At the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair, children have the opportunity to engage in simple and safe science experiments 

Sharjah, November 14, 2025 

Inspired by Thomas M. Willet’s novel Lava Lamp, a workshop called “Lava Lamps” at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025) inspired schoolchildren to unlock their creativity and step into the world of light. The fascinating experiment and the lamps they took home to light up their rooms and serve as keepers of their stories, memories and dreams was a unique opportunity at SIBF 2025.

The session trainers helped the participants set up the fun lamp after they had donned protective gear, aprons and hand gloves. They were given a clear plastic cup half filled with water and cooking oil over it. Blue food colouring was then poured into the fluid through a funnel. The children were each given quarter of a sparking tablet to put into liquid mixture. The moment the tablet was dunked, it created a lava-like fountain and sparkling blue bubbles that lit up the surface like tiny shimmering blue lamps.

“Lava lamp is meant to teach the children about the density and chemical action of the water in the oil. It becomes like a mounting lava when you use the three ingredients. Since water is denser than oil, it will settle to the bottom but the bubbles of carbon dioxide gas from the tablet will rise and pop on the surface,” explained trainer Bernie Francie.

Sharjah International Book Fair 2025 is organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) under the theme ‘Between You and a Book’, and runs for 12 days until November 16 at Expo Centre Sharjah, welcoming authors, publishers and readers from 118 countries.

-ENDS-