Au Pair & Kids Activity: Turn Flowers into a Rainbow - Fun science for kids!
This simple science activity is ideal for kids — fast to set up, mess-free, and guaranteed to amaze as the flowers change color right before their eyes. A perfect idea for Au Pairs looking for fun and educational moments with children in Germany and Austria.
What you need:
- White or beige colored flowers
- Scissors
- A vase or containers to stand the flowers in
- Food coloring (liquid form as it mixes easier with the water)
- Warm water (but not boiling)
Instructions:
- Find or buy some flowers with long stems that are white or pale in color. Then with adult supervision the stems will need to be cut at an angle so that the flowers adsorb the water.
- Pour some warm water into the vases or containers that the flowers will be placed in
- Add your food coloring and mix
- Now carefully add your flowers to the vases or containers
- It is now a simple case of waiting and watching. As the flowers soak up the water their petals will change color
Tips:
- Remove all unwanted leaves that will sit in the water as they will smell as they get wet
- The more food coloring you use the darker the flowers will turn or use less water to begin with
- You can also try to turn the flowers on one stem different colors by cutting the stem and then placing each part into a different container with different colored water. Make sure you do this carefully and not to cut the whole of the stem
- Not all flowers change color as the first time I tried this little happened, see the picture below!
- Taking pictures at the beginning is a great way to compare how they are changing (plus small children might not remember exactly what they looked like)