Twenty-six children between the ages of eight and 11 attended the half term event aimed at encouraging young people, especially boys, to read and enjoy the subject.

• Click the play icon to watch a video of the session, filmed by Chad photographer Anne Shelley.

The Mad Scientist group, which was formed in 2006, uses crazy experiments such as creating smoke rings using a vortex generator to get young people engaged in science.

Presenter Tom Homer told Chad: "We start off introducing the experiments as magic tricks but then we tell them how it is done."

And Jonny Longfellow, the owner of the Mad Scientist company, said: "Science is a fantastic subject but some children are put off it because it is difficult.

"Through these experiments, we want children to enjoy science and stick with it because we need that knowledge for them to tackle problems such as climate change."

During the sessions, which were organised by Nottinghamshire County Council, the youngsters took part in experiments including making smoke rings, building a periscope and riding a hovercraft.