Learn Together
Asking questions, making guesses, and seeing what happens next is a great way to get children excited about learning while developing key skills like planning, collecting information, and making observations.
Materials
- Cotton swabs
- Food coloring
- Dish soap
- Milk
- Saucer or shallow bowl
- Cup
- Small objects like rocks, popcorn kernels, or marbles
Make Together
Surface tension is a force or “layer of skin” on the surface of a liquid. Surface tension is what insects use to walk on water and how water droplets hold their shape.
Let’s use surface tension to do a fun tie dye experiment!
- Pour milk into a saucer or shallow bowl and pour some dish soap into a cup.
- Squirt 4-6 drops of different food coloring into the milk. Let the drops sit there. Watch how the food coloring sits on the surface layer of the milk.
- Dip one end of your cotton swab into the dish soap.
- Gently dip it into the milk and watch the colors dance! The soap breaks the surface tension causing a tie dye or marbling effect.
Take the science even further!
- What happens if you cover small rocks, popcorn kernels, or marbles in soap and drop them in?
- Try drawing or coloring what you see! Practice your photography skills and take some pictures. Be careful not to spill!