Note: The following giveaway is open to Canadians only.
When I tell guests to excuse the mess because I’ve got two boys, ages (almost) 8 and 10, I’ll usually receive a knowing look. “Oh yeah,” they’ll say. “Boys are fun at that age.”
Of course, we both know what “fun” really means… it means gross, smelly, weird and noisy. Everything I both love and cringe over as a mom of boys. Normally, I’m an expert at finding ways to contain their energy, but with a whole week of March Break ahead of us, I decided if I can’t beat ‘em… yup, I’ll join ‘em!
Introducing Guinness World Records: Science & Stuff – a super fun and highly interactive book featuring the astounding, record-breaking world (and universe) around us, with an intro from TV science educator and author Science Bob. It’s written especially for curious little minds and is packed with gross facts, smelly anecdotes, weird trivia bites and noisy activities for the whole family to try. Translation: it’s right up my boys’ alley!
Here’s a small sample of the super important questions it tackles:
– Can you belch in space?
– What does woolly mammoth taste like?
– How much would the Death Star cost?
Hands up if you think your kids would LOVE this book? Trust me, it is the boredom buster you’re looking for, especially during March Break. And what I love most about Guinness World Records: Science & Stuff is that kids can randomly pick a page and read; there isn’t a strict format to the book so it’s perfect for a variety of ages (and attention spans).
Especially addictive is a chapter called “Make & Break”, which features 10 experiments that can be used for official Guinness World Records title attempts at home!
Tip #1: wear goggles.
We decided to try our hand at attempting a Guinness World Records title for propulsion of a Mentos and soda rocket car. (I know, right? What could possibly go wrong with that?) But first, encouraged by all the science-y facts in the book, we conducted a short demo to understand the why before we could figure out the how.
Why do Mentos and diet soda react? The answer is fairly straightforward: the eruption is caused by a physical reaction, as the addition of Mentos to a bottle of diet soda leads to the rapid nucleation of carbon dioxide gas bubbles, causing the contents to shoot out, overflow or otherwise, er, KABOOM!
Tip #2: don’t try this indoors.
Okay, so we achieved a positive (or negative) reaction and were set to move forward with our experiment. The thing I love about the Make & Break chapter is that it gets the whole family involved, making it the perfect bonding activity, especially at an age where electronics reign supreme.
Fair warning: quite a bit of effort is involved, and almost all the activities require some form of parental intervention. But hey, no one said breaking a Guinness World Records title was easy, and making the attempt again and again is half the fun!
We’re currently still in the process of perfecting our soda rocket (er, I may have to take responsibility for overzealous use of glue gun. I know, I know, I had ONE job!). But I’m not even bothered by that, because the giggles, curious questions, family time – and more giggles – have made it all worth it so far.
We love Guinness World Records: Science & Stuff and I know you will too! Whether you grab it for March Break, weekend fun or the upcoming summer season, it’s a must have for your budding scientists. Just remember that setting or breaking a Guinness World Records title is never easy, so be prepared for things to not always work. If at first you don’t succeed, look for some inspiration and try again! Good luck friends, and get ready to get messy!
Tip #3: don’t ever let minty soda go to waste.
Keep up to date with the latest Make & Break Guinness World Records title attempts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! And please do let me know if you make an attempt – I’d love to cheer you on!
WIN IT! I’ve got 10 copies of Guinness World Records: Science & Stuff to give away to some very lucky readers! To enter, simply fill the form below with your qualifying entries.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This post is sponsored by Guinness World Records. The opinions on this blog, as always, are my own.
409cope
I will try to break and make world records will my grandson.
Julie F
With my two oldest grandsons, they loves stuff like this!
Karine
I will be trying to do this with my nephews! Thanks :)
Trisha Pedros
My Grandchildren are here this weekend thank you! They are going to love it!
Juliee Fitze
I would try to break records with my grandkids.
michelle
My kids, obviously :)
Amanda Masters
I have 2 curious little minds in my house. They love arts, crafts, exploring so I know they would enjoy this immensely
Suzanne
I’d try with my siblings
Michelle Cavanagh
My 8 year old son would love this! It’s his dream to become a scientist!
Elena
With both of my kids!
Carole D
I would try to break records with my granddaughters
Louise Smith
My son and I have been in two Guinness World Records, one was at a baseball game it was for the most snuggly worn in one place at on time. We would love to break our own record.
Viv Sluys
My 10 and 7 year old daughters would love this! My 10 year old can’t get enough of these kind of facts and my 7 year old loves experiments.
kathy downey
I would try to Make & Break Guinness World Records titles with my grandson,he would love that !
Kate Hearn
My son. If it’s messy and scientific he’s all over it. Can’t complain…he loves math and science.
David Smith
My son at age 12 has already been a part of two World Records so I would love to read this wtih him and see what other World records he could go for.
Heather Howard
My son would absolutely LOVE this!
sarah
My daughter and I would enjoy trying to break some world records together :) thanks!
jan
My granddaughter would be game for some record breaking
joy
my daughter!
Erica
My sons would love to try this.
Janet Meisner
I think my granddaughter would love to get messy,learn and have fun.
DebH
I will do this with my granddaughter!
jay nelson
I will break world records with all of my children – my son will be victorious in the bodily gasses for sure!
Cathy Oppedisano
With my nieces, I’ll try to break world records. They need more science in their lives and less fooling around on the internet.
Judy Cowan
I would do it with my nephew.
Holly
My 4 kiddos! Probably would ask my neighbour to come on over and join in with her bunch too!
Lynda Cook
My daughter and myself would have so much fun doing these and getting laughs from my granddaughter!!
Donna Maroulis
Definitely with my grandchildren ! We would have a great time !
Rosanne Robinson
I would try to break and make world records will my grandson, it would be fun trying.
marlene
I’d do it with my nieces and nephew
Linda l
My great nephews 6,9
Virginia R
My nephew
Caroline Lozinski
I’d break world records with my grandchildren, Jenna and Nixon ! So much fun :)
Lyndsay
With my 6 yr old is so into science right now!!! It’s great!!
Fatima Naveed
My daughters ????????
Heidi c.
All four of my kids would have fun with this!
Cathy
We have two inquisitive minds in our home. They would love exploding stuff and making messes…lol
Jen
I would love to try these experiments with both of my kids!
ivy pluchinsky
I would break records with my niece, she would have a blast! No pun intended!
Kassandra Graham
I will try to Make & Break Guinness World Records titles with my husband and two sons!
Amber Y
I will Make & Break Guinness World Records with my nieces!!
Taylor Smith
I love to get this for my little brother, he would love this .
LisaM
wow – that sounds like so much fun….maybe I can get my husband to do it with our 7 year old ;)
Only thing I’m ever gonna be in the record books for is sarcasm :D
Tracy Hall
I will try to break the records with my grade 3 students!
Brenda A
My girls are I are super into home science! Great book!
Jennifer Lo
My girls!!!
Nicole Jubleew
I think I would get our whole family involved.
NickyJ
Definitely going to try to make & break some records with my daughter.
Susan Spidle
I will make some records with my grand daughter.
Brenda
My grandson and I would have sooo much fun with this!
Carol Denny
My grandkids would love it!
Pat B
My grandson is a little young, but we’ll have fun with this in years to come.
Clair Palmer
that’s easy with my boys, the oldest will love it more, the others will like to watch
Rosa Cross
I would try to make or break a world record with my sons.
Renee
My daughter loves experiments and all things Guiness Book of World Records!!
Florence Cochrane
I will try and make & break the Guinness World Records with my grandchildren.
Anu Chopra
I will try with my kids
Sarah Alexis
My 9 year old son!!!
Leland Lee
Definitely with my son
Xia Lee
Definitely with my son
Lynnie M
My kids and nieces and nephews would love to make and break records!
Stephanie
I’d like to break a record with my sister!!
Marissa
I’d love to try this with my two grandsons.
Linda Watters
my great-nephew…he likes fun things :)
Sabrina Tong
I would love to do these experiments with my daughter. She loves all things STEAM!
Larker
My kids enjoy making experiments, sparking future scientists!
Joan G.
My family is all competitive in nature, I think they would all love to make an attempt at a record.
Amy Heffernan
With my son! I know he would love this book! Science is his fav subject!
Christine
My 5 year old son loves anything to do with science! Thanks for the chance!
Michelle W
My nephew would have loads of fun with this!
laurel jones
my son-in-law because he has the drive
Mary Boudreau
Our granddaughters
toni v
my nephews!
Gloria
My two young grandsons would love this. The grosser the better for them.
Linda
My son and I would like to try some make and break experiments.
Elizabeth Matthiesen
I’d let my son choose as he’d be doing the experiment with his children, I’d only be a spectator. :-)
Sandra Porsnuk
My granddaughters would love this!
leana
This would be so much fun for my daughter and I to do together!
Tara Knott
I would share this with my youngest son. He loves to read, science experiments and has other Guinness Record books. He would adore this! Thanks for letting me know about it ????
Sunshine H
My daughter loves to do experiments, so that’s who I would do them with.
krista
wit my granddaughter he would love this
Susan Wilson
Will for sure with my two daughters!
Beth
Looks really cool
Jeannie Lam
I will definitely be trying some of these with my son!
Laura
My son Chase.
Denise
I’ll be doing this with all three of my kids and most likely a few of their friends
Jennifer I
I would love to try this with my almost 11 year old son. He loves vets this stuff!
Rosanne Brown
My 7 year old loves to break records!
Andrea
I would try to break records with my kids!
Erin Jeffery
I would break records with my son who is itching to experiment with things and break Guinness Records ALL THE TIME
Aleena P
With my son!!
Marina
Nephews, I think, would love to try these experiments.
Linda Klages
with the grandkids
tina hill
My 4 grandsons would just love this! They are steps from 5 years old to 8, and they love experimenting with anything!
Christine Thompson
What a fantastic prize! My 8 year old would love love love this! Thank you for the chance!
Fan R.
I will try to Make & Break Guinness World Records titles with my little man
Melissa Finn
I would try and break a record with both my kids but my son would love this most!
Tara GAuthier
My daughter would love to do this with me, she loves visiting horses and other animals so she
will be theretoo!
michelle matta
my nephew Eli turns 7 this summer. Id love to explore this book with him thanks!
Monique L.S.
My daughter would be quite interested in reading this book with me.
Linda G
My 8 yr old grandson who just loves reading. We also spend time cooking, drawing and doing weird stuff like crafting and DIY projects. We would have a “blast” with science.
Julie Bolduc
I would do it with my kids
Calvin
Lots of messy fun!
kathy
Hi Lena,I just wanted to say thanks for the amazing giveaway I was so happy to be chosen as a winner and so are my grandkids . I know why you young boy had the safety glasses and rain gear we are having so much fun with the book.Have a safe summer!
Erin N
Awesome! So much fun for the kids. My nephews would love this.