Twinkies, and all process foods, shelf life is crucial. "Shelf life is the holy grail of packaged food," said Ettlinger. "In order to get shelf life, you give up something: fresh eggs, fresh cream, fresh butter…So you need to not only extend the shelf life with the product you're making but you have to replace those eggs with emulsifiers, you have to replace the butter with flavors or colors. You have to replace them with things. That's why the ingredient list starts getting long."

This book goes through the ingredient list one by one throwing out a few funny tidbits along the way. Did you know the creamy center of Twinkies used to be banana flavored? During WWI when bananas became scarce they began making the cream vanilla flavored. (Cue music: We have no bananas today.)

Do you remember that commercial from the 80's that asked kids to explain how the cream got into the center of Twinkie? My favorite was the kid that said, “It’s just born there!” I remember other kids having Twinkies in their lunches as school. But I don’t have many memories of eating Twinkies. I don't really care for that thick coated feeling they leave in your mouth. Do you wonder what that's from? This book explains it for you. Maybe I would like the banana flavored Twinkies? I prefer yellow Zingers!

Another book I recommend is Candy Freak. Kenneth and I listened to this on a road trip years ago and loved it so much we sent it to everyone as birthday gifts that year. It was especially fun to listen to on the road because we would scour gas stations through a few different states looking for specific candy bars. It is also a very interesting story about the history of Mars, Hershey, etc. Check it out!

Anatomy of a Gummy Bear

When did Gummy Bears become a food group? Since I have been a parent these 8 years I have not been able to understand the concept of Fruit Snacks? I see people regularly include these in their child's meal and count it as a "fruit" or feed them to their toddler thinking they are providing a nutritional snack.

Do they realize they are just feeding them Gummy Bears? Would they just give them a bag of Gummy Bears? I don't think so... but if Kellogg's puts it in a cute shape and calls them "Fruit Snacks" all of a suddent they are O.K.? I feel like this is just one more way our kids don't understand where our food comes from, or even what it is.

Let's compare their nutritional value. First lets start with the serving size. A bag of basic Gummy Bears claims 22, while Fruit Snacks have limited the package size to 10. So, for this comparision I cut the serving size of the Gummy Bears in half.

Gummy Bears / Fruit Snacks
Calories 75 / 80
Carbs 17g / 21g
Sugars 11g / 14g
Protein 1.5 / 0

Seems clear to me. What's the difference? At least with true gummy bears you get a bit of protein, probably from the geletin? OH, I admit I am leaving out the 100% daily dose of Vitamin C that is included in Fruit Snacks and not in Gummy Bears? It still doesn't make sense to me. Especially when Gummy Bears on high on the list of dental "No, No's" .... AND have you ever eaten a Fruit Snack? They are gross, their texture is all wrong. I am not even a candy person, but Gummy Bears are much more pleasurable. So why does every grocery store have an entire 3-4 foot Fruit Snack display?

Have I ever purchased Fruit Snacks? Yes, to go along with a party theme as a treat! Join me and next time buy GUMMY BEARS instead!

Just a rant I have been dying to share since he was first served Fruit Snacks in his Church Nursery Class. And I was reminded of this when I served my son some Haribo Gummy Frogs as a treat during his living room camp out today!

To see more fun work by Jason Freeny click here...

OCD Conundrum

As my son would say, "It's a TRUE KNOWN FACT that..." there is an average of eight spider legs in every candy bar.

Yes, it must be a true fact because I heard it on TV the other day. Well, I of course, cannot stop thinking about this. What I want to know is where are all the bodies? Is there a serial spider killer out there somewhere... hiding the evidence in candy bars? And if so, where does he hide the bodies? Or even worse - if one spider has eight legs, does that mean there is a WHOLE SPIDER in every candy bar?

For some reason I can stomach thinking about eating spider legs (for the record- I haven't eaten a candy bar since I heard this) but eating a spider body! YUCKY!!

My mind just keeps going around and around on this issue. I just can't stop thinking about it. But, what's worse is that it pops up at the wrong times... for instance, just as I am about to drift off to sleep I think about a snickers bar and those eight little spider legs hidden amongst the peanuts and all that caramely goodness. Then I start thinking about spiders crawling around the chocolate bar factory, then about the ones living out on the deck, then about the ones living in our walls, then I am convinced I feel one on my leg! Then I throw off the covers and wake Kenneth up. But, mostly I am terrified of dreaming of spiders.

Sweet Dreams...