A Science Party Fit for a Princess

For my niece's 5th birthday, she thought a science party would be fun (she's very interested in all things science), but only if it could be a princess science party!  That one had us stumped for a bit, but eventually I put together some ideas that seemed to work. 

I thought I'd share them, in case anyone else is in need of some princess science ideas. 

And to prove that you can connect science to anything!

I didn't get any shots while the girls were in action - we were too busy having fun to worry about the camera, but I can give you an idea what we did.

First, we did some Princess Potions

The girls each had a "place mat" like the one shown above.  In the large circle there was a cup that contained some red cabbage juice.  There were smaller cups sitting in spots A, B and C.  Cup A contained some baking soda dissolved in water, Cup B contained vinegar and Cup C contained water. 

Each girl selected one of the smaller cups (A, B or C) and poured it into the large cup.  If the potion turned pink, she earned her tiara.  If the potion turned green, she had to kiss a frog and try again.  If the potion stayed blue/purple she had to try again.

Next up was the Magic Paper:
The girls kept the A, B and C cups from above.  They were each given a piece of "magic" paper - goldenrod paper.  They needed to unlock the paper's magical powers.  They dipped a q-tip into one of the solutions (A, B or C) and then attempted to write on the paper.  Choosing the right solution would result in red marks on the paper and earn the princesses a candy bracelet.

Princess Tea:
This was a race to see who could make a cup of "tea" the fastest - i.e. who could dissolve a sugar cube the fastest.

The girls were each given a menu:

They had to choose whether they wanted hot water or cold water, a whole sugar cube or crushed sugar cube, and whether or not to stir.

After they made their selections, we raced.  Completion of the task earned the girls a new wand.

And finally, to complete the whole princess ensemble, the girls made shirts using the pinwheel chromatography method (i.e. Sharpies and rubbing alcohol).  Lots of fun and creative designs.