Milk Colour Explosion

 

Colour is one of the most exciting things for preschool children to observe and experiment with. I’m doing a two part blog post on two simple activities you can do with your children. Here’s the first one.

This is a very simple experiment using milk and food colouring. I’ve done it with my son many times, but he still gets so excited every time he sees the colours forming patterns in the milk.

 

Ingredients:

  • Milk (full fat, not skimmed milk): 1 Cup
  • Liquid Dishwashing Soap: 5-6 drops
  • Cotton earbuds
  • Liquid Food colouring (3-4 colours)
  • Bowl or plate that is wide, but atleast 2 inches deep

 

Method

 

  1. Pour the milk into the bowl, to atleast 2 inches deep. Please note that you have to use full fat milk for this experiment. I’ve tried it with skimmed milk and it does not work!

 

2. Add a few drops of colour around the milk. Don’t put too much colour, otherwise when it mixes, it will look muddy. You can always add more colour later.

 

3. Dip your cotton bud in a little liquid dishwashing soap. Don’t soak it, just a small drop on the tip will do.

4. Now for the fun part! Gently touch the food colour on the surface of the milk, with the cotton bud dipped in soap.

 

5. Watch as the colour spreads to form beautiful designs. Touch the other colours around the milk. If need be, dip it in the soap again and touch the colours.

 

Here’s a video of what it looks like.

 

For those interested in the science behind how this experiment works, check out this link: https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/milk-color-explosion/

 

in Part 2 of this Colour Blog, we’ll be doing a fun experiment with shaving foam and colour. Your kids will have a blast doing it. Don’t forget to come back in two weeks to check it out!

 

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