Rainbow Reactions - Preschool Chemistry ~ Preschool STEM Exploration

By -
"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!





Never miss another post again!  Sign up for our weekly updates newsletter and get links to all our posts once a week in your inbox!  Sign up here!!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Science Experiment: Elephant Toothpaste

By -
Image
Update: "Elephant toothpaste" is a science experiment that I used to do with my high school students.  It is a strong multi-sensory demonstration that goes great with a lot of chemistry concepts. It is also very popular with preschoolers and homeschoolers!  The internet loves it too! It has now been read by more than 3.9 million people! This was the post that started the trend on science activity sites across the internet and "irl!"  Thank you for being here...I hope you enjoy it as well!  💕  This exciting science experiment works great in a discussion on reactions, as a demonstration, or as an actual experiment. We've also done seasonal twists with "elephant toothpaste" like making it in a pumpkin and using it for " reindeer toothpaste !" To use it as a science project, perform it once with your child, then ask your child what might happen if you changed the amounts or left out an ingredient.  Any time you experiment
Read more

Kind Words Sensory Lesson Friendship Activity

By -
Image
This sensory lesson includes a kindness activity for kids that is short and sweet,  and makes teaching kindness a beautiful thing! Learning to use kind words with our friends is one friendship lesson that I think we can never cover enough...kids always need reminding (sometimes adults do too)!  You will need these simple supplies for the kindness activity: cotton balls, course sandpaper, cup, Should I Share My Ice-Cream by Mo Willems Directly teaching good friendship skills, like using kind words, serves two purposes: 1- You can refer to the lesson when someone forgets or needs reminding, and 2- These skills are not intuitive for all preschoolers. This is a perfect age to bring empathy and kindness to their attention and help them cultivate these skills! You can use this lesson plan exactly as I did it with our kiddos, or adapt it to fit your group! 1- Read  Should I Share My Ice-Cream  by Mo Willems.   {Image below is an Amazon Affiliate Link:} D
Read more

Crazy Cool Giraffe Science Experiment

By -
Image
Do you know what color giraffe skin is? Today we're using a capillary action science experiment to make our own giraffe skins in this fun giraffe science experiment project! (Read on...I'll tell you the color in a moment! AND I have a few more fun giraffe facts at the end! Anyway, go on and make a guess before you see the answer!) Fun Spot  Giraffe  Fact:  There are four different giraffe species:  the Masai Giraffe, the Rothschild Giraffe, the Somali Giraffe, and the Nigerian Giraffe.  Each has its own unique spot pattern.  Even more unique, every single individual giraffe has a different spot design.  Just like fingerprints on people and stripes on a zebra, spots on a giraffe are unique in every individual! Giraffe skin is mostly grey. (Were you right?) It's also really tough and thick.  The coat is a shade of tan with brown spots or patches.  Male giraffes actually get darker as they get older! To make our "giraffe skin" we're going to us
Read more