Combine art and science in this fun and easy activity for kids using baking soda and vinegar. It’s one of our favorite science experiments for preschool and kindergarten!

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I’ve done this art and science activity with all of my after school kindergarten classes, and it always seems to be the one they remember the most! It’s really easy to set up and you only need a few common ingredients. (This post contains affiliate links.)

Exploring Colors with Baking Soda and Vinegar

In this science activity, not only will children get to create a chemical reaction, but they’ll also be able to explore color mixing and create some colorful “artwork”!

Materials for Exploring Colors Activity

• Tray (I used a set of foil trays like these for my class.)
• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• Containers to hold the colored vinegar (I used ice cube trays.)
• Pipettes (Super inexpensive, and we use them often- like with our straw rockets and with painting activities)
• Liquid watercolors or food coloring

Directions for Exploring Colors Activity

Prior to the activity we read books about colors. A good one to read right before is  A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.

1. Give each child or group of children a tray.

2. Fill the tray with baking soda. (We used one box per tray.)

3. Fill each ice cube tray (or other container) with vinegar. Add liquid watercolors to the vinegar so each child or group has a variety of colors to use.

4. Use a pipette or dropper to place a few drops of the colored vinegar onto the tray of baking soda. Watch what happens!

5. Continue exploring with other colors.

Each group of students was absolutely enthralled with this activity! They loved watching the chemical reactions take place and hypothesized about what would happen as they added different colors.

Once the tray was completely colored (about 25-30 minutes), they stood back and admired their finished creations. They were seriously so excited and asked if they could go around and see how everyone’s turned out!

After cleaning up, we sat down and read I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont. The kids loved how many of the illustrations in the book looked just like their colorful trays.

You can find all kinds of STEM activities in our ebook! Find out more here or buy it now here!