Make a Rainbow of Science in Your Home and Escape the Heat

The hot weather is here to stay for a few days. You’ve been to the pool everyday for a month. Now what are you going to do with the kids? With a little science and color knowledge, you can create rainbows inside.

Sharpie Pen Science

Pull out some old t-shirts. They don’t have to be white, but this activity will show up the best on white. Grab the rubbing alcohol and the permanent Sharpie Pens and you can create no-mess tie dye t-shirts. You’ll also need a plastic cup and rubber bands. This activity uses rubbing alcohol and permanent pens, so do this activity in a well-ventilated space and keep close by for assistance.

Stretch the t-shirt material over the cup and place the rubber band around the lip of the cup to hold the t-shirt in place. Then make small dots or designs in the center of the circle. Using a dropper, carefully drop a few drops of rubbing alcohol on top of the pen marks and watch the colors spread. Repeat this as many times as you want. When you are done, you will have a tie dye t-shirt.

After completing this activity, snuggle on the couch and read Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch. It’s the story of a little girl who loves to color with pens and eventually finds trouble with permanent-never-come-off-until-you’re-dead pens.

I use the ones my girls and I have created for art shirts to protect their good clothing when we do activities like this one. With colorful designs all over it, who can tell if they get a little paint on it.

Color Changing Milk

This activity is always a hit wherever and whenever I do it. It also just takes materials found in your home. You will need whole or 2% milk, a dinner plate, food coloring, dish washing soap and cotton swabs.

Pour the milk into the plate to cover the bottom. Put a few drops of different colors of food coloring into the center of the milk. Get ready for the oohhs and ahhs…squeeze a drop of dish soap onto the end of the cotton swab then dip the cotton swab into the food coloring drops.

It’s an instant exploding rainbow before your eyes. No need to wait for the rain to start outside. You’ve brought a rainbow to your dinner table. In my experience, the kids will not want to stop mixing and chasing the colors around the plate until it turns a sickly green or dark purple color. They will then ask to do it again. Dump the milk out and start all over.

Seven Layer Density Column

Time to raid the kitchen and bathroom pantries again. Your kids can stack blocks or boxes but can they stack liquids?

Start with gathering several liquids found around your house. Some good ones are water, light Karo syrup, vegetable oil, dish soap, rubbing alcohol, lamp oil and honey. Food coloring is great if you want to color your liquids for extra flavor. The only two liquids you can’t color are the honey and vegetable oil. You will also need a clear glass, flower vase or cylinder to stack your liquids in. A food baster is also a good tool for liquid stacking.

All of the liquids you are using have different densities or masses. For example, the honey has a higher density or mass than the water.

Pour the honey into the cylinder first. Make sure the liquids do not touch the sides as your pour. The baster is useful in controlling the pour. To make a good stack, pour the liquids in this order:
◦ Honey
◦ Karo syrup
◦ Dish soap
◦ Water
◦ Vegetable oil
◦ Rubbing alcohol
◦ Lamp oil

Now, grab another glass and try pouring the liquids in a different order. What happens when you put the rubbing alcohol under the water? Can you start with the lamp oil?

For more color experiments, check out the ideas below from Steve Spangler Science:

* Color Mixing Tray
* Spin Art – Is Black Really Black?
* Pinch and Mix Color Mixing

Guest blogger Susan Wells is the mom to two girls, ages 4 and 8. She enjoys enriching her daughter’s education by finding the learning in everything. They especially enjoy science activities. She works as a blogger and social media strategist for Steve Spangler Science, a Colorado company dedicated to helping teachers and parents get children excited about science.