Sublime Science Avis 634

Lots to learn and lots of fun

My six year old has loved the science experiments, so much learning opportunities! She’s desperate for a science party now.

Nice and interesting party.
The website would need modernisation.

We use the experiments as part of science club. The children love the experiments and are able to make sense of them through the scientific explanations provided by sublime science. Such an engaging and exciting experience for our children, what’s not to enjoy?

These experiments just pop up in an email .They are easy to follow using stuff you already have and the Science is explained which is a great way to learn.

Fab resource for fun activities for kids, my little girl loves the experiments and it’s great that we have most of the things needed in the cupboard.

Great fun for the kids to get involved with Science in a fun and interactive way.

Attended a birthday party who’d booked this to entertain. Party for 4/5 year olds & 7 year old sibling attending - both of mine were captivated by the whole experience. Weeks on and we’ve still got the slime being played with. Very good and well tailored to the age range!

More and wider variety of experiments can be provided

The children absolutely loved all the experiments that were on offer!

They are helping to bring more fun science to kids and have some awesome experiments to do and see.

Great company, lovely science book.

The whole experience from start to finish was amazing. Communication in the run up to the even could not be better, everyone knew what to expect ahead of time. The children loved their workshops "I now think Science is cool" was a remark from a KS2 child, whilst KS1 children are still talking about the fire weeks after the event. All 210 children (and staff) had a great day.

This popped up as an advert on my social media, and straightaway I thought it would be perfect for my Science obsessed son, and it did not disappoint! The children enjoyed the range of experiments. Lots of comments after, from parents, saying their children wanted to do Science when they got home, so they were clearly inspired. We also ordered the decoration pack and party bags from the website, and they arrived really quickly, and took the hassle out of having to do them ourselves. I would definitely recommend encouraging parents to drop children and leave if they are comfortable to do so, and if venue/ age of children is suitable, just so there is less background noise from parents talking etc during the Science part. My son still talks about how much he loved the party, a month later.

Update: Tim responded very quickly and took our feedback seriously, actioning a gift for our daughter to try and make up for the disappointment and crediting the deposit I paid. Whilst it does not remedy the failings on the day, it evidences good customer service.

1. Our assigned scientist was late. It turns out he was lost but failed to let me know until we phoned each other at the same time 20 minutes before his scheduled start time. He arrived late, flustered and needed my husband to help him carry his kit in and set up. This meant the party started 10 minutes late and left me trying to keep the children who had been waiting 25 minutes entertained. Turning up on time and a heads up that he would need help carting his equipment in could have meant we organised ourselves better. He failed to note this in the 2 minute call he gave me 4 days before the party despite me asking if he needed any help on the day. When he did start, he launched straight into the first experiment which left us scrambling to get the kids back in front of him. He similarly failed to communicate when he was finished - 5 minutes early despite starting 10 minutes late so we received 45 minutes of his time.

2. There were moments he had the attention of the children and they really enjoyed elements of the science however most of the time they got bored waiting for him to set up an experiment or couldn’t hear or see what he was doing. This meant they started messing about and some lost interest and wandered off. This left my husband and I plus several parents running around trying to get the children back. We have never had to do this in the past. We had a magic show last year - same group and numbers of children, same venue, same time and they were enthralled and captivated by the energy of the magician Gordon for the entire duration of the show and children and adults alike had an amazing time.

3. Your website suggests your service is appropriate for a group of up to 30 (we had 24 today) and that it is a practical, interactive, hands on experience (your FAQs state this) but this was not the case today. Aside from mixing the slime, the children were expected to sit and just watch the entire time. If we had known this we would not have booked Sublime Science as this does not work for a group of 6/7 year olds. This combined with a lack of energy, interest and ability to keep the children captivated and enthused meant he lost their attention very quickly. If I’m honest I don’t know if he cared or was just having a really bad day - he didn’t acknowledge the birthday girl and he didn’t seem concerned that the children weren’t engaged and were wandering off. He shuffled through a series of tricks, some interesting and some not and completed what felt like a box ticking exercise.

4. After all of the above, I didn’t appreciate being asked twice for birthday cake to take home. I’m more than happy to provide cake and a tip as it’s a nice way to thank someone for their time but after all of the above, I was done - worn out from consoling my crying and disappointed birthday girl and running after bored children. We had packed up as the hall needed to be handed over at 5pm sharp to the next guests and we didn’t want to impact their event. The leftover cake was in the closed box in one arm and my baby in the other. The cake knife was in the car. He came over to ask if there was birthday cake going - this was the first and only time he spoke to me during the whole event. I explained that the cake and knife had been packed away. Instead of leaving it at that, he went into detail about some personal matters and liking cake. A guest then offered to give him the slice she had in her child’s party bag and he was ready to take it. Flustered and embarrassed and wanting to just wrap things up and move on, I ended up giving him my daughter’s specially ordered dairy free cupcake that I had to hand (to cheer her up post party).

5. I am Asian - that is clear from my name and email address and my daughter is mixed-race. In our 2 minute call I gently corrected him on pronouncing my daughter’s name so that he would get it right on the day. It’s a pretty simple four letter name, two syllables. His response on that call to me was “I’m of the older generation, some of these new names are tricky for me”. What does that even mean? What constitutes a “new” name? I found his comment unnecessary and unhelpful and am not entirely sure how to interpret it.

Perhaps the worst part for me is my STEM-loving daughter saying on the way home “it wasn’t as much fun as I was expecting”.

Prof James was booked for my little lads birthday and I can honestly recommend him ! Soon as the act was to begin he got into character and was fantastic .

I booked a hall and an entertainer from Sublime Science and a cake. I felt I was all set. Hazardous Hannah called me a couple of days in advance and went through the housekeeping and crowd control. Well, the hall had a plug and two tables. I wasn't ready with anything else.
Hannah arrived on time and was set up by the time the 12 kids mostly 7 year old's started coming. She sat them in front of her and for the next 1.5 hours kids were listening and queuing for her attention. They were fully immersed in the experience. So were the 3 supervising adults quietly sipping coffee at the back. She puffed smoke, shot rockets and sprayed those willing with lemonade.
The minute she told kids that show was over and they are free to go eat cake, the normal chaos that kids create returned. She really has a magical touch with kids.

Our facilitator was fantastic and the session was really fun and engaging. She got everyone involved and made our daughter (whose 6th birthday it was) very comfortable. Feedback from all the kids and parents was great.

Communication with the office team was also excellent - they were very responsive and helpful. I’d recommend to anyone.

The kids loved it! They were absolutely rapt. Ahab was absolutely fabulous - pitched it really well, kept them engaged and involved but didn't worry when one or two of them got distracted (they're only 6!) and just kept it going. He was great!

Dear Alex and Team,

The performance was awesome and kids truly enjoyed it!
Many thanks for your time and looking forward to have joint events in future.