Storms were brewing at Auburn Library last Wednesday as children made their own version of Hurricane Dennis. As part of a hands-on demonstration hosted by Kid Science, children made their own thunder, created rain, got to feel the tingle of electricity like that of lightning, simulated a tornado, and made their own take-home versions of snow.

The unnatural means used to create a makeshift storm began with two two-liter bottles connected by plastic bands. One of the bottles contained water that when it was shook in a swirling manner looked like a twister.

“I’m making a tornado,” said 7-year-old Jillian Smith when she made the water in her bottles simulate a twister. “It’s cool.”

One storm-chaser in the making described how the swirling effect was created in the bottles.

The young scientists didn’t do a rain dance to call on rain. Instead their next project used a jar filled with hot water, an upside-down lid poked with holes and an ice cube in the lid, melting to create the image of rain. Also, a miniature tornado in a jar of water was created with two drops of dish detergent, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of vinegar.

“I’ve got a vortex,” exclaimed 6-year-old Michael Hayes, as he created a mini tornado in his jar.

Although not everyone was successful – those that didn’t create a vortex just created a foggy haze.

“Do you smell that burning smell?” said science educator Yolie Rome as she demonstrated a lightning experiment. “It’s the same thing you smell in a lightning strike.”

Using a Tesla coil in a large light bulb, Rome showed how people emit energy and why it is not a good idea to be outside during a thunderstorm. As part of the lightning experiment, Rome had 7-year-old Jacqueline Smith touch the bulb and she felt a slight tingle of electricity.

“It felt scary because I thought it was going to break me,” said Smith.

After the lightning experiment, other participants were able to touch the bulb with the Tesla coil inside.

“It shocked my finger and now I have a dent in it,” said 7-year-old Noah James.

“I think it was very cool,” added 7-year-old Christa LaFontaine. “It felt like we were getting shocked, not on my whole body, just on my hand.”

No thunderstorm would be complete without thunder. Using thick paper with an image of clouds on it, folded to snap out and make a supersonic soundwave, the loud noise was created.

“I hope my thunder will be loud,” said Gabrielle DiBoni, 7.

Finally, just like it was Christmas in July, each of the attendees received fake snow – a take-home baggie filled with sodium polyacrylate. With just a little water added, the chemical creates snow.

“I put a little water into the chemical and it fluffed up and became squishy,” said LaFontaine, who attends Waterman.

At the end of the session, the children received some advice on science and experiments.