Mad Science

Get your lab coats on; it’s time for some Mad Science!

In high school, I loved science—or, more accurately, chemistry. It was always fascinating to watch an experiment and see something pop, bubble, change colour, or, in extreme cases, catch fire.

Skip to the present day, and I forever find myself in awe of a theatrical afternoon tea with some dry ice or a concert with some well-designed pyrotechnics.

In today’s world we see kids watch with amazement at fireworks displays and adults ooh and ahh when served a colour-changing drink at a trendy cocktail bar.

We can’t escape the fact that we are hard-wired to be captivated when we see reactions and transformations and if you are willing to embrace your inner nerd let’s get into the design for a Mad Science Party Theme.

DECOR

Make Molecules Glow

Use glow sticks and black cardboard to make glowing molecule structures wall decor.

TABLESCAPES

Your seat is here…PERIODT!

Customise tablemats with people’s names or phrases but make it element style from the periodic table.

Fizzing Flasks

No laboratory is complete without some fizzing laboratory flasks.

Adding water to dry ice creates a cool atmospheric effect that will make your tablescape look like an experiment is taking place before your eyes.

The use of dry ice should be left to adults who have been advised on how to handle dry ice or a trained professional.

SFX

Make it High Voltage!

When the lights are turned off, plasma columns will create an electrifying display that will help make any room look like a mad scientist’s lab.

PARTY FOOD

Albert Einstein’s Favourites

Einstein, one of the world’s most renowned scientists apparently loved some of these foods:

• Toast and Eggs (mini appetisers!)
• Strawberry ice cream

Nikola Tesla’s Fruit Platter

Another renowned scientist, Tesla, was known for developing alternating-current (AC) electricity. He is also said to have lived on a vegetarian diet where fruits and vegetables were the everyday norms.

So what do AC and fruit have to do with Party Food? Let me elaborate…..

The buzz around fruit platters will clearly never be off-trend, so create a Tesla-style fruit platter by using electricity-conducting fruits like:

• Apples
• Grapefruits
• Oranges
• Grapes

PARTY DRINKS

When the party theme is Mad Science, we need to look at scientists, discoveries, and experiments.

Science-inspired cocktails: 

Sir Issac Newton Apple Cocktail (Apple Brandy)

Penicillin (Whisky)

Lightning in a Bottle (Tequila)

Molecular Cocktails

Test Tube Shots

PARTY ENTERTAINMENT

A Mad Science party theme is not complete without experiments, so why not hire some Molecular Mixologists so that the experiments can be carried out and tasted, too?

DRESS CODE

Play the part of the Mad Professor

A Mad Science laboratory needs mad professors, so dust off those lab coats, get on the spectacles and get going with the experiments.

CAPTURE THE MOMENT

Place a blackboard as a backdrop, and don’t forget the chalk so you can add the equations, formulas and molecule structures.

MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS MAD SCIENCE PARTY THEME?

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PLACES TO VISIT IN LONDON

Following the theme of science, Wonderlab in the Science Museum is a worthwhile visit, especially if you have little ones who have an interest in the world of science.