Color UN-mixing

Awesome experiment from the Surfing Scientist! Kids investigate laminar flow: liquid flowing in parallel layers. They rotate a cylinder glass, watching colors mix and un-mix right before their eyes!

Cubes and Color

How does color affect how fast an ice cube will melt?! Investigate the heat absorbing capacity of different colors by placing ice cubes on various colors of construction paper (make sure you include black and white). Do certain colors reflect or absorb more light? Lay the paper and cubes in a super sunny spot. Then, make a prediction, create a list of what cubes you think will melt the fastest. Have kids write the color names in a column, starting with the color they think will make the ice cube melt the fastest and ending with the color they think will melt the ice cube the slowest. Create a graph of the kids' predictions. 

Green Planet suggests a twist on the experiment. Kids test colored cubes on white paper. They use food coloring to create different colors. For a white cube they add milk. To create a black cube they add cola. They place one colored cube on each piece of white paper. Which cube will melt the fastest?!

Solar Energy Balloon Blow Up!

Explore the power of the sun's heat by blowing up a balloon on a bottle! Kids paint one soda bottle white and the other black. Once dry, they attach a small balloon to the necks of their bottles. Then, they put the bottles out in the sun for a solar reaction!

Kids see that the air in the black bottle will make the balloon expand! The white bottle doesn't heat up as fast. Check out the experiment here!

Fraction Color Spinner

Integrate math, art, and science by creating a colorful spinning toy! Kids trace a circle (at least 6 inch diameter) on poster board (or cardstock) and divide it into six equal parts. Then, they color it in, using any colors they'd like! Once it's colored, an adult punches two holes in the center of the circle. Kids measure out a 3 foot piece of string or yarn and lace it through their circle. Move the circle towards the center of the yarn (keep the one side of the string in a loop - don't pull the string all the way through). Next, tie a knot on the other side so it has a loop. Then, twist the string up by flipping the circle round and round. Pull the string outward and let it unravel. Watch it spin and the colors mix!

Color Mixing Fractions

This idea was inspired by Mama Jenn's Magic Painting / Color Wheel activity. Kids explore primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, while learning fractions! Check out her site for a free printable. Plus, see how you can do this activity with food coloring and paper towels.

Taste the Rainbow

Skittles Exploration
1. Online collaboration project - skype and compare results with schools across the U.S. (Registration opens March 1)
2. Skittles Density Column - Cool Science at Home
3. Skittle Chromatography - Awesome Crazy Guyz
4. Skittle Color Separation - Parents: Homeschool Den
5. Fizzle a Skittle - Gigi Reviews
6. Skittles Riddle Book - Fun with a variety of math concepts
7. Skittle Arrays / Fractions - click here
8. Crack a skittle open like a clam shell?! - Parenting

Free Printables!
1. Skittles Graph, Tally, Sort - Golden Gang Kindergarten
2. Skittles Math Center - Erica Bohrer's First Grade
3. Skittles Place Value - Beacon Learning
4. Skittles Fractions - NWACC

Online Tool
Pie chart creator

Nail Polish Science / Art

art via sci-toys

Experiment with light and optics by creating a permanent rainbow using clear nail polish! Visit Simon Quellen Field's site Sci-Toys for instructions!

Bubble Observation

bubble on a table / photo credit Chymist

Explore color and light by viewing an amazing soap bubble up close and personal with this awesome experiment from Beakman and Jax! Beakman and Jax calls the results a "gorgeous miracle!" By holding the flashlight underneath the bubble, the bubble will illuminate with squiggly lines of a variety of colors covering the entire bubble.

materials:
flashlight
clear plastic coffee can lid (or any clear lid will do)
soda straw
liquid dish soap 
water

how to: Mix 2 tbsp of soap into 1/4 cup of water. Go into a dark room (as dark as possible!). Stand the flashlight pointed upwards. Place the lid upside down on top of the flashlight. Pour enough solution to cover the bottom of the lid. You should have soap solution leftover. Wet the straw into the extra solution. Turn the flashlight on. Then, blow one large bubble on the lid with your straw. Be prepared to be AMAZED! Visit Exploratorium for the scientific explanation.

Visit Chymist (featured above) for a full list of bubble activities, including: bubble basketball, unbreakable bubbles, catching bubbles, bouncing bubbles, put a friend inside of a bubble, blow a bubble inside of a bubble, color fringes in a bubble, tabletop bubbles for measuring, and dry ice bubble experiments (including rainbow dry ice bubbles)!

More Bubble Fun - Bubble Geometry

Make a Rainbow

Andy Brain made a rainbow by using a coffee pot, flashlight, and a dark room! Click here to see how he did it! For more rainbow science click here! You can make a rainbow with a garden hose, compact disc, or a drinking glass. The easiest way to make a rainbow is with a prism, if you have one.

Marker Chromatography

How many colors are in one crayola marker?! - Kindergarten, Kindergarten

Is Black Really Black? Sharpie Experiment -  Steve Spangler 

Experiment with sharpie markers, create a tie dye tee! - Spangler

Chalk Chromatography - Is green just green? Conduct an experiment with markers and chalk to find out what colors make up a single colored marker. After your experiment, draw with your colored chalk!

Is a Shadow Always Black?

Reggio Kids taught kids the difference between transparent and opaque. They showed them how translucent objects can cast colorful shadows. While the shadow of an opaque object is always black. 

Color Changing Milk and Glue!

Variation: Conduct the experiment using whole milk, low fat milk, and water in separate dishes. What worked the best?

Explanation: "You will see that the color doesn't react like it does with the whole milk. Water will get no reaction. The fat and protein molecules in the milk are changed by the soap, causing them to roll around. Once the soap molecules are mixed evenly with the fat and protein, the motion will stop." - Steve Spangler

photo via School at St. George Place

The School at St. George Place Creation Station put a spin on the color changing milk experiment by replacing dairy with glue!

Salt-Absorbing Art and Science

photo credit: Third Graders Dreaming Big

Integrate science and art with this awesome activity from Third Graders, Dreaming Big! Visit Third Graders, Dreaming Big to see this artful science experiment in action!

materials:
White or black construction paper
Elmer's glue 
Table salt 
Dropper 
Water 
Food Coloring 

instructions: 

1. Squirt glue in a cool design on construction paper. 

2. Pour salt over the top and shake excess off .

3.  Mix water with food coloring.

4. Use dropper and drop liquid color on the salt.

The salt will absorb the colored water and move along your design!

Traveling Water

Experiment with color mixing and traveling water! Visit All for Kids to check out their experiment (featured above)!

Colorful Ice Sculpture Science

photo credit: art and creativity

Create colorful ice sculptures and see the science of mixing salt with ice! Art and Creativity shows how kids can make works of ice art by simply dropping liquid watercolor mixed with salt onto a chunk of ice! Science: Salt creates tunnels in the ice because it lowers the freezing point of water, causing the ice to melt. The colors make the tunnels pop, so we can see them better.

Also, check out We are Teachers to see how you can conduct this experiment with a large group of children!

Colored Cubes

The Colored Cube experiment is great for teaching kids primary and secondary colors. All you need is Sprite and colored ice cubes (2 red, 2 yellow, and 2 blue). Put a red and yellow cube in one cup, blue and yellow in a second cup, and red and blue in a third cup. Next, pour Sprite into all of your cups. Voila, kids see how primary colors mix in action! Below is an experiment my class conducted.

Lava Lamp!

materials:

soda bottle

3/4 cup of water

vegetable oil

Alka Seltzer

food coloring

instructions:

1. Pour water into the bottle.

2. Add vegetable oil into the bottle until it's almost full. Let the oil and water separate.4. Add 10 drops of food coloring.
3. Break the tablet in half and drop the half tablet into the bottle. To keep the effect going, just add another tablet piece. Shine a flashlight through the bottom of the bottle and turn off the lights!