Walking Water
Water climbs up a paper towel and makes new colors on its own.
- Ages
- 4–11 yrs
- Play
- 5–20 min
- Prep
- 5 min
- Mess
- barely any
- Energy
- calm
- Where
- at the table
You’ll need
Things you probably have at home.
- six clear cupsGet it on Amazon
- food coloringGet it on Amazon
- paper towels or coffee filtersGet it on Amazon
- water
How to play
Before you start: Line up six cups in a row. Fill the 1st, 3rd and 5th with water; leave the others empty.
Color the full cups: red, yellow, blue.
Fold six strips of paper towels and bridge each cup to its neighbor, ends dipping in.
Ask them to predict what will happen to the empty cups, and write the guess down.
Wait. The water starts climbing within a minute.
Come back after ten minutes: the empty cups have filled with orange, green and purple.
What it helps with
Make it different next time
- Use only two colors and see which mixes fastest.
- Leave it overnight and see if the levels even out.
Cleanup: Pour the cups out and throw out the soggy strips.
Three more like this
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Balance And Weigh
20–40 min 4–10 yrs Low mess- kitchen scales, or a coat hanger and two cups
- small things to weigh
Learn something
Rain In A Jar
10–20 min 3–10 yrs Some mess- shaving cream
- a clear jar or glass
- food coloring
- water
- Good for siblings
