🌈 Try This at Home: Walking Rainbow Water!

🌈 Try This at Home: Walking Rainbow Water!

Want to do a science experiment that looks like magic and teaches you something, too?

You don’t need a lab coat—just some cups, paper towels, and food coloring!

Today we’re making a Walking Rainbow, and it’s as cool as it sounds.

🧪 What You’ll Need:

• 6 clear cups or jars
• Water
• Paper towels (cut into strips)
• Food coloring (red, yellow, and blue)

🧠 What to Do:

1. Line up your 6 cups in a row.
2. Fill cups 1, 3, and 5 about halfway with water. Leave the others empty.
3. Add red to cup 1, yellow to cup 3, and blue to cup 5.
4. Fold your paper towel strips and place them like bridges between the cups:
   
   • Between cup 1 & 2
   • Cup 2 & 3
   • Cup 3 & 4
   • Cup 4 & 5
   • Cup 5 & 6

Now… wait and watch! Within 30 minutes, the colors will “walk” up the paper towels and start to mix in the empty cups. 🌈

👧 Babe Says:

“This shows capillary action—it’s how water moves up plants, too! And when the colors meet? BOOM! You get orange, green, and purple!

🔁 Try This Twist:

• Use only two colors and predict what they’ll make!
• Do it again with colored markers and coffee filters for a different effect.
• Try it with warm water and cold water—what changes?

🌈 What’s Happening?

Water travels against gravity through tiny spaces in the paper towel—this is called capillary action.

When two colors meet in an empty cup, they mix into a new color! Science + art = awesome.

📸 Show Off Your Rainbow!

Post a photo of your walking rainbow and tag us using #CuriosityClubExperiments

(Or stick it on your fridge next to your octopus drawing!)