Walking Water Science Experiment for Kids STEM and Rainbow Science

How can you make science really fun and doable for your kids? Try simple science at home using what you already have! Our take on the walking water science experiment is so simple and pretty. We love it for rainbow themed science too. Terrific kitchen science you can do anytime.

WALKING WATER SCIENCE EXPERIMENT FOR KIDS

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience at no cost to you.

I am ready for rainbows and sunshine and warm weather. I am hoping by enjoying all these bright and colorful science experiments and activities, the warmer weather will come faster. Sadly it probably won’t, but at least we can brighten up the dreary days of winter with some simple but vibrant science ideas.

MAKE SURE TO LOOK AT OUR RAINBOW SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS TOO!

Up above I mentioned kitchen science, and there’s a few ways you can think about what kitchen science means. Is it science you can do in your kitchen at home? Is it science you can do with common kitchen supplies anywhere? How about both.

To me, kitchen science is all about really doable science ideas that families can share together at home or that teachers can easily and inexpensively set up in a classroom for a group of kids. Either way, it lets you try cool science anytime.

MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT: 30+ Awesome Kids Science Activities

WALKING WATER SCIENCE EXPERIMENT SUPPLIES

Water

Test Tubes and Rack {or cups work too!}

Food Coloring

Paper Towels

Stirrer

Scissors

Timer {optional}

WALKING WATER SCIENCE EXPERIMENT SET UP

We used test tubes for three sets of primary colors. You can use less as long as you have enough to go around with all the colors mixing.

Add red, yellow,and blue food coloring {one color per test tube} in a pattern. Give each test tune {or glass} a little stir to evenly distribute the color.

Cut thin strips of paper towel to fit in the test tubes. If you are using glasses or cups, you can judge the best size strip to fit what you are using.

Place the paper towel strips into the test tubes. There will be two ends in each tube.

Wait and watch what happens. At this point you can set up a stopwatch to make note of how long it takes for the colors to meet and mix.

MAKING PREDICTIONS

Before you insert the strips, you have the perfect opportunity to make some predictions about what will happen. Have your kids come up with a hypothesis or prediction for their experiment.

Start the conversation with, what do you think will happen when we put the towels into the water?

Once you have inserted the towels, it’s the perfect time to talk about what your kids see happening. Do they want to improve upon their hypothesis or have some new ideas about what might happen.

The whole process starts pretty quickly, but it does take awhile for the colors to begin to mix with each other. Extend the science activity: pull out the water colors and do some color mixing art while you wait.

Adding a is an easy way to turn your walking water science experiment into a STEM project. By combining math with science, you have STEM. What is STEM? Read all about STEM or science, technology, engineering, and math here.

Make sure to check on your walking water science experiment every once in awhile to see the changes over time.

WHAT’S THE SCIENCE?

Paper towels are absorbent and they absorb the colored water. As the colored water travels up the towel strip it meets up with the other colored water that has traveled up the neighboring strip.

Where the primary colors interact, they turn into the secondary colors. Both colors will continue to travel as long as the towel will absorb the water.

We left our walking water science experiment out overnight and had a mucky looking puddle of water underneath the rack. The paper towels had become oversaturated! I bet you could even test a variety of paper towel brands with this science experiment.

Science that’s colorful and simple to do! Plus, this experiment is interesting for multiple ages. Older kids should be able to set it up all by themselves and can also use our science journal page to record their results.