Planning your child’s birthday party? Between choosing a theme, organising food, sending invitations and trying to keep a group of excited children entertained, there’s quite a lot to think about. The big (and often trickiest) question:

“What should you do for entertainment?”

In this blog we compare the pros and cons between science entertainment to the classic magician.

Two popular choices are a traditional magic show and the increasingly popular science birthday party like the ones we offer here at Devon Science. Both can be brilliant ways to celebrate, but if you’re looking for something a little different this year, we think a science party might just be the perfect choice!

So, let’s put them head-to-head. Is a magician the way to go, or could a science party be key to an unforgettable birthday?

 

The Magician: A Classic Choice

Magicians have been entertaining for generations. With disappearing acts, surprising tricks and plenty of wow moments to engage the audience, a magic show can be a fantastic way to keep a room full of little ones engaged.

Magic is great for children who love a bit of mystery and surprise. They can watch in amazement and spend the rest of the afternoon trying to work out how it was all done!

A magician can also be a convenient option for parents. The entertainment is usually organised around a performance, so there’s no need to plan lots of separate activities yourself. But what happens when the show is over? For some children, the excitement might fade once the magician packs away their props. While magic can certainly get young minds wondering, the kids don’t always get the chance to explore those questions for themselves.

 

The Science Party: New, Fun, Hands-On

So, imagine a birthday party where the children aren’t just watching the entertainment, they’re a part of it!

A science party turns your child’s special day into an opportunity to experiment, investigate and discover some amazing things about the science behind the fun they can create. Instead of sitting quietly and watching someone else perform, they can get stuck in with hands-on activities and the exciting demonstrations often end with all the children involved too!

 

Bubbling potions, colourful chemical reactions, slime, science crafts, and plenty of those wow moments that make a birthday party exciting. The children don’t just get to see something incredible happen, they can start to understand WHY it happens too.

At a great science birthday party, the learning part doesn’t feel like school, it feels like play! Children become naturally curious about the how and why behind science, and our activities encourage this exact discussion. With a well-educated scientist running your child’s party, all questions can be answered and the kids can discover that science is happening all around them.

Even better, you don’t need to be a budding scientist to enjoy it. Science parties are designed to make discovery fun for everyone, whether your child already loves experiments or has never picked up a test tube before.

 

Why Choose a Science Party Over a Magician?

While a magician can put on a wonderful show, a science party offers a few extra things that make it a particularly exciting choice for a children’s birthday: Everyone gets to join in! Science can be just as spectacular as magic. Unlike a traditional magic trick, where the secret might be kept under wraps, science encourages children to investigate the explanation. The mystery doesn’t have to end when the experiment does. This sparks curiosity long after the party ends and the secret to a brilliant birthday party is that it doesn’t have to stop being exciting when the guests go home. What is better than an unforgettable birthday!

By inspiring children to keep exploring, it opens a world of fun and at-home science. They might go home wanting to try a simple experiment, learn more about space, investigate bugs in the garden or ask their parents a hundred questions about how the world works. You never know, a birthday party could be the start of a lifelong love of science!

 

The great thing about a Science party is that there’s something for lots of different personalities. Not every child wants to sit still and watch a magic show, and not every child wants to stand at the front of a room to volunteer for a magic trick. Some prefer watching for a short while before moving on to something else and others love getting completely hands-on, and plenty enjoy a bit of both. A well-planned science party can offer a mix of demonstrations, group participation and opportunities to engage and ask questions. That variety can make it a great choice for a birthday group with different interests and confidence levels.

And what about the mess? It’s a fair question! Unlike a magic show, science parties can get a little messy. Foam and glitter, slime, coke and mentos! The good news is that with our parties at Devon Science we bring the equipment as well as tidy and pack everything away. Thanks to our great workshop leaders who are excellent at overseeing all the experiments, there should never be too much mess, leaving you free to enjoy the celebrations.

Dry ice potion making at our Dry Ice Science Party

And remember: exciting science doesn’t have to mean a room full of mess, although sometimes that’s half the fun! With the right activities and one of our experienced team members, children can enjoy other spectacular experiments that don’t need much of a clean-up but still give them plenty to enjoy long after the party is over.

As well as providing the party entertainment, with Devon Science we offer activities and crafts that allow the children to make something to take home, whether that’s slime, a magic wand, a bubbly lava lamp or a balloon-powered car! That also leaves the party bags sorted.

So, if you want to try something new and exciting for your child’s birthday rather than the classic magician party, head over to our science party page to enquire

 

Planning a Science Birthday Party for your 8 year old in Devon, Dorset, Cornwall or Somerset?

If you’re thinking a science party is the way to go for your next children’s party, check out our party page here which lists the themes we offer, photos, prices and reviews, and you can read about the kind of things we get up to at our science parties here.

This video is an example of our Harry Potter Party

Here is a slime party

and here is our chemistry party…….

 

Ready to give your child a birthday party they’ll never forget? Devon Science brings exciting, hands-on science birthday parties for children, packed with fun science experiments, creations to take home, fabulous entertainment, and plenty of WOW moments. Every guest becomes a scientist! Leave the mess to us. 

Get in touch here to find out more about our science parties and check availability for your child’s birthday.

 

Happy Science-party-ing

Sophie

Blogger at Devon Science