Create Magic Colors DIY

Materials you'll need

• White paper
• Markers (red, orange, yellow, green, blue)
• Plastic sheet protector
• Vegetable oil
• Food coloring (multiple colors) mixed with water
• Wooden skewer or craft stick

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Use markers to draw large circles on white paper, one for each color. Label each circle with its color name: red, orange, yellow, green, blue.

Step 2: Slide the paper into a plastic sheet protector so the drawing shows through.

Step 3: Pour about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil onto the surface of the sheet protector and spread it across the whole surface.

Step 4: Squeeze or drip drops of each colored water onto the oily surface, scattering them around.

Step 5: Use a wooden skewer or craft stick to drag each colored drop into its matching circle!

Learn more

You may have heard that water and oil don't mix. Water molecules love sticking to each other far more than they like sticking to oil. This is called surface tension, the invisible force that pulls water into tight, round drops. The oil coating on the sheet protector makes the surface slippery and water-repelling, so the colored drops bead up, hold their shape, and glide around easily. That's what lets you steer them right into their matching circles with just a stick!