In this article some basic laboratory bench experiments are described that are useful for teaching high school students some of the basic principles of stellar astrophysics. For example, in one experiment, students slam a plastic water-filled bottle down onto a bench, ejecting water towards the ceiling, illustrating the physics associated with a type II supernova explosion. In another experiment, students roll marbles up and down a double ramp in an attempt to get a marble to enter a tube halfway up the slope, which illustrates quantum tunnelling in stellar cores. The experiments are reasonably low cost to either purchase or manufacture. (Contains 6 figures, 1 table, and 1 footnote.)