JST4U--Kitchen Chemistry

This afternoon was Bellevue Public Library's special event just for kids entering 5th-8th grades--JST4U (Just   For You).  This summer the YA librarian and I were totally out of our minds and had "Kitchen Chemistry"...in our large meeting room that has no kitchen.  It was a sticky, gooey, chaotic and extremely fun MESS!!!  We planned on about 25 kids coming...we had over 50!!

I'll admit some of the activities didn't go over quite as I planned, but Gordon reminds me that the kids had a blast so that's what really matters!

Here is what we did:

• Homemade Root Beer

We got the root beer extract from Hy-vee and the dry ice from Arctic Glacier

• Homemade Puffy Paint  (but I think this one sounds easier...should have searched longer before deciding on the first recipe!)

•  Jell-o Worms

• Edible Slime (that no one really ate...but they could have eaten!)  We used sugar water (1 part sugar to 2 parts water) and also a teaspoon of flavoring extracts

• Elephant Toothpaste (sorry no pictures of that)
• We also watched episodes of "Dexter's Lab" and ate cookies and popcorn

Click on the links above for the recipes we used!  A huge thank you to all our tween and families who came and to our friends who helped us set up and clean up!!