My 14 year old son said that he would like to "blow things up" this summer. Without blowing him up, I'm interested in semi-safely indulging this interest. I've often met interesting people who spent their teenage years on farms or in basements with chemistry sets, doing such things, at least in the days when you could buy the needed materials from the drug store or order them. I know it's not that easy anymore. But is there something we could do, fairly tame, but not too tame? I have no idea where to begin....

tickle

I wouldnt want to go there ever, the way things are nowadays. I wouldnt really encourage him to do this, or even you might want to re-direct this energy somewhere else.

Not a good idea although you may think you know your son quite well, there is no telling where this may take him.

albear

bottle rockets are great(see if you can find the brainiac example), erm maybe the mentos and diet coke reaction(look it up on you tube)

maybe if you want tokeep him occupied for a long time have him cut the heads off matches until he has enough to fill the inside of a ping pong ball, then fill the ping pong ball with the matchesheads and then throw it,(im notentirely sure if this one works, the idea came from a mate of mine in the army, he says it does)

Capuchin

You should quite easily be able to get a thermite reaction going.

Thermite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's not quite blowing things up, but it is fun! and educational! Just need some rust, some aluminium powder (ask most metalworking places for some that's left over) and a magnesium ribbon or 2.

Safety and research is a big must if you want to try it.

Fr_Chuck

I can't list the few commom household items when mixed together will do it, but I will note that in many places evevn walmart, you can buy blackpowder , and use it for many "blowing things up" But if you don't know what you are doing don't
** since minors can't buy it, adult use would be required

asking

Thanks to both of you. :-) I will check these out. Don't worry, we'll be careful. I'll read up and do it somewhere with plenty of space and protections.

rankrank55

I know there is something you can do by putting a Mentos in a diet coke...it blows up pretty good. If you want to see how this works there are some great, yet silly, videos on youtube.com that show some kiddos doing this. I bet your son would have fun with this one. He could also experiment with the good ole vinegar and baking soda trick!

Cinnabar

Throwing sodium cubes into water is always fun but you would have to order from a chemical supplier, be careful not to make skin contact, and it gets a little pricey.

templelane

These aren't proper explosions (sorry) but still some fun related activities I used to enjoy.

Baking soda and vinegar fizzes nicely - it's used all the tip to make erupting volcanoe models - I always found this fun as you can spend ages making a cool volcanoes as well.

Bottle rockets also not proper explosions but lots of fun Bottle Rockets If you get them right they really go high and look pretty impressive.

These will take a while to make so should keep him occupied in the same token

sandman560

ya like that one guy said black powder is great for blowing things up i am looking into buying a black powder gun. so u can fill a tenis ball with black powder to blow a mailbox or something up, but it depends on the area you live in on wether like homeowners association or something will get mad at you for it or something