• Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide (CO2). Frozen carbon dioxide converts directly to its gaseous form when it melts, skipping a liquid form altogether, which creates a foggy or misty effect. You can buy dry ice from ice dealers and some grocery stores. Handle it with care; use gloves and safety glasses. A Styrofoam cooler works well for transporting it.
  
  

Experimenting

• Wear safety glasses and gloves when performing experiments with dry ice. Inflate a balloon with carbon dioxide by putting a couple of chips of dry ice into a deflated balloon. Tie off the end and submerge the balloon in water. As the balloon inflates, it will rise to the surface of the water. If you put in enough dry ice, it may even burst the balloon.
  
  Make your own sparkling water by adding a chunk of dry ice to a regular glass of drinking water. After the dry ice has melted, try the water. You should be able to detect some carbonation.
  
  Try holding a warm spoon against a piece of dry ice. The sublimation process caused by the warm spoon melting the dry ice makes the spoon vibrate, producing an audible singing sound.
  
  

Decorating

• No scary Halloween party would be complete without a creepy punch bowl. Put a glass bowl inside a half pumpkin, and put in some dry ice and water to help it sublimate. Then put another bowl inside that, and fill it with punch.
  
  Instead of a punch bowl, put dry ice in a bucket and place bottled drinks inside. Cover the bottles with brown paper and write "XX" or draw a skull and crossbones on the front for poison.
  
  You can also use dry ice to create a misty atmosphere for a party or creepy display. Try using about a pound of dry ice to make mist for a medium-size room.
  
  For a ghoulish jack-o'-lantern, place a battery-powered light and a plastic container of water and dry ice inside a carved pumpkin.
  
  

Food and Drink

• You can use dry ice to make ice cream. For a 1-qt. recipe, crush about 1 1/2 cups of dry ice into a powder by wrapping it in a towel and crushing with a rolling pin. Wear gloves and safety glasses. Slowly add dry ice to your ice cream base, a little bit at a time, waiting until each batch is fully absorbed before adding the next. Continue until all the dry ice is mixed in.
  
  When making homemade root beer, you can use dry ice to carbonate it. Use 1 lb. or 2 lbs. of dry ice for a gallon of root beer. For better carbonation, put the root beer in a container three times the volume of root beer with a lid. Do not put dry ice in a closed container without enough extra air space, because it could explode. You can also try adding some dry ice to fruit juice for a fun punch.