"Climbing Rainbow," Science Experiment for Kids

.Amelia White
"Climbing Rainbow," Science Experiment for Kids

At Christ Clarion Preschool in Pittsford, New York, they designed this fun science experiment you can easily do at home! It is called a, "Climbing Rainbow," and looks beautiful once the experiment is done!

How to Make Your Own, "Climbing Rainbow."

First cut a strip of paper towel which is about 2X5 inches in size.

Use markers to make a strip of little blocks the colors of the rainbow on the short side/edge. Let the markers dry because if the ink is still wet the experiment not work nearly as well.

This step can be done one of two different ways. You can tape paper towel's top to a vertical surface and then put one end in an empty cup or you can make an arch using a little wooden block or a pencil and use two cups--although this method requires both shorter ends to have colored edges.

Pour water into the cup/cups and watch what happens!

How the, "Climbing Rainbow," Experiment Works

Once the paper towel starts absorbing the water it engages a capillary action, which carries the water (as well as the marker ink) up the paper towel. This makes the colors climb-up (or if you made an arch, meet in the middle) thereby forming a rainbow!

Possible Variations for the Experiment

If you don't want to make a rainbow you can use just two, three, or four different colors and see how they mix together.You can also see if different brands of paper towels let the water travel faster or slower.

Post-Experiment Suggestions

Once you're done with this experiment you can dry the paper towel out and then laminate it! By doing this you can make a fun bookmark or suncatcher.You can do the experiment multiple times and combine the paper towels for another art project too.