"The Nature Party"
Published in Time Out New York for Kids May- June 2006, Issue 12
by: Caroline Howard

Sarah Corning studied to be a science teacher, but when she entertains at kids’ birthday parties as Sarah the Science Teacher, the bubbly New Yorker comes across more like a magician. No rabbits and top hats here: Corning’s shtick relies on snakes, lizards, turtles and a big hairy tarantula named Charlotte, plus exploding volcanoes and rockets, slime, and a witch’s cauldron of liquid nitrogen. “She gets the chemistry- no pun- of the group and goes right to it,” explains Simone Weissman, whose children, Jonathan, 10, and Zoe, 8, have had tree Science Teacher Sarah parties between them. The highlight? “the exploding volcano, definitely. “They loved it,” says Weissman. According to Corning, squeals and screams erupt when she brings out her cast of creatures. “I talk about them and invite the kids to touch them.” By the end of the party, which she holds in her “classroom” space (Corning also offers after-school workshops and summer camps), more often than not the birthday kid is wearing Charlotte as a birthday crown, and even the more animal- shy among the guests are clamoring for their turn with the tarantula.

Who is it for? Pre-K to about age 9

What’s the deal? Basic package $245 for 10 children, for ninety minutes; deluxe package $595 for 18 kids, either package $15 for each additional child

What you get A 90- minute workshop with Sarah and an assistant, plus 30 minutes for food and drinks. In addition, the deluxe offers decorations, cake, snacks and juice, helium balloons and a take home science kit for each child.

What you bring A camera to memorialize the awe on those little faces. Plus bring decorations and food, along with goody bags, if you opt for the basic package.

What about parents? “We always tell the parents it’s drop off, but they always want to stay,” says corning ho can accommodate the birthday kid’s and the guests’ parents.