X Labs – Science Parties & Workshops for Zürich Kids

If you’re looking for an indoor party option in Zürich, we can highly recommend the science workshop parties by X Labs. My son did the dry ice workshop with a few friends and they absolutely loved it! They learned a lot of cool scientific information in fun, creative ways with 10 hands-on experiments. Who wouldn’t like smoke bubbles, self-inflating balloons and exploding mist? Here’s everything you need to know if you’re considering booking a party there.

Note: Thanks to X Labs for hosting our visit! All opinions stated here are our own.

About X Labs

X Labs was started by professors from Swiss universities and high technical schools, who designed the experiments done in the workshops. University students run the workshops, which both is fun for the kids and inspirational, seeing how young people have pursued scientific fields. We like that they also have women teaching the workshops, a nice role model for young girls.

You might think, maybe I could do these experiments at home and you probably could do some of them. But the knowledge and expertise of the facilitators brings a lot to the experience, meaning the kids really learn something, not just watch some cool bubbles. Also the mess stays at the lab.

Workshops & Camps

X Labs has party workshops for kids aged 6-12 on a variety of themes: Elements, Dry Ice, Monsters & Secret Laboratory. They also run camps during the school holidays. In 2020, they will also be hosting one-off workshops that you can sign up for as individuals instead of booking a whole party. You can see the workshop list and descriptions here.

For our party workshop, we had 4 kids in our group (aged 10-12), which I thought was a nice but they can take up to 10 children with one facilitator. For larger groups up to 20, you can book a second facilitator, which keeps everyone engaged and things running smoothly. They run workshops in German or English.

Adults are welcome at the workshops and they said sometimes families book workshops together. It’s is a nice opportunity for parents to interact with their children. 

Dry Ice Workshop

We did the Dry Ice Workshop, designed for kids aged 8-12. Since dry ice can be dangerous if handled incorrectly, they don’t suggest it for younger children that might not follow directions and handle the dry ice incorrectly. The official description:

Children carry out about 10 different eye-catching experiments supervised and guided by our mediator. The change of the dry ice state (sublimation), the fun bubbling machine, magic white smoke, mysterious candles, floating soap bubbles and other super funny surprises are waiting for young explorers.

Our group loved this workshop!!! There were so many oooohhhs and aaaahhhs and giggles and shrieks of delight. It really was a big hit, even for one rather skeptical kid in our group.

The instructor gives lots of fascinating scientific information in a fun, kid-friendly way. Our kids were raising their hands and competing to answer the questions and totally interesting in learning. If only school were the same. In this pic, they are guessing the temperature of dry ice compared to regular ice.

Some of the workshop was demonstration, but most was hands-on. Here they got a little messy with soap, creating bubbles produced by the dry ice interacting with hot water. X Labs provides lab coats for the children (not to keep) and safety glasses when necessary.

These kids could have played with these bubbles all day long.

Here’s one of the two labs. Kids work around the two tables in the middle. I felt like the environment was safe and friendly. But it is a lab environment not a playground, so children need to respect the instructor and not run around. Our facilitator was very good at controlling the group, kind but firm.

Birthday Parties

X Labs hosts birthday parties, which means your party people attend a workshop, then can celebrate in the adjacent party room (extra fee). For safety purposes, you can’t eat or drink in the lab, so that’s why they have the separate room next to the lab.

A birthday workshop costs CHF 295 for up to 10 children. The workshop lasts 90 minutes. You can optionally rent the adjacent party room for CHF 65 for 45 mins, where you can have cake and snacks. I appreciate that you can bring your own snacks and drinks, which is not allowed by many party venues.

You can also book a party package for CHF 150 where X Labs provides the food, drinks, dishes and props and sets up the room so all you have to worry about is the cake. They are very flexible and happy to work with you, so just contact them and chat about what you want for the party.

There are two labs and a separate party room for each lab. The party rooms have cool lights and Bluetooth speakers so you can play music from your phone. So make a playlist before you come so you don’t have to think about that at the party.

If you prefer not to book the party room, the Brunau-Allmend park and skate park are right outside the building with plenty of picnic areas where you can do the cake and snacks. 

Getting There

X Labs is located at the Sihlcity shopping mall in Zürich city at Büttenweg 16, 8045 Zürich. It is easily accessible by public transportation or car, with plenty of parking.

By public transportation: Take tram 5 or 13 to Sihlcity Nord or take a train to Saalsporthalle. Walk through the Sihlcity courtyard toward the river under the freeway. Turn right and walk on the path along the back wall of the Sihlcity mall towards the bike park. At the very end of the Sihlcity building, there is a door accessing the offices on the corner (not the first door, which accesses the parking garage). Enter this door and go to the second floor.

By car: Drive to Sihlcity and park in the parking garage. Take the elevator to the bottom floor of the parking garage. Follow the yellow striped walkway to the southwest corner of the parking floor (away from the shopping mall), where there is a door accessing the office area on the corner. X Labs is on the second floor.

See more indoor party ideas near Zürich

Now just a few more pics before we end the post. So many fun memories of this day.