Haunted House - Room #3 - "The Laboratory"

By Corie @DesignDNAblog
Around the corner from the Spider Room lurked the Mad Scientist...
...Spell Books, Body Parts, and unique ingredients were scattered throughout the Scientists' Laboratory.  The smell of sulfur and flesh were evidence of experiments gone wrong...the last thing the children wanted was to become the Dr's next victims.

Jars were filled with various household items:


  • Tree Frog Spit = Palmolive Dish Soap and a few drops of green food coloring (it glows under the black light).
  • Toe Jam = tear cotton balls into tiny pieces.
  • Sneezing Powder = Pepper
  • Bat Wings = Cut up black tissue paper and add to oil and water
  • Tincture of Toadstool = Poppy Seeds
  • Maggot Milk = coffee creamer and rice (warning: this exploded so go easy on the rice)

Lemon Fiz Experiment (instructions from About.com)
  • baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
  • lemon juice or a lemon cut into quarters
  • liquid dishwashing soap (e.g., Dawn or Joy)
  • food coloring (optional)
  • spoon or straw
  • narrow glass or cup 
  1. Put a spoonful (about a teaspoon) of baking soda into a glass.
  2. Stir in a squirt of dishwashing liquid.
  3. Add a drop or two of food coloring, if you want colored bubbles.
  4. Squeeze lemon juice into the mixture or pour in lemon juice. Other citrus fruit juices work too, but lemon juice seems to work the best. As you stir the juice into the baking soda and detergent, bubbles will form that will start to push up and out of the glass.
  5. You can extend the reaction by adding more lemon juice and baking soda.
  6. The bubbles are long-lasting. You can't drink the mixture, but you can still use it for washing dishes.

How It Works

  • The sodium bicarbonate of the baking soda reacts with the citric acid in lemon juice to form carbon dioxide gas. The gas bubbles are trapped by the dishwashing soap, forming fizzy bubbles.