How to Make a Model Volcano and Other Fun Kids Party
Special Effects
By Patricia Jensen
Kids love magic tricks and special effects because they surprise and
delight with the unexpected. Here's a collection of easy yet impressive
special effects to try at your next kids party.
But beware... kids are naturally inquisitive, and will want to know how
you achieved your spectacular results. Keep it mysterious, and you'll be
the hit of the party crowd!
Erupting Volcano
Start by lining a box lid (edges should be about 2 inches high) with
foil or use a large metal pan. Fill with wet sand. Place an empty soup
can in the center and press the sand around the can to form your volcano
mountain. For the best effect, completely conceal the can. Spoon 1/4 cup
baking soda into the can and place the box on a surface protected with a
plastic tablecloth or newspapers.
To erupt the volcano, pour a portion of the activation solution into the
can. When this is added to the baking soda, it will make flowing "lava".
Let your party guests take turns adding a bit of solution to the can to
cause further eruptions.
Activation Solution - 1 cup water, 3/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup dishwashing
liquid, 10 drops of red food coloring and 10 drops of yellow food
coloring.
Volcano Cake
Make a bundt cake and frost it in chocolate frosting. Decorate with palm
trees and small plastic dinosaurs: Before serving, take a pint of
chocolate ice cream and place over the hole in the center of the cake.
Pour strawberry syrup over it for volcano lava. Serve and enjoy!
Variation: Frost the cake white and use vanilla ice cream for a
different look.
Spinning Vortex
Take two empty 2-liter bottles and fill one about one third with water.
Put the bottle openings together, with the empty bottle upside down on
top of the full one. Place a 3/8 inch metal washer in the opening
between the two bottles and duct tape them together carefully.
When you're ready to make a vortex, reverse the bottles so the full one
is on top. Swirl the top bottle in a circular motion until a spinning
vortex begins to form in the water. It will continue until all the water
has funneled through the washer and into the bottom bottle. Just reverse
the bottles to create another vortex.
Party Punch with Pizzazz
Mix up a batch of one of the following party punches:
Smoldering Swamp Water
Mix equal parts Ice Cool Arctic Green Apple flavor Kool-Aid with ginger
ale, or try any green beverage such as 7-UP.
Bubbling Love Potion
Mix equal parts cherry Kool-Aid & ginger ale for a colorful and fizzy
love potion drink.
Here's where the fun starts...
Place a piece of dry ice in a sealed plastic container. Punch or cut
holes in the container lid. Before serving drop the container into the
punch bowl for a very cool effect!
Important: Always use caution when handling dry ice! Use tongs or heavy
gloves so it does not touch bare skin as burn will result. Do not put
the dry ice directly in the punch; it should NOT be ingested.
Frozen Hand
Fill an unpowdered surgical glove with water. Add green food coloring
for a creepier look. Securely twist tie the end and hang from a shelf in
the freezer. Once frozen, cut off the glove and float hand in your punch
bowl for a nice "touch"!
Slime
Take a cup of water and add to it 1 Tbs. of borax (available in the
laundry section of the grocery store). Stir until completely dissolved.
Take 1/4 cup of white glue and 1/4 cup of water and mix thoroughly. In a
ziploc bag, add equal parts of the borax solution to equal parts of the
glue solution. A half cup of each will make a cup of slime. Add a couple
drops of green food coloring. Seal bag and knead the mixture.
Fake Blood
Karo brand corn syrup
Red and blue food coloring
Milk
Add some red food coloring to the corn syrup, then just a drop or two of
blue to get a more realistic dark color. Milk will make the blood appear
more opaque and more realistic.
Note: This mixture is sticky and can stain clothes.
These cool special effects are perfect for a mad scientist party, a
dinosaur party, a Halloween party... just use your imagination and have
fun! They add a unique twist to any kids party and will make your
child's special day a truly memorable event!
Copyright 2004 Kids Party Paradise All Rights Reserved
Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She
is the webmaster and owner of
www.Kids-Party-Paradise.com
- a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes,
decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.
For all the latest party news, read her Kids Party Blog.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patricia_Jensen
Ideas For Sharing Stories
With Children
This two-part article discusses the ways in which stories and
storytelling play an important role in children's lives. Techniques are
offered for using stories to help develop children's verbal skills and
imaginations. This is part one.
Parenting Discipline - Teaching
Children Self Respect, Self Control and Empathy
For many parents, the words parenting discipline have very negative
connotations. There is the association with their own childhood and the
often unpleasant memories that thinking of discipline raises. Then there
is the association of the word discipline with ideas around corporal
punishment, with spanking, hitting and hurting children.
Who Owns The Problem; Parent or Child?
It is tempting for parents to assume ownership and responsibility for everything that goes on in the life of their child. However, when the parent jumps in too soon to solve the problem or give the answer, the child never learns to trust his own judgment and become a critical thinker.
Parenting - Making A Schedule This article on the benefits of scheduling your day as a parent
really struck home with me. It took me a while to work this out for
myself when I had young children at home, and I wish I had done so - and
benefited from the much calmer household that was the result - sooner!
Being Left Is The Definition Of A Mother
To be a successful mother you must be left. Not left handed, nor to the
left politically, but just left. This necessary abandonment comes in
gradual stages and the steps toward this goal are painful to be sure.
The Uneducated Palate
When did you learn to really enjoy food? How about experiencing taste
and textures? I think children develop a taste for food a lot sooner
than we think.
Ways of Dealing With
Separation Anxiety
All parents will remember how difficult it was to leave their children
when they were young, and some of us had to deal with unhappy children
suffering from separation anxiety, again and again and again! Veronica
shares some tips on how to make the partings easier.
Math Games
for the Active Child
To put it in a nice way, my son is rather squirmy. He doesn't like to
sit still for very long unless he's playing a video game, then it's just
amazing. So instead of constantly telling him to sit down and do his
math, we take it outside or up the stairs, literally...
