Frankenstein Peeps Edible Mad Science

What's better than a little science in the kitchen!? Try out this Peeps Edible Mad Science activity for a birthday party, play date, or Halloween. For Day 12 of our 13 Days of Halloween Inspiration Jordan and I are bringing you fun Halloween activities for kids.

Get Your Scientists Ready!

You'll want to get your little scientists ready with a lab coat and goggles. Remember safety first! Want to make lab coats of your own?  Here's how I did it.

Prep Your Specimen

Frankenstein Peeps are sugar covered marshmallows that circulate in September and October. But different varieties can be found year round. Keep an eye out for Halloween Peeps as they are the most fun, but any marshmallow will work for this experiment. We'll keep our eyes on you!

Put one Peep on a microwave safe plate. Pretty easy right!?

Enter the Mad Science Chamber

Place your plate inside the microwave and set it for 45 seconds on High.

Now sit back and watch science at work! I'm not a big fan of staring at a working microwave but this is one time you DEFINITElY need to see this! You can see how excited my kids were about this in the video below!

Carefully Remove Mad Science Specimen

The magic happens in the microwave and you don't want to miss it because as soon as you take the plate out {could be hot so be careful!} Frankenstein starts to shrink. It's hard to believe he was even bigger than this! And I love that he started getting burn marks on his face. So perfect for a creepy Halloween activity!

Enjoy Peeps Edible Mad Science! 

After the marshmallow cools off a bit, you can enjoy this sugary mad science experiment. The sugar cooks and your once soft marshmallow has become tough like taffy and even crunchy on the edges. The more you cook it, the crunchier marshmallow gets. If you cook a mallow too long it'll end up black and burned! Which is not a nice smell.

What IS The Science Behind It? 

Marshmallows are made up of sugar, water, gelatin, and lots and lots of air bubbles. The sugar makes them sweet, water makes them sticky, gelatin makes them stretchy, and the air bubbles create that perfect puff.

When you place them in the microwave the temperature changes and the water heats up. As the water heats it warms the air and each air bubble starts to expand, or gets larger. {Did you know that air expands as it gets warmer?} The expanding air accounts for the change in size, and the melting sugar creates holes and might even flow out.

When you remove the heat the air contracts, or get smaller, again and the puffy marshmallow shrinks. But it's not the same because the sugar has melted, changing the shape and structure forever. Once the sugar cools it hardens creating those crunchy edges. Isn't that cool?

More Marshmallow Fun

You can try this experiment with regular marshmallows, minis, huge ones, and other peeps to see how they react.

• How long does it take them to get hard and crunchy?
• How big do they puff up?
• Which ones look most different after the experiment?
• And most importantly, which ones are best to eat?
• Anyone have graham crackers and chocolate?

Enjoy Your Party

You can only microwave so many Peeps. When you're all done, serve up your extra Peeps in a pistachio pudding cup like this one. Or tint a white chocolate pudding if pistachio isn't your jam.

What do you think? Do you know anyone who would love this Peeps Edible Mad Science Experiment? It doesn't just have to be kids! If you try it please let me know! I'll be coming out with more fun Mad Science activities and I'd love to share them with you.

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For More Halloween Kid Activity Fun

For today Jordan created a super fun and creepy Ring Toss Kids Halloween Party Game that'll keep your little monsters busy. Then join us again tomorrow on Day 13! Our last day brings you our full Halloween Party Ideas.

If you’re just joining us on the 13 Days of Halloween Inspiration here’s what you missed:

• Day 1: DIY Halloween Decor – Floral Skull Centerpiece
• Day 2: Halloween Sweet Treats – Chocolate Raspberry Shooters
• Day 3: Halloween Cupcakes – Brainy Mad Science Mini Cakes
• Day 4: Savory Halloween Appetizers – Baked Sweet Potato Rounds
• Day 5: Mocktails/Cocktails – Day of the Dead Non-Alcoholic Sangria Recipe
• Day 6: DIY Halloween Decor – Faux Leather Paper Spell Book
• Day 7: Halloween Home Decor – Halloween Front Porch Decor
• Day 8: Halloween Sweet Treats – Red Velvet Brain Cake
• Day 9: Healthy Halloween Food – Mummy Frozen Bananas
• Day 10: Cricut Craft – Halloween Cricut Craft Haunted Hollow SVG
• Day 11: Halloween Tablescape – Elegant Gothic Halloween Party Table
• Day 12: Halloween Kids Activities – Frankenstein Peeps Edible Mad Science
• Day 13: Halloween Party – Halloween Mad Science Party Ideas

Until tomorrow my friend!