Amazing Science ~ Absorption Color Mixing Color Wheel

I love science and color mixing, so when I saw the idea for this color mixing science experiment that demonstrated absorption I knew we had to try it.  These simple science experiments are a great way to get children of all different ages excited about science.

The girls were amazed as the colored water slowly climbed up the paper towel and into the middle cup of plain water.  We went out for a little bit and as soon as we walked in the door they both ran to check it.  When they saw it they were bouncing up and down, “Mommy it’s green, the water turned green!”

To get them thinking we played around with adding more water to the colored cups and watching them water levels even out.

A few days later I was thinking about this experiment and how cool it would look if we did it to make a color wheel.  I told the girls about it and they decided we needed to set it up RIGHT AWAY!!!

The girls were able to see how the water was absorbed into the paper towel and then traveled up over into the cup of plain water creating the secondary colors. 

I filled the cups of colored water higher than the cups of plain water.  The next time we try this I am not going to put any plain water into the cups so they can see what happens then.

Fun and Learning with Baking Soda and Vinegar

This week the girls experimented with the reactions between Baking Soda and Vinegar to create some pretty cool art!

I had leftover flower and baking soda from when I made some fizzy sidewalk chalk paint, and we had leftover liquid watercolors from art group, that I just couldn’t dump down the drain.  So, I thought the girls would have fun working with these materials in a new and different way!

First, I added vinegar to the liquid watercolors then they used pipettes to drop the colored vinegar onto the baking soda mixture.  This was seriously so much fun all three of us spent over half an hour dropping colors watching it fizz and trying it again. 

 

Emily liked making little drops and watching each one fizz.  She worked one color at a time until the mixture was almost black and would not fizz anymore.

   Juliette liked trying all different colors it looked so pretty!

While we were busy creating we were able to talk about the colors and what happened when the colors would mix together.  I also used the words acid, base and reaction when describing what was happening when the vinegar mixed with the baking soda.

The mixture of flour and baking soda made the mixture fizz a nice amount but not as much as if it were only baking soda.  It was perfect to do inside at the table.  We all agreed that we have to try this with our friends for art group!

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Sink or Float?

This summer the girls had a lot of fun exploring water and how some of the toys that we played with in the water sank and how some floated.  My friend and I thought it would be fun to introduce the girls to a little Science Experiment to see what would sink and what would float.

First, the girls made their predictions.  They held the object and decided if it would sink or float.  Then they recorded their educated guess on the sheet with either an S for sink or a F for float.

Next, they tested their prediction with a very simple experiment, drop the object in the water and see what happens. 

Next, they recorded their results on their chart.

(Click on the image below to download a copy of their chart)

Finally, they counted how many items sank and how many items floated and recorded it at the bottom of their papers.

The girls really enjoyed this science project and even the Juliette and her friend were able to help by dropping the objects in the water.

For more great science activities click on the button below!!

Science Fun ~ Mysteriously Inflating Balloon Experiment

When I saw this experiment on The Artful Parent I knew that I wanted to try it with Emily and Juliette.  They both love balloons and I thought that this would be a fun way to see them getting inflated.  I made a few changes to how the experiment went based on the comments to Jean’s post.

First, I got everything ready…all I would show them was the balloon.  They were all so excited to see what would happen.  I filled the water bottle with about 3 tablespoons of vinegar and then I used a funnel to fill the balloon with about 1 tablespoon of baking soda.  I put the balloon on top of the bottle being careful not to let the baking soda mix with the vinegar. 

After each child had their balloon set up I counted to 3 and let them hold up the balloon so that the baking soda would mix with the vinegar.

Very quickly the gas that was produced when the vinegar and baking soda mixed filled up the balloon.

It was funny to see the different shapes that it made!

Juliette’s balloon got the largest out of the three.  They all wanted to try it again, but we were out of balloons.  I guess we will have to add them to our shopping list and try it again.  It was definitely a lot of fun!