Fireworks Guide: Indoor Fireworks
Yes there really are options for small-scale indoor fireworks!
Key information
- Only use fireworks indoors that have been specifically designed for that purpose!
- Types include traditional indoor effects (such as seen in the old days), cake fountains and indoor sparklers.
"Traditional" indoor firework packs
Younger readers might not appreciate that in years gone by, smaller fireworks were available in packs or boxes and often used at Christmas. These were taken off the market for a while from the late 20th century due to safety concerns when consumer products had to pass increasingly strict safety tests. However in recent years they’ve made a comeback, albeit in slightly muted forms but without those deadly chemicals like arsenic and asbestos!
These packs – there are now several on the market – contain a variety of small effects which you would ignite on an old plate or tin lid and gather around to watch.
The favourite is usually the growing snake effect (to a younger mind, it looks like a poo!) and there’s also a selection of various coloured flames. This video will show you a complete pack in all its glory:
Availability is good all year round for these packs which can be found online and in specialist firework shops. Some toy shops also stock them. Expect to pay £8 to £12 per pack.
Cake and ice fountains
The best effects for cakes (and by cakes I mean the edible variety, not the firework variety) are the small tubular fireworks called ice fountains. The term “ice” here is a reference to the fact these have cold fallout (i.e. no hot materials coming down onto your cake). These will be marketed as either cake fountains or ice fountains.
Widely available online and from firework shops, expect to pay around £3 to £5 for a pack of three or four ice fountains if buying in small quantities. Quite considerable discounts are available for bulk purchasers such as restaurants. You can also get plastic clips to attach them to a bottle neck too, making them popular in night clubs.
In addition to standard fountains, you can also buy a wide variety of novelty variations. These include ice fountains with numbers on them (for birthdays and anniversaries), larger or smaller versions, and even ones that play tunes when lit.
I have a separate guide to these, and how to use them, which you can read here: Ice fountains for cakes.
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Musical birthday candles
My favourite indoor firework for birthdays without a doubt is the fold-out musical flower. Largely because it’s so, so naff it comes out the other side and creates so much hilarity.
These combine an ice fountain, birthday cake candles and tuneful (or tuneless depending on the state of the batteries) musical rendition of “Happy Birthday”.
Honestly, you haven’t lived until you’ve lit one of these:
Indoor sparklers and cake sparklers
There’s a large selection of indoor sparklers available. The smallest are around 4″ long and silver but various larger sizes are available right up to 18″. However for cakes stick to the smaller sparklers marketed for this purpose as the bigger ones aren’t really suitable for use on food.
Sparklers shaped as numbers and even hearts are also widely available online.
Although pretty, cake sparklers are not as spectacular as ice fountains, so consider using the latter instead (see above).
Fun snaps / throw-down bangers
A popular practical joke item in days gone by, fun snaps are traditionally small amounts of an explosive material wrapped in tissue paper. These are detonated on contact with the ground although they can also be placed under doormats and similar for much fun! These are still widely available online and in some joke shops.
Bigger versions have been seen in recent years which are a tiny tube rather than a tissue paper wrap. These can be quite loud and in our experience should only be used outdoors. There’s an extensive discussion thread about these in my Forum: Fun Snaps.
Novelty fire/flame effects
Not a standalone effect as such, but if you have a woodburner or open fire, these sachets (various brands are available, for example “Mystical Fire”) burn with pretty coloured blue and green flames. You can also use them outside on bonfires.
Flash paper
If you’ve ever wondered how magicians and other performers create sudden balls of flame from their hands, it’s by using flash paper or flash wool. Widely available online (from specialist sellers or from Ebay), this is a wonderful novelty effect that creates a surprisingly big and bright – and harmless – ball of yellow flame. You can take things even further with devices intended to ignite the paper which conceal in your hand and other magician orientated tricks. If you’re entertaining people indoors with indoor firework packs this is a great addition to them.
Do you know of any other fun indoor effects I can add to this section? If so, please let me know about it in my online Fireworks Forum. It’s completely free to register.
Further information and next steps
If you are following the Beginner’s Guides then you can click here to return to that page. Alternatively you can click here to see the main menu of each firework type in this section if you want to read more (or click on the menu at the top of this page to access all of my guides).
If you have any questions then please feel free to join my Fireworks Forum and ask away. Members are always here to help beginners and no question is too silly.
If you’re ready to buy fireworks for your display then the Buying Fireworks section will guide you further.