Wednesday, May 29, 2019

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Rainbow Reactions - Preschool Chemistry ~ Preschool STEM Exploration

"I'm making Rainbow Reactions!" my 3-year old happily cried out! And the title for this preschool chemistry / preschool STEM exploration was born.





The truth is that there has been a point in each of my kid's lives where this was their favorite experiment. This was how each if them learned to use a pipette, as a preschooler. This was the first chemical reaction they each experimented with. They have done it with friends and without. And now another beautiful child of mine has fallen in love with it!  (For some other fun variations we've done with this, check out our sparkly fizzing rainbow and New Zealand volcanoes!)

To make these awesome rainbow reactions, you just need a pan, baking soda, food coloring, vinegar, and pipettes!

First spread the baking soda in a thin layer over the bottom of a pan. Let your kiddos add drops of food coloring:


My girls right now are pretty tidy--they like to control things like food coloring and place the drops of color carefully. I've had other kids who are...less careful. ;)  For kids that like to spread color with abandon, I'd recommend using a cup or small bowl instead of food coloring. Place about 1/4 cup of water into the cup or bowl and add 5-6 drops of food coloring yourself. Then let your kiddos drip the new colored water with a pipette or dropper around the baking soda.

Finally, give them vinegar and pipettes, and let them make their rainbow reactions!



Eventually they always want to add more color, baking soda, and vinegar. As a general rule, I only pull out as much baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring as I am comfortable with them using completely up!


I am sharing this activity as part of our DIY Summer Camp for Preschoolers series! You can see more chemistry activities for preschoolers HERE!


If you have been to my blog before you know I am passionate about science and STEM learning!

How  is this activity a STEM project? Preschoolers use science reasoning skills like hypothesizing, experimenting, and analyzing. The technology they use are the pipettes (click here to learn more about technology), they use design and engineering principles as they decide where to place their colorful dots, and they use the following math skills: estimation, comparison, spacial relationships, and (often) counting! They are exploring through a system and a process that they design on their own as they work!

Do your kids have a favorite chemistry experiment? I'd LOVE to hear about it! Feel free to send me an email or say Hi! on Facebook or Instagram!



Happy Educating,
Carla


Have you seen HEEP? It is a preschool homeschool curriculum! Learn more here!





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