Colourful experiments to try out at home
If you look at Carnival celebrations around the world you would see one characteristic that links them all – COLOURS! The vibrant colours used in costumes and floats are just as fascinating as the celebrations, parades, music, and dancing.
From Saturday 26th February until Wednesday 2nd March 2022, Esplora will be open from 10am till 6pm, during which we have planned five days full of activities where we integrated the fun atmosphere that is so synonymous with the carnival period together with an immersive experience in a world full of colour.
In continuation of this theme, we have also prepared a blog with fun, colourful, do-it-yourself experiments that children could try out at home. These experiments are very simple to make, use few ingredients that can be found in any home but above all the reactions they create are awesome and will fascinate children and adults alike!
Rainbow Milk
What you need:
Plate
Whole Milk
Different Food Colouring (we used green, blue, red and yellow)
Dish Soap
Cotton Bud or Napkin
Method:
Pour milk in the plate, enough to cover it completely. Add a few drops of food colouring to the milk – the more colours you add, the better the effect 😊
Roll a napkin and dab it with dish soap (you can use a cotton bud instead). Dip in the milk, preferably in the centre of the food colouring and watch what happens. The swirling effects in this experiment are very cool!
The Science Behind It
Whole milk is a mixture of fat, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Soap is made up of a head and tail. The head is attracted to water (hydrophilic) and the tail is attracted to grease (hydrophobic). When the soap is added to the milk, the tails start clumping up together all the fat inside the milk and as they do so, they create colourful patterns as they move around looking for fat molecules to attach themselves to.
Colourful Density Tower
What you need:
Tall Glass or Jar
Honey
Dish Soap
Oil
Water with Food colouring
Method:
Want to build your own colourful tower? Start pouring slowly the ingredients inside the glass or jar, one on top of each other. First pour the honey, then add the dish soap, then the oil and at last the water with food colouring. You will notice that each ingredient stays stacked on top of the other without mixing and voilà… you have built your own colourful tower!
The Science Behind It
This fun experiment shows that some liquids are denser than others. Density is the mass per unit volume meaning how much substance there is in a particular space. In the case of our Colourful Tower, the honey is the densest substance whilst the water is the lightest. The layers are able to stay on top of each other because of their different densities.
If you would like to take this experiment further, experiment with different liquids you might find in your house/kitchen to see what happens and learn more about their density.
Rainbow on a Paper Napkin
What you need:
Napkin
Glass
Water-based Markers (different colours of the Rainbow)
Scissors
Method:
Want to create your own rainbow? Try this awesome experiment! Fill the glass with water. Cut a piece of napkin and paint boxes at one end of it with different coloured markers – use one colour next to the other to create a rainbow box. Dip the end of the napkin in the water and watch what happens!
The Science Behind It
This experiment uses a process called chromatography, which is a method of separating components that make up a mixture. Markers are made of dyes with different chemicals. The heavier the dye the slower the colour moves through the paper. As your rainbow grows, try to check which colour is moving slow and which is moving fast.
A Burst of Colour
What you need:
2 Plates
Skittles
Hot Water
Milk (kept at room temperature)
Method:
Place the Skittles in a circle around the 2 plates. In one of the plates pour hot water until the base of the Skittles is all covered. In the other plate pour the milk. Check out the reaction! Which one had a faster burst of colour?
The Science Behind It
Skittles are coated in food colouring and sugar. When you pour water over them, the coloured coating dissolves and spreads through the water making it the colour of the skittles. The plate with the milk should have the same reaction but much slower than the one with the water.
Colourful Volcanic Eruption
What you need:
Tall Glass or Jar
Plate
Food Colouring
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Method:
Since this colourful reaction will spill over the glass, it is best to place it on a plate to contain the mess for easier clean up. Add a few teaspoons of baking soda in the glass or jar. Add a few drops of food colouring – you can try this experiment in different glasses and using different food colouring each time. Pour the vinegar slowly. Watch as this vibrant reaction sizzles and bubbles over the edge of the glass.
The Science Behind It
Vinegar is an acid and baking soda is alkali. When they meet, they neutralise each other and the reaction releases carbon dioxide which is the gas filling up the foam that you see erupt from this reaction. If you would like to take it further, add some dish soap and this will help trap more of the carbon dioxide and produce more of an eruption!
For more information about Carnival at Esplora, you can read here
