Candy Experiment cards for Halloween

Wondering what to give trick-or-treaters that won't cause tooth decay or candy craziness? Why not some candy experiments? I print these cards every year to distribute with my Halloween candy so that kids can go try the experiments at home.

I'm also offering these cards as perks for my campaign to raise funds for taking Candy Experiments to Washington DC. If you'd like to help me get thousands of schoolchildren hooked on science, or if you just don't want to print out that many cards yourself, find the details here.

Here are the links for my free candy experiment card downloads.

Printables

These experiment cards contain simple instructions for candy experiments. Download and print to pass out to trick-or-treaters or or use at candy experiment parties.

• Acid Test (use with Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, Sour Laffy Taffy, Nerds, Pixy Stix)
• Color Separation (use with M&Ms)
• Floating Letters (use with M&Ms, Skittles)
• Oil Test (use with Starburst)
• 4 Experiments (set of four experiments on one page)
• 8 Experiments (set of 8 experiments on one page)

Fruit Fly Candy?

They say that "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Given the hoards of fruit flies that have been swarming our kitchen, I started to wonder: is this really true?

Honey vs. apple cider vinegar The fruit flies were way more drawn to the vinegar than the honey. They were also able to escape from the honey more easily because it wasn't sticky enough. Myth busted!*

Since this is a candy experiment blog, I thought I'd try it with candy too.

Fruit flies are not attracted by Airheads, Starbursts, or Laffy Taffy, even when dissolved to enable fruit fly consumption. I could extrapolate from this that since fruit flies avoid candy, humans should avoid it too. And I would make exactly that point, except I'd be a hypocrite: if I were choosing between honey and vinegar, I'd totally choose the honey.

*But only for fruit flies. When applied to the use of kindness when dealing with humans, it's still true.

Candy Experiments starts a campaign for the USA Science and Engineering Festival

Once again, Candy Experiments has received a personal invitation to the USA Science and Engineering Festival, which hopes to help get kids excited about science. You can't beat candy experiments for getting kids excited!

At USASEF 2010 and 2012, we watched kids' eyes go wide as they weighed candy, and we cheered for them as they competed to sink marshmallows. We showed them how to make Warheads bubble. We helped them make chromatography rainbows, and taught one mother that the brown M&M's she chose for her children were full of the red dye she'd been trying to avoid! We love to see kids' eyes light up as they experiment: they're learning about reactions, nutrition, and math, but they're having too much fun to notice!

Presenting at USASEF is our way of giving back to our country. We hope to help spark new interest in science, and to help fight obesity by showing what's really in our food. I can't count how many times our demonstration has made people swear off soda! We're making a difference--and you can help.

The money raised by this campaign will be used to set up and fund a Candy Experiments booth at the USASEF in Washington DC, April 26-27, 2014. Expenses covered will include
-candy, experiment materials, and supplies for the booth
-travel expenses, including airfare to DC, lodging, and meals
In return, contributors will receive various perks, including recognition on www.candyexperiments.com, candy experiment cards for Halloween, signed copies of Candy Experiments, thank-you postcards, candy experiment events, or space on the Candy Experiments banner at USASEF.

Please help us take Candy Experiments to USASEF!

Halloween Decision: Apples, M&M's, and Other Ideas

At the Trunk-or-Treat last Halloween, I just happened to have a box of apples in the car. I hate giving out candy, so I let kids choose apples if they wanted. To my surprise, many kids came back for more, and the grownups started seeking me out. They were smart to do so.
One package of king-sized M&M's has as many calories as five apples.

According to Nutrition Made Clear by Roberta Anding, a king-sized package of M&M's has as many calories as five apples. So, somebody looking for a sweet snack could choose either a low-calorie, high fiber, yummy apple, or they can choose high-calorie M&M's. Anding points out that five apples would be too filling for anybody to eat all at once, but a person can easily down a package of M&M's in one sitting. I'd try this experiment myself and report back to you, but I think I'd get sick.

Alternative Treats: If you're worried about handing out too much sugar at trick-or-treat time, try fruit instead. Apples aren't your best option for unknown trick-or-treaters, but they are great for events or parties where nobody's going to accuse you of anything nefarious. For other trick-or-treat ideas, check out this Green Halloween list, which includes treats and treasures like boxed raisins, fake jewels, and temporary tattoos. (Remember to check ingredient labels--even organic treats can contain lots of sugar!)

This post is part of the Green Halloween Blog Carnival. Head on over to the carnival for lots of great tips for putting a little green in your Halloween!

Melted Gummy Rings

Some mothers give their daughters clothing, jewelry, chocolates, or fine literature. Mine gave me this bag of gummy peach rings that had melted in the car. What a treasure!

Apparently when the candy melted, the foamy tops of each ring floated to the top of the mess, probably because there were air bubbles trapped inside. Now the gummy candy is all on the bottom, and the foamy part is all on the top. Perfect system, in case any of you needs a way to isolate peachiness from gummy rings.

Temptation Candy loves Candy Experiments

Online candy store Temptation Candy just reviewed Candy Experiments on their blog. Not only did they rave about it, they created a great new meme to go with it. (I look just like this when I'm doing candy experiments.)

Candy Sticks

When I heated this lime-colored candy stick in the oven, I saw something new: it split along the lines of the stripes, as if it were waiting to be peeled or unwrapped.

So, obviously, I had to try to peel off the hard candy stick coating.
Since my tools were kitchen tongs, I kind of mangled it, but you get the idea.



Another interesting thing about this candy stick: after it sat on my counter for a while, the shiny inside got much stickier than the outside. Like the Rubber Bandy Candy Canes, this candy stick apparently has an interior made of something different than the exterior.