Flower Science Art Exploring and Painting with Flowers

Flower Science and Art

We love Valentines Week concludes with a week long flower science experiment that we prepped on Monday and observed through out the week. I thought it would be great fun to color carnations and see just what would happen if we left them on the kitchen table all week long. We enjoyed the process of prepping the flowers but also the opportunities we had to examine and observe them every day to see the changes! The little twist we added was the height of each flower. We cut three sizes to see if there were any measurable differences in the amount of color. What do you think the results of this flower science experiment were?

Flower Science Experiment Set Up

I set out a tray of materials as an invitation to explore. He measured and poured a 1/2 cup of water into each glass and added 8ish drops of red food coloring to each glass. One flower in each. Time to wait and observe, patiently. Not every experiment has an immediate reaction!

Flower Science Experiment Observations

Each day we checked out our flowers and showed daddy. We talked about what he thought was happening and why it was happening. He had guesses as to what might happen by the end of the week. Please see talking points and observations down below.

Coloring carnations flower science experiment: 24 hours

Coloring Carnations Science Experiment: 48 hours

Coloring Carnations Science Experiment: 72 Hours

On the last day of observing the carnations, I took a picture of the colored carnation next to a plain, uncolored carnation. The difference was fun to see!

Scientific Observations & Talking Points

We talked about the simple parts of the flower, stems, petals and leaves and how it grew in dirt from a seed. We talked about how the stem drinks water to grow. We are still keeping it fairly simple at this age. He suggested if the flowers drink the red water maybe they will turn red. We also observed that there was no real measurable difference between the three sizes of flowers when we had originally guessed the shorter one might be pinker. It was super fun to look and see the changes each day, so I am glad it worked. Daddy was excited too!

Extend the Exploration

I thought it would be fun to extend the coloring carnations flower science activity by examining the flowers close up with a magnifying glass. We took off some petals and leaves and looked t the end of the stem. I also set out watercolors for him to experiment with the flowers. He painted petals and used the flower itself as a brush! Very fun and allows for some creativity and free play while exploring the science experiment!