Exploding Colors Science Experiment for Kids Tutorial

Kids will love watching the colorful reactions in this Exploding Colors Science Experiment. It’s an easy activity using milk, dish soap, and food coloring.

It doesn’t take much to get my little girl excited about science, as long as it comes in the form of a science experiment. Vinegar, baking soda, food coloring, anything that causes a reaction of some sort will keep her occupied for hours. We gave this Exploding Colors Science Experiment for kids a try and it was a big hit just like I knew it would be. It is fascinating to watch the reaction in this experiment and watch it we did, over and over.

Exploding Colors Science Experiment for Kids Tutorial

Supplies Needed:

whole milk
dish soap
food coloring
cotton swabs
shallow dish or bowl

Directions:

1. To get this fun experiment going you need to pour milk into a shallow dish. We started with a cup but next time would use less. You only need to just cover the bottom of your plate or shallow bowl.

2. Create a design by dropping food coloring around your milk in a pattern or in a random fashion. Kids will love to do this part too!

3. Dip your cotton swab in dish soap and gently tap one of the food coloring blobs. The color shoots out in a fantastic way as it’s repelled by the dish soap.

4. Continue adding soap a drop at a time to the spots of food coloring and see what you can create!

After a while she simply started stirring and making her own color patterns in the milk. Even with a simple experiment like this my daughter likes to feel the part and loves her kid’s goggles and lab coat.

You can extend the learning in this experiment but using colors like yellow and blue or red and blue side by side to see what color they become when mixed. Try different types of milk and note the difference in the reaction of each kind. Then, have your child make predictions about what will happen.

Scientific Explanation: The reason why this happens is because the dish soap and high fat milk mix and “push” the water and food coloring out of the bond. Adding the dish soap breaks the bonds of the food coloring and milk so they separate and cause the color to explode outward.

What simple science experiments do your little ones enjoy?