Homemade Mad-Scientists

A friend and I, convinced that kids brains do not need to turn to mush over the summer, decided that we'd make some real efforts to keep them learning.  Of course, they can't know that they are learning - it's summer break!  They'd never cooperate.  So, we have to be sneaky about how we made it happen.

Since I only have sons, I get to bypass the girlie things like doing hair and playing dress up.  I can focus on adrenaline rushes and competitiveness. But what should we do that would capture the boys attention while still getting them to move around and use their minds?  After much consideration,  we decided we simply must blow something up!

But first, you can't be a proper mad-scientist without the right attire.  So, we had them draw on some yellow tee-shirts (see how I snuck art in there?).  This was our mad-scientist uniform, yellow in color because people should be warned that we're going to be doing something crazy.

Second, no self-respecting mad-scientist is going to not make a mess - so we made bubbles.  These were not any ordinary bubbles - extra glycerine made them bonus big and long lasting.


Each of the kids got a turn using the big bubble maker, and then we had little bubble makers for them to use later on their own. It was fun to see them chase after the giant, bloated bubbles, or run along with their tiny bubble makers held high in the air, a stream of bubbles forming a trail behind them.  But soon, it was time to move onto the next thing.

Since we were going to blow something up, obviously, we had to be in our top physical shape.  We couldn't have any weak scientists, too slow to run away when our explosion went horribly wrong.

So, we ran some races, and threw some hoops over some rings.  As the lead mad-scientist, I evaluated their speed, encouraging them to compete against each other until their little legs were exhausted. We tossed our rings again and again, until I had them convinced that they met the official standards of the National Society of Crazy Mad-Scientitsts.

After they proved that they had the necessary skills, it was time for the grand finale.

I love mentos. I love coke.  What would be a better combination?  We let the kids put a bunch of mentos into a coke bottle, and then they squealed with joy, running away as coke shot up into the sky and rained down around their little heads.  Messy?  Check! Crazy-blow-up-reaction?  Check!  Required bath afterwords?  Check!

Secretly working out the kids mind, causing learning without their knowledge?  Check!

Muahahahah...

    ....mom's are so sneaky!