By: Madison Krell, WARM Place Events & PR Intern.
On Friday, June 7th, The WARM Place was filled with scientists of all ages during our second-ever Nerd Night! From exploding soda geysers, to concocting gooey slime creations, to setting off lemon volcanoes- every station had an awesome science experiment for everyone to enjoy. Upon arrival, dinner was served, and families had the chance to sit down for a meal together. Pizza and cookies seemed to fit the bill for this hands on event!
Soon families were surrounded by the sound of children running away from the exploding diet soda and Mentos geysers- a sight to see, as the soda could spray up to 15 feet in the air! (Families just had to be on the watch for rogue geysers.) Did you know that there is a correlation between the explosion of soda geysers and grief? The geysers represent the grief that bubbles up inside us and the necessity to release it. Sometimes, you just have to let it out and talk about your grief or else it will bubble up to the point that you feel like your emotions will explode.
The Slime and Oobleck stations gave the children (and parents) a chance to get their hands dirty. They created their own slime filled with glitter, food coloring, and shaving cream. Each child could bring home a bag of their very own unique slime! Just as everyone’s slime is different, everyone’s grief journey is different, too. You and slime each have your own unique ingredients. Your ingredients are your relationships, history, feelings, etc. It’s what makes you…you.
The strangeness of Dr. Seuss’ Oobleck fascinated the kids. Oobleck has the ability to become a solid or a liquid depending on the amount of pressure placed on it. When you apply pressure to Oobleck it becomes a solid, but without that pressure, it transforms into a liquid! We could easily see how this relates to grief. Just like Oobleck, sometimes you feel like you have a grasp on your grief, but other times it slips away. It’s the difference between controlling your grief feelings versus letting them control you.
If Oobleck wasn’t mind-blowing enough, the kids had the opportunity to become volcanologists! With a few household ingredients such as baking soda and dish soap, these young scientists could create a chemical reaction within a lemon, causing it to foam up like a volcano. The reaction of the ingredients reminded us of “grief spurts.” Sometimes you can be triggered by different things going on in life, and these ingredients can cause an emotional reaction.
Lastly, science and art were combined at the marble painting station. With just shaving cream and food coloring, kids could recreate a colorful marble effect on their paper, resulting in amazing and unique pieces of art. These colors blended and marbled together like the feelings we experience in grief. Every design was a unique masterpiece, showing that each person’s emotional landscape is different.
Overall, the night was filled with education and fun, and it was the perfect start to a great summer! Who knew that science experiments could relate so much to grief?!
Check out how much fun we had creating our experiments in the video recap below!
And make sure to take a look at all of the event pictures on our Facebook page, too!
Each Family Night focuses on making new memories as a family after a death. We always invite the WHOLE family to come together- so you can bring the baby, grandpa, and a friend. Each family night has a different theme and includes different activities. Family Nights are always open to past, present, and future families of The WARM Place.
Come join us at our next family event: The WARM Place Birthday Bash! On Saturday, August 24th we’ll be celebrating our 30th birthday. So, come join our celebration from 10am-12pm at The WARM Place. We hope you will be able to join us! To stay up to date on event info, make sure to follow us on social media.
