Kids, do try this at home. In the handsome, hefty Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects, illustrated with DK's trademark crisp, full-color photographs, British author Jack Challoner--in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution--offers crystal-clear step-by-step instructions for how to make sticky slime (cornstarch and shampoo combine in "some alien gloop from a science fiction movie"); a dazzling kaleidoscope (beads, colored paper and a cardboard tube); a waterwheel (a plastic bottle and water); and 25 more fun projects that can be created, mostly, with everyday household objects. What could go wrong? Challoner (The Cell; DK Eyewitness Books: Energy) is a former science and math teacher and educator at the London Science Museum.
The enticing, kid-friendly experiments are divided into four sections: Food for Thought (invisible ink, lemon battery, etc.); Around the Home (DNA model, balloon rocket car, etc.); Water World (soap-powered boat, bath fizzies, etc.); and The Great Outdoors (sun prints, erupting volcano, etc.). A "how it works" section concludes each activity guide, explaining the science behind the experiment, be it surface tension or a chemical reaction. Award-winning teen inventor Jack Andraka writes in his foreword, "As a young scientist, you can start by asking 'Why?' And by making messes, making mistakes, and making connections." (The erupting volcano looks particularly messy, "just like real lava.") An intriguing collection of hands-on projects for a sunny day outside or a rainy day inside. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness