This experiment explores absorption, capillary action, and color theory in a way that is super fun! The kids will be in awe as they make water walk! Read on to see how!
Rainbow Water Experiment
Materials- 6 clear cups or glasses
- Food coloring (red, yellow, & blue)
- Water
- Paper towels (extra absorbent work best)
Method
- You will want to begin with six clear cups or glasses.
- In the first cup add 5-10 drops of red food coloring.
- In the third cup add 5-10 drops of yellow food coloring, and in the last cup add 5-10 drops of blue food coloring.
- Add 1/2 cup of water to the glasses with food coloring and stir until combined.
- Leave the two remaining cups empty.
- This is what your cups should look like.
- Briefly set these to the side while you prepare your paper towels.
Walking Water Rainbow
- You will need five pieces of extra absorbent paper towel. Fold each piece into strips and then tuck the strips between the glasses like so.
- You want to ensure that the paper towels are touching the bottom of the cups, but you don't want your pieces to be too long or to have too much excess paper at the top.
Making Water Walk
- Within moments of placing the paper towels into the cups kids will start to notice a change.
- The water from the colorful cups will quickly begin to absorb into the paper towels and then slowly transfer into the empty cups, forming a glorious water rainbow!
- Rosie and Jewel thought this was SO COOL and wanted to make water walk again & again!
Note:
- To make purple you will want to add a second cup of red water to the end of your cup line as shown in the photo directly above. This is optional.
- You could also set this experiment up in a circle, which allows you to make purple while only using one cup of red water!
The Science Behind the Fun
- Why does the colored water absorb into the paper towels?
- What causes the empty cups to fill with water?
- How is the water able to move from one cup to another? (capillary action)
Read more on the science behind this fun experiment:
Extend the Fun
Do you love fun science? Then, be sure to give some of these other awesome experiments for kids a try:
Do you love fun science? Then, be sure to give some of these other awesome experiments for kids a try:
- Tornado in-a-Jar
- Rainbow Flower Experiment
- Frozen Bubble Science
- Rain Clouds in-a-Jar
- Lava Lamp Experiment
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