The kitchen chemist's South African tour

During Scifest Africa, South Africa’s national science festival, I presented my all new show, Kitchen Chemistry: Seconds, a total of seven times: four performances on the main science festival stage, one as part of the iRhini Festival, and two in local schools. I was also involved in other aspects of the festival such as daily workshops making slime and others constructing spectroscopes, science busking, chairing scientific sessions, acting in the murder mystery and making up a panel for a discussion on the science of coffee.

From small beginnings, Kitchen Chemistry has grown to become a major part of my science shows. In partnership with Scifest Africa, I have travelled extensively in South Africa. On my travels, I have presented science shows to audiences of 9 to 900 and all ages. I have also trained educators, science centre staff, volunteers and postgraduate students, with the aim of building a lasting legacy. As the experiments and demonstrations use only readily available materials and unsophisticated equipment, Kitchen Chemistry has proved very attractive in schools with no laboratories and few resources.

I am often asked how I started giving science shows. To be honest, even as a young child I was captivated by the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (and last year I was able to lecture there myself). I still vividly remember several of the large scale demonstrations from broadcasts during my childhood. It was a chance set of circumstances that enabled me to copy the format of the Christmas Lectures, using an EPSRC Partnerships for Public Understanding pilot grant. A chance conversation with a collaborator some years later resulted in my first invitation to Scifest Africa, which in turn led to the first Kitchen Chemistry show being developed. The rest, as they say, is history.

In addition to my work in South Africa, Kitchen Chemistry has led me to put on a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) with Futurelearn, set up a website and blog and more recently a Facebook page. To complete the social media offer, follow @Kitchen_Chem on Twitter to find out about the exploits of the Kitchen Chemist. I have also started travelling further afield in the UK, giving shows for Local RSC Sections in Leeds and Southampton, and also for sixth form study days.

These days I am always on the look-out for new ideas. Occasionally the family are banned from the kitchen so that I can try out these ideas, and sometimes, they even work. I can only use reliable experiments that require minimal equipment and are quick to set up, clear up, and easy to dispose of. For Kitchen Chemistry, I try to avoid the need for projection equipment, so anything I do must be on a suitable scale to be seen at the back of an auditorium. This also enables me to include a little theatre in the show.

There is only one small cloud on the Kitchen Chemistry horizon. My trips to South Africa are not inexpensive, with travel the major component of the cost. I am currently on the look out for fund raising opportunities and would welcome any information or advice on this.

While I am able to continue the work both here in the UK, and abroad, I not only get the immediate pleasure of repeatedly performing the demonstrations, but I also have the lasting satisfaction that I am having a significant impact on large numbers of schoolchildren and their teachers.

Further information

• Visit the Kitchen Chemistry website for information on upcoming shows, experiments you can try yourself at home and a blog of Stephen’s current activities.
• Follow the Kitchen Chemist on Twitter @Kitchen_Chem and on Facebook.
• More information about SciFest Africa.
• Read articles from Chemistry World and Education in Chemistry on Stephen’s previous Kitchen Chemistry activities.