This is a great twist on the classic magic milk experiment. Perfect for toddlers, as well as older kids who love exploring color mixing!
This post contains affiliate links.
What you need:
- milk (we always wait until we have some past the use by date to avoid unnecessary wastage)
- muffin tins
- food coloring
- dish soap
- Q-tips
- it can get messy so a mat or a tray is a good idea (we used our trusty Messmatz)
- muffin tins
- food coloring
- dish soap
- Q-tips
- it can get messy so a mat or a tray is a good idea (we used our trusty Messmatz)
How it works:
Set up your experiment work station by filling the muffin tin compartments with some milk, as well as putting out the other supplies. Use your judgement as to whether your kids are capable enough to handle the materials, or whether you want to introduce them one at a time with one-on-one supervision. My kids are used to this experiment so I was ok to put everything out from the get go.
I explained to my 2 yr old and 5 yr old that we were going to do the 'magic milk' experiment, which is something they have done many times before. This time, however, we were focusing on making mini color mixing reactions in each compartment. The kids were free to choose at least two colors to add to each of their milk compartments.
This was actually the first time that I let 2 yr old baby sis handle the food coloring solo. I felt it was a good opportunity as she would only need a few drops of each color and it was a small area to work in. She did an awesome job and LOVED having control of the colors like big bro!
Once the two colors were in the milk, the kids would dip a Q-tip in the dish soap and then gently hold it on the surface of the milk near their color drops.
You can see the awesome effect that it has on the colors!! The science behind the reaction is pretty simple and it is definitely worth taking the time to explain it to your kids. Milk is mostly made up of water but does also have some fat in it, as well as vitamins, minerals and proteins. When the dish soap contacts the milk, the milk reacts because the soap and fat in the milk are working hard to join together, hence the movement of the colors!
The colors continue to push to the edges of the compartment as the reaction continues. It creates some gorgeous marbled patterns!
The great thing about using small muffin tin compartments was that the kids could then continue to mix the colors without it just turning into a large brown puddle. It was great seeing big bro continuing to experiment with the color combinations. Baby sis in the meantime was just totally mesmerized by the whole thing!
This is such a simple and fun science experiment. I always find that giving my kids their own work area and access to the materials really helps to capture their engagement. Using small and organized materials is definitely useful when it comes to toddlers and science experiments as it makes it manageable and not too overwhelming for them. I loved how baby sis was constantly checking out what big bro was up to.
Have you tried the magic milk experiment? What's your favorite way to set it up?
I explained to my 2 yr old and 5 yr old that we were going to do the 'magic milk' experiment, which is something they have done many times before. This time, however, we were focusing on making mini color mixing reactions in each compartment. The kids were free to choose at least two colors to add to each of their milk compartments.
This was actually the first time that I let 2 yr old baby sis handle the food coloring solo. I felt it was a good opportunity as she would only need a few drops of each color and it was a small area to work in. She did an awesome job and LOVED having control of the colors like big bro!
Once the two colors were in the milk, the kids would dip a Q-tip in the dish soap and then gently hold it on the surface of the milk near their color drops.
You can see the awesome effect that it has on the colors!! The science behind the reaction is pretty simple and it is definitely worth taking the time to explain it to your kids. Milk is mostly made up of water but does also have some fat in it, as well as vitamins, minerals and proteins. When the dish soap contacts the milk, the milk reacts because the soap and fat in the milk are working hard to join together, hence the movement of the colors!
The colors continue to push to the edges of the compartment as the reaction continues. It creates some gorgeous marbled patterns!
The great thing about using small muffin tin compartments was that the kids could then continue to mix the colors without it just turning into a large brown puddle. It was great seeing big bro continuing to experiment with the color combinations. Baby sis in the meantime was just totally mesmerized by the whole thing!
This is such a simple and fun science experiment. I always find that giving my kids their own work area and access to the materials really helps to capture their engagement. Using small and organized materials is definitely useful when it comes to toddlers and science experiments as it makes it manageable and not too overwhelming for them. I loved how baby sis was constantly checking out what big bro was up to.
Have you tried the magic milk experiment? What's your favorite way to set it up?
No comments :
Post a Comment