To celebrate British Science Week which runs from 10th-19th March, Monkey and I have been trying the Booms, Bangs, Fizzes set from John Adams.
We’ve not really tried too many science experiments at home, so we were both rather excited to try out this set, which contains details to conduct 12 different experiments.
Booms, Bangs, Fizzes is aimed at children aged 8 years and over, and all experiments should be conducted with adult supervision. As Monkey is 7, I looked through the instructions before suggesting a couple of the easier tasks I thought we could complete together with him still having maximum input.
He loves volcanoes – as you can tell by the top he decided to wear for our science time.
We opted for the Erupting Underwater Volcano for our first challenge. Although most items required for these Booms, Bangs, Fizzes experiments are included, you do sometimes need additional objects. In this instance we needed to supply a large clear pot, bowl, lemonade, blue tac.
It’s so lovely to see Monkey able to follow instructions so well these days, and working on this task was no exception. He was so excited about the concept and was eager to see the results. Following the instructions, he had to think about measurements as we put the elements of the experiment together.
My son hates having anything on his face, so I knew goggles may well be an issue for him. I’d read through the instructions before we started so I knew exactly what was involved, so I could assess any dangers. He did make me laugh, he was so excited to see the red colouring running into the lemonade. He’d have been happy if that was the end of the experiment.
We’d had to three-quarters fill a pot with water (it needs to be taller than the volcano). Then in a separate bowl we added a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to 10ml of water, mixed it together and then sucked it back up into the syringe. We filled the volcano with lemonade and added 5 drops of red colouring. You then stick the volcano to the bottom of the pot with blue tac and it needs to sit below the water level of the pot. I have to be honest, we really struggled to get the volcano to stick to our glass pot. I think that probably had an effect on the resulting eruption, which wasn’t quite as dramatic as we’d hoped. But once in place, you take the syringe and squirt some of the bicarb solution into the volcano and then watch it erupt. When the eruption calms down, you can syringe more solution in and watch the process again.
The Booms, Bangs, Fizzes instruction leaflet has information at the end of every experiment which explains exactly what is happening and what the results will be.
Other experiments include making a Film Canister Rocket (you need to add a Vitamin C or soluble indigestion tablet and some tape), Jet Engine Balloon Screamer (add tape and you’ll need 2 sturdy trees, posts or chairs), Bike Pump Rocket Ship (add 1 litre empty drinks bottle, tape and a bicycle pump), Confetti Shower Explosion (paper pieces and bike pump needed), Exploding Lunch Bag (vinegar, tissue and tape needed), Water Bomb, Rock Salt Depth Charge (2 litre bottle of Diet Coke and a piece of card required) Mad Fizzing Potions (washing up liquid, lemon juice, vinegar, narrow glass and a cocktail glass required.
As we didn’t have a number of these items to hand, and as soon needed to conducted outdoors (the weather was against us) we opted to try the Indoor Lightning experiment next.
In this experiment electrons jump from the styrene sheet to the lightning aluminium tray and spark when you touch it. I didn’t manage to capture this on camera, but you could definitely feel a little shock and see a lightning spark.
We’ve had lots of fun with Booms, Bangs, Fizzes and taking part in #BritishScienceWeek. We’ll be borrowing a bike pump soon to try some of the outdoors explosions soon. To find out more about this set, and others available, pop over to the John Adams website. Normally priced at £25.00, Booms, Bangs, Fizzes is currently on offer for £19.99 on Amazon, and I’ve included my affiliate link for your reference below in case you want to try this set out with your kids.
disclosure: we were sent this item in exchange for an honest review
A Mum with a 13 year old son, enjoying life and having fun as my son travels through school life. We love to get outdoors whenever possible and make the most of the world around us.
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We’ve not really tried too many science experiments at home, so we were both rather excited to try out this set, which contains details to conduct 12 different experiments.
