I wanted to make the most of our time this summer and so this year we are doing a Popsicle stick bucket list. This week the stick we drew was science experiments. My little scientist could not have been more excited that this was the first activity we would be doing.
Week one – Erupting Mystery Colors
You will need:
A muffin tin
Food coloring
Vinegar
Baking soda
Instructions:
1. Put 1 drop of food coloring in the bottom of each muffin tin spot.
2. Pour baking soda over the food coloring drop until you can no longer see the color. Just a tip; do this step just before you are ready to do the experiment. If you set it up too much beforehand the color will work its way back up to the top.
3. Put some vinegar in a bowl and let your child put the vinegar into each tin. We used an infant medicine dropper to move the vinegar, but a spoon would work too. I knew I kept a drawer full of those medicine dispensers for a reason.
4. As each color erupts the color under is revealed. It is a good opportunity to talk about chemical reactions. Why is it fizzing? What is an acid? What is a base?
5. If you want to tack on a second experiment to this you can then mix the colors. What do yellow + blue make? How about red + blue? It is a good opportunity to teach about primary and secondary colors or for you to do some laundry while your child is entertained, either one is a parent win.
