Have your kids tried the skittles science experiment rainbow by mixing skittles with water? Don’t you just love it when you find easy arts + crafts for kids that use minimal supplies you probably already have at home? I do! You need to check out this easy Skittles Rainbow Science Experiment!
You’ll be glad to know that your kids do not need to eat all that leftover candy from Halloween or Valentine’s Day! Turn that candy into an easy science experiment for kids! This activity is suitable for all ages, especially for toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners and even grade schoolers. As an adult, I enjoyed it too! Have your kids made a skittle rainbow with water?
Skittles Rainbow
My kids absolutely love science experiments! They still can’t stop talking about our easy volcano science experiment. I think that one won me mother of the year. This one is no different.
I don’t think I’ve ever had as many “oooooh” and “aaaah” sounds coming from them before.
We got to see a beautiful rainbow of colors from yellow, red, green and even purple. The way that the colors swirled together looked surreal! I posted a video on Facebook of our first time trying the Skittles Rainbow and it is going crazy! I guess the magic of the colors grabs people. You can try this easy kids science experiment at home too.
Materials Required:
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You will be glad to know that this activity only requires 3 things… 2 of which will already be found in your home.
- A plate or bowl… something that is slightly sloped in towards the middle.
- Water – Medium temperature tap water worked great for me. The hotter, the better.
- Skittles – You will use one bag per time you do the experiment. You could also use M&M’s
Watch my kids do the skittles science project below.
How to make a rainbow skittles science experiment?
These simple picture instructions and video instructions will walk you through step by step through the experiment.
Place your Skittles in a circle around your dish. You could try doing this in different shapes to see what happens. We just tried it by doing a circle.
Once you have completed the circle add in medium temperature water in the middle. Make sure you add enough to go right to the edge of the candy on both sides.
Wait thirty seconds to see the colors begin to come out. The color will start dissolving away from the shell once you add in the warm water.
Then be completely amazed by your beautiful results! At the end you can have your child mix all the colors together using a toothpick or their finger. You can discuss how when you mix colors together it becomes a brownish color.
Variations: Older kids can work on patterning. That’s what my 7 year old did here. My three year old just placed the skittles in a circle. It really helped that the bowl I chose had the outline of the perfect circle. This helped her create a circle easily.
Video Of Skittles Rainbow Kids Candy Science Experiment
What is the science behind the skittles experiment?
Skittles are made and coated with sugar, so once you add warm water to it the coloring and coat begin to dissolve very quickly. This makes it the perfect activity for young toddlers with minimal patience!
Check out more of the latest activities on the Fun With Mama Blog.
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Fran Mahoney says
Could you do the skittle rainbow on a cardboard plate then you could save the rainbow after it dries. You could discard any skittles that didn’t disolve.
Hena Tayeb says
that’s a cool idea too Fran.
Hena Tayeb says
I have been gathering fun ideas to do with my two boys during the summer break.. adding this one to the list.
Linda says
I came over from Happiness is Homemade and I am so glad I did. This will be amazing for my twin grandsons to try. And they love Skittles. I’ll have to double the amount! This proves there is are in science.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda