PLAN WITH LEANNE

If you have a curious kid who loves building, experimenting, and asking “why?”, then an INVENTOR STEM birthday party is the perfect way to celebrate! An Inventor Party Theme combines hands-on activities, fun experiments, and just the right amount of chaos to keep an 8-year-old (and their friends) entertained for hours.

Invitations & Decorations

My son wanted the party to look more “inventor” like then a science class so I got a roll of kraft paper and loosely drew out pictures of inventions than I cut them out and decorated the walls.

While we were waiting for the kids to arrive, everyone received a pair of the fake nose and glasses (standard inventor look) and could choose their own “inventor “Professor” name. I made a sheet that had an adjective for each letter of the alphabet (I only did the letters of the kids coming) and a funny word for each month. So for my son, he was born in April and his name starts with I- his name was Professor Zany Picklepop. I had buttons available for them to write their new names and wear them.

Party Activities

1. Spaghetti Tower Challenge

I gave the kids dry spaghetti and marshmallows, then challenged them to build the tallest tower that can stand on its own (in only 10 minutes!) This simple activity sparked some engineering creativity. Some leaned, some toppled- it was tougher than they thought!

2. Wind-Up Toy Races

Each kid received a wind-up toy. From there I had a table of random supplies they could choose from to make their own “wind-up robot” as they liked to call them. I had the hot glue gun plugged in so I was in charge of that part. This activity could have gone on for way longer! They loved making their own toy and then they battled them against each other.

3. Egg Drop Experiment

A true STEM party classic! Kids had supplies like straws, tape, (limited napkins) and they had to design a device to protect their egg. Then we took them to the top of our treehouse for ultimate test. Surprisingly- most of the eggs were intact after the drop!

4. DIY Ice Cream Lab

Now it was time for cake but what is cake without ice cream? And, when you’re at a STEM party- you have to make your own! Everyone received their own bag and measured in their own ingredients. Then came the fun part-shaking it like crazy! We have a trampoline so they were jumping all over the place mixing up their ice cream. Now this takes ALOT of shaking for it to turn into ice cream. Some kids gave up and had milkshakes instead.

5. Spin Art Station

For this activity I purchased mini motors and had the kids turn them into spin art machines. They took old plastic lids and poked them through the turning part of the motor. Then placed a piece of paper on top and used markers to draw on it while it spun right round like a record player right round round round. The only tricky thing with this was the motors get a little hot! So hindsight-best to wrap them in electrical tape.

6. Vinegar & Baking Soda Rockets

Lastly, we ended with a bang! Everyone received an empty soda bottle to make into their own rocket. They could add anything they wanted but they needed to tape 3 pencils to the base to help hold it up. They filled about 2 cups of vinegar into their rocket and then poured baking a couple tablespoons of baking soda onto a paper towel. Then they rolled up the paper towel and dropped it into the bottle. I quickly corked the bottle gave it a little shake and it flipped it upside down. Then we stood back for lift-off! This was also a crowd favorite as they wanted to do it more than once- and the best part was during pickup so all the parents also got to see the rocket launches!

The party was a BLAST. The kids loved making and inventing all the different activities! It was a fun theme and I cant wait to see what my son picks for his theme next year!

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