This is an article ”3 Awesome Color Experiments to do With the Kids” by Marc Primo Warren
Parents sometimes struggle to think of fun-filled activities to do with their kids during their free time. With color, there are hundreds of ways you can introduce them to something fun and worth discovering!
We know that every kid loves to play and learn with color. It brightens their mood and emotions, while also stimulating their minds towards creativity and productivity. There’s no doubt that colors are fun and can ease the little ones from stress and tension.
Here are three worthwhile color experiments you can do with your kids with simple everyday objects around the house.
Rainbow in a jar
Find a small jar and put a small portion of honey that will settle at the bottom. Take out all your food coloring from the pantry and mix in purple with corn syrup which you will then layer on top of the honey. Let your kid pick out which colors he wants to mix in with the corn syrup for layers, though you might want to teach him the ROYGBIV rainbow pattern so he can memorize the order.
After you have stacked up all your food color and corn syrup mixtures on top of one another, mix rubbing alcohol with red dye and slowly pour it into the sides of the jar using an eye-dropper. What you get is a rainbow in a jar decoration that’s perfect for your kids’ room!
Color Fireworks
Don’t worry as these fireworks experiments are not intended to harm anyone. Put some oil in a bowl and add in different food coloring via an eye-dropper. Don’t put in too many dark colors as you’d want to make your fireworks colorful.
After you’ve mixed the oil with your food coloring, pour it into a transparent container that’s filled with three-fourths of warm water and enjoy the show! This project is simple, safe and easy and best of all, not too messy if you are really careful.
Color Swirls
You’ll once again need a small bowl for this project and some milk to fill it with, just below the brim. Let your child choose some food coloring which he can drop slowly on the milk in equal distances. Avoid placing color spots too close to each other so you can appreciate the effect.
Lastly, place a drop of dishwashing soap in the middle of the bowl and watch the colorful magic unfold. From a scientific perspective, what happens here is the dish soap reduces the surface tension of the milk and reacts with the fat to create wonderful swirls of color your children will absolutely love!
Children and color almost always go together and spending time with your kids to discover new things about colors is definitely a good way to bond. Plus, these three activities that combine art and science can teach them new creative techniques that they can eventually apply in bigger projects as they grow older.