Simple and fun DIY summer science camp for kids. Awesome science experiments and projects that families can do together.

Here at Science Sparks, we love anything space related, especially rockets! This baking soda rocket is one of our favourites, as it's super easy to set up

Blog about Easy and Fun Kid Art and Crafts Activities

Slingshot Straw Rockets - Engineering Projects for Kids: Simple and inexpensive to build. The slingshot rocket may take a little practice to use, but the payoff is well worth it as you launch it over 50'! You can find the lesson plan, 1-page project sheet, and more project ideas at STEM-Inventions.com

Have fun with these Pop Rocks drink for kids, when you make them as a STEM project, a mad scientist activity or a Halloween Party.

Making a special holiday meal doesn't have to be complicated.

Everyone knows the show Wipeout, right? My boys and The Hubby LOVE to watch it every summer. While thinking about plans for my older boy's birthday party - Wipeout came to mind. It was a done deal. Unfortunately, we learned this summer that Wipeout Season 8 had been canceled - the entire family was quite bummed to hear this news! Wipeout Run is always an option for super die-hard fans - and those willing to take on the challenge! The Bestie is on a team to participate this fall in Southern California - I can't wait to see pictures! Back to the party - for the past couple of years now, my older boy has really gotten into the party planning process with me. We started with the cake, he loves watching the contestants on The Big Red Balls so a lot of our ideas stemmed from that, starting with the cake. For the cake, he chose Betty Crocker's Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake - a steer from his normal red velvet - but he is a HUGE fan of chocolate and he loved every bite. We stuck with a Classic Vanilla Creamy Home-Style Frosting from Duncan Hines and colored it. After looking through the choices of Wilton Icing Colors in the pantry, we started with Teal and then added just enough Royal Blue to get the Wipeout Water he wanted. {I have two boys. I have several shades of blue icing colors on hand at any given time.} We used red ping pong balls that were glued to straws, vanilla creme wafers covered with leftover frosting that I tinted a darker blue made the platform, and Crafted by Kiki made the "finish line" #9 sign for me. All designed by my son. He even added the piles of white sprinkles to reflect the mounds of bubbles you see in the Wipeout Water on the show! For the invitations, we purchased these from M3AndCo on Etsy - then printed and cut them ourselves. The party was at 11:00 a.m. so decided to serve snacks and lunch. He wanted to serve Crockpot Chicken Tacos along with chips, salsa, and guacamole. But for the fun stuff? We decided to use Pretzel Rods to represent the Wipeout "Sweeper Bars" alongside a platter of Nutella as a "Mud Pit" for dipping. He confirmed that there would be a spoon in the Nutella to ensure we didn't have any "double dipping". We also served "Big Red Balls" a.k.a. cherry sour balls. You'll also see these at the base of the cake! My son really thought the "Pool Water" was pretty cool at his little brother's Birthday Pool Party earlier this summer - so we did the same only calling it "Wipeout Water" instead. I did some local shopping and purchased four red 36" balloons from the TomKat Studio Shop - these were awesome! When I had them inflated, I asked for the "hi float" in the balloons and am expecting these to decorate our house for awhile! These were tied down behind the food and cake table, but because of the window being behind them, the photo doesn't do them justice! The kids LOVED them while the dog barked at them. My son designed the obstacle course, drew everything out in a notebook for me, and made the list of supplies we'd need. Some of this was very make-shift but it worked perfectly! The contestants first had to maneuver through two adults (which later became other kids!) swinging noodles at them {not shown here}, then step through small intertubes. Next, hurdle over 3 noodles taped down to buckets - oh, and The Hubby decided to spray them with the hose as they went through this. Then into the Water Wheel to get across the pool. The idea was to use it like a hamster wheel - but then we decided to have them dive into it and get across the pool that way as no one was succeeding the other way! Once on the other side of the yard, they had to cross over a baby pool while being sprayed with water guns and last but not least, leapfrog over the "big red balls" - these awesome 36" red beach balls were the perfect find for me from Beachballs.com. For the party favors? That was a slam dunk - red playground balls of course! Everyone had a great time - my son chose a small trophy for the winner of the competition, and ended up taking home 1st place himself!

If you are looking for Fun Mad Scientist Party Ideas we have a bunch for you. We have games, decorations, party favors, and more fun waiting for you to see.

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The perfect accesory for your engagement shoot, bridal shower, bachelorette party or even the wedding photos! This super-cute denim jacket personalized with your name will be a momento to hold onto forever! This heavy-weight medium wash jacket is 99% cotton 1% spandex, the mix is super comfortable with that little bit of added stretch. This jacket is meant to be a bit of an oversized fit, if you prefer a more fitted jacket please size down. We love custom orders so please let us know if there is something different you would like on your jacket! Please DM us for any other questions or quantity discounts! Currently our order processing times are 1-2 weeks - if you need it sooner please let us know, we can usually accomodate!

Heys everybody! We's havin' ourselves' a lil' redneck partay! Won't yous come n join us?! Okay, okay, I'll stop the hill billy talk. ;) For my brother James' 19th birthday, he just wanted a low key, hangout with his friends and family kind of day. But since it was his special day, I couldn't just not help him celebrate, so I worked on setting the mood! The idea we agreed on was to keep the party stress free, cheap, and totally guy friendly. We found some awesome ideas that inspired us on Pinterest and you can check them out on my redneck themed Pinterest board. From there we took a little creative license to make the ideas our own, and a budget friendly, laid back, and fun party theme was born! While brainstorming ideas, I kept going back to your typical "redneck" stereotypes and how we could easily incorporate those things to give our party the right vibe. One of the best ideas I came up with was your everyday clothes line. Now lots of folks use an outdoor clothes line, especially in the summer! There is no shame in that, but it did fit our theme and made such a huge statement! To take it a step further we used clothes from the "rag bag," which were all items too torn, stained, old, etc, to wear. Nice clothes just wouldn't have the same impact. Remember when singing fish were popular? Luckily my parents still had theirs, because these were the PERFECT addition! They sung, they moved, and every time someone walked by and didn't realize they were on, was priceless. Don't be afraid to take this party to the level of extremely tacky, that's what it's all about! Not that singing fish are tacky or anything. ;) Pinterest was a direct influence on this one. When I saw the "Cat Found!" poster, I knew we needed to have our own version. We also took it a step further and put out the kennel the "cat" supposedly resided in. It just added a little something extra to the decor that we already had on hand. Finding everyday things that fit the need is what this idea is all about! Did you think the possum fun ended there? Nope! We printed out this hilly billy version of the classic "Pin the tail on the donkey" and when we accidentally left out an S, we just rolled with it and left it like that. Duct tape also adds to the authenticity. Now I'm sure you're wondering about the wheelbarrow from the top photo. While we saw wheelbarrows used in many different ways, this one worked for us best- as a drink station! We added the tub in the middle since the wheelbarrow itself has a nice hole in the bottom, but it worked perfectly as a stand! And who cares about tossing out the cans? Just throw them on the ground to add a touch of "trashy" to your decor. Psst!...See those undies in the background? They make me giggle every time I see this picture. :) Now every yard should have a bird feeder for the sweet little birdies to visit. Ours just happens to be a plunger! Works perfectly doesn't it? And when the party is over, just leave the food for the birds to find, and put that plunger back to ah...it's intended use! Speaking of potty humor, you know what makes a great planter? A toilet. As it just so happens, my good old Dad is a plumber and had a few old pots that we could use for this event. But don't forget the flowers, this is a classy event, only the prettiest flowers for our potties! Not everyone is going to have a spare toilet laying around, so for those who don't (or are too squeamish to use one), one of the best games we played was toilet seat toss. It's exactly like a game of Horseshoes, but with a toilet seat! Everyone loved this game and to play, all your need is a *new* toilet seat and something to toss the seat around/at. Much cheaper and definitely cleaner! Any country music lover knows the song Red Solo Cup, by Toby Keith, and my brother (pictured above), is no exception. The newest trend mixes the ever classy solo cup and a candle stick holder to make this bad boy of a beverage holder. I DIYed this one with a reusable red solo cup from Bed Bath & Beyond and a candle stick from a local Dollar Store. A little epoxy to hold the two together and you've got yourself one heck of a redneck red solo cup! It made an excellent birthday gift to one very happy dude. So you're probably wondering why there is a soda box instead of a piñata. Well friends, our "redneck piñata" was cheaper and way more fun. We stuffed a soda box with just about anything we could find from around the house, hotel soaps, crazy straws, hard candies, marsh mellows, Twinkies, Ho Hos, and popcorn. If you want to put real prizes in it you can, but we were sticking with our thrifty and cheap theme. Streamers in red, blue, and Winnie the Pooh, coming off the end finished off the festive look. Use what you have on hand and get a laugh out of it! This is definitely one of those party themes you just want to take to the max and have fun with. Get your guests to dress up, play funny games, eat stereotypical "redneck" food. This could easily morph from a theme for a birthday party, to a baby shower, or even an Christmas party! Finally, I highly suggest checking out the Pinterest board I put together because it has some really great game ideas, ideas for decorations, and resources for if you don't want to make your own items. Now before you go, don't forget to.... P.S. Yes, those are shotgun shells I'm using a curlers. And guess what? They worked too! Shared with: Fabulously Creative Friday Flaunt it Friday Inspire Me Please Feathered Nest Friday The Inspiration Exchange

Popsicle stick boats were a 70s craft staple. If you grew up around that time, then you definitely remember grabbing some popsicle sticks and attempting to make a boat that floated. With some trial and error, eventually you found a way that works, and you made that boat over and over again, letti