We all know Santa loves his milk and cookies and of course, he would have to have magic milk for Christmas! Explore the magic of Christmas with a magical science experiment. Christmas magic milk science is perfect for our 25 Days of Christmas STEM Countdown Calendar this year because it’s simple and fun to do! Please join us in our countdown this season and follow along with great science and STEM for kids.
SANTA’S CHRISTMAS MAGIC MILK SCIENCE ACTIVITY!
We all know Santa is full of magic, wonder, and really cool things right? His milk must be magic too. You need only a few simple supplies that are probably already in your kitchen to try out Christmas magic milk science.
Make sure to join our Christmas Science Countdown too!
SIMPLE CHRISTMAS STEM
Magic Milk is a classic science activity and a super fun family activity to try together. Kids of all ages {including adults} think it’s pretty cool. Just ask my husband! Simple science is great for busy families.
Print out our new Christmas STEM challenge cards too! Pull one out for a festive STEM activity all season long!
GRAB THE CHRISTMAS STEM COUNTDOWN PACK HERE!
MAGIC MILK SUPPLIES
- Dawn Dish Soap
- Whole Milk
- Shallow Bowl or Ramekins (dollar store plastic ones are great for lots of experiments)
- Food Coloring
- Cotton Swabs (Q-tips)
- Christmas Cookie Cutter (optional)
SETTING UP MAGIC MILK SCIENCE ACTIVITY
To set up for your Christmas magic milk science activity, I used a small salad plate and a cookie-cutter. You can use a shallow dish or bowl of any kind. Fill whatever you are going to use with whole milk.
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Use your liquid food coloring to place drops of color all around the surface of the milk. Since we have a Christmas theme going, I opted for red and green colors. Use them all if you want! You can see our original magic milk science here.
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Dip a cotton swab in dish soap. Touch the tip of the swab to the milk and watch! It’s like a little explosion. Or you could say it’s Magic Christmas Milk!
UNDERSTANDING MAGIC MILK SCIENCE
A larger surface area will allow for more magic to happen! The science behind it: The chemistry of the dish soap and the fat of the milk is what makes the magic happen. While some of the dish soap’s properties dissolve in the water, the other properties search out the fat of the milk.
This “searching” is a whole bunch of molecules racing around to get those fat globs. You can see it with the color movement. Keep getting a bit more soap until there is no more movement. That means all the fat globs have been found and attached.
Turns into a beautiful Christmas magic milk star design. Now try it on the outside of the star!
It’s really a very cool science experiment. Try not to stir rather just dip the cotton swab and let the magic happen. However, with that being said, my son was quick to stir. Science for young kids is all about experimenting anyway.
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Once you have used up the “magic” or fat globs, give it a gentle stir to make a pretty pattern. Quite similar to a fancy coffee don’t you think? Kitchen science is right at your fingertips and takes so little effort to set up.
I am pretty sure your kids will ask to make Christmas magic milk again so grab some more dishes!
My son did enjoy blowing the colors around too. Sometimes kids have to test out their own ideas whether we think they are right or wrong or already know the outcome. This is how kids learns, so let them blow and stir the milk and then try again and again.
Please don’t drink the milk.
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When you are finished pour some nice fresh glasses of non-magic milk and enjoy a few cookies! Add our fun Santa’s Cookie STEM Challenges to this classic milk science activity too!
ENJOY CHRISTMAS MAGIC MILK SCIENCE
Click on the photos below for awesome Christmas activities all season long.
Jennifer Boatman
I did this expirament last year with my daughter and it was so awesome! I loved it so much that i put it in our Christmas countdown activites. However, this year it didn’t work! Is there a reason why?
littlebins
Did you use a different type of milk? Dish soap?