Eye-Dropper Kids Rainbow Craft Chromatography STEM challenge advances fine motor control in preschoolers and kindergarteners while learning rainbow colors.
April 3rd is a National Find a Rainbow Day! However, whether you celebrate it or not, there is something magical about rainbows! So, if you cannot find one in the sky today, (or would rather not look) make a rainbow yourself to brighten your day! Besides, your little one will love this super fun chromatography STEM kids challenge! Most importantly, this activity promotes fine motor control while exploring colors of the rainbow. And, the set up should be minimal as you do not require any chemical solutions for this! Above all, this eye-dropper kids rainbow craft is a fun way to explore chromatography and ‘walking water’ while exercising small muscles of the hands, improving concentration, and exploring the creative side of the brain!
YOU’ll NEED for this Eye-Dropper Kids Rainbow Craft
- lego board
- food coloring
- droppers
- small glasses
- paper towel
HOW TO CONDUCT this chromatography STEM kids challenge
First, offer your child, using droppers, to fill the lego-board in a rainbow pattern and shape. Next, carefully place a piece of paper towel over it and tap slightly. Lastly, lift the paper towel and marvel at your rainbow! Wolla!
The mystery of Indigo Color
Initially, Newton described only five primary colors of the rainbow. He later added orange and indigo so that there would be seven colors to match the seven notes in a musical scale. However, later on, some color theorists chose to replace indigo and violet with a single hue: purple or violet. So, once indigo was removed from the rainbow colors, people today choose to call Newton’s blue cyan and indigo blue.
How is RAINBOW created?
Light refraction is what creates a rainbow! In fact, the color of light is made up of all the colors of the rainbow! So, as light rays travel through the air, they appear as white light to us. However, when the sunlight hits something on its way, such as a raindrop or mist, the rays bend or refract and then reflect off the inside of the water drops. Interestingly, we see different wavelengths as different colors because the angle of bending is different for various wavelengths of light. For example, the color violet bends the least while red color beds the most.
A rainbow will always be on the opposite side of the sky as the sun from the observer. In fact, rainbow colors are reflected to an eye at 42 degrees to the original ray of sunlight. Thus, seeing a rainbow depends on the angle of the sun in relation to where you are standing. This means that two people unless standing right next to each other will never see the exact same rainbow! So, when you are looking for a rainbow, be it on the National Find The Rainbow Day, or on any other occasion, look for the opposite side of the sky as the sun.
Eye droppers are a great tool to prepare the fingers for writing since they strengthen small muscles of the hand as the child squeezes and squirts! Eye droppers are also amazing for practicing coordination, for example when a child is caring water without spilling or filling to the top without overpouring. Droppers are also awesome for body control and patience! And they are fun!
Lastly, once you transposed the colors to a paper towel, lay it on a water-resist tray or scrap-paper to dry. Wolla! You have just completed a chromatography STEM kids challenge on ‘walking-water’!
Science Mystery Of Walking Water
Capillary action is a process during which liquid, like water, moves up into a material with a lot of small holes (like paper). So, if the water is colored, the paper will show the passage of water more obviously. Capillary action happens when three forces, called cohesion, adhesion, and surface tension, work together. For example, capillary action occurs because water molecules bond together due to forces of cohesion and adhesion, and stick to other substances such as paper. In fact, the adhesion of water to the surface of the material (paper napkins) will cause an upward force on the liquid (colored water). On the other hand, the surface tension acts to hold the surface intact. Thus, capillary action occurs when the adhesion to the surface material is stronger than the cohesive forces between the water molecules.
You can see this STEM experiment on Instagram HERE
Will you give this Eye-Dropper Kids Rainbow Craft a try? I would love to hear in comments!
Please, always supervise your children.
FOR MORE EYE-DROPPER Kids Crafts
FOR MORE RAINBOW STEM kids activities
FOR MORE CHROMATOGRAPHY STEM kids challenges
Please let me know which chromatography STEM challenge was your favorite?
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