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You are here: Home / Themes / Colors / Exploring Colors with Baking Soda and Vinegar

January 13, 2016 By Chelsey 11 Comments

Exploring Colors with Baking Soda and Vinegar

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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!

Follow our Science for Kids Pinterest board!

 

Science and Art for Kids: Exploring colors with chemical reactions (A fun science activity for preschool and kindergarten using baking soda and vinegar)

 

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.)

 

Check out even more hands-on fun in the video below!

 

 

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.)

 

fill a tray with baking soda

 

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!

 

Science and Art for Kids: Colorful Chemical Reactions

 

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.

 

Science and Art for Kids: Colorful Chemical Reactions

 

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.

 

Science and Art for Kids: Colorful Chemical Reactions


You can find all kinds of STEM activities in our ebook! Find out more here or buy it now here!
Fizz, Pop, Bang! 40 Playful Science and Math Activities for Kids

 

Filed Under: Colors, Kindergarten, Preschool, Science Tagged With: baking soda, chemical reactions, colors

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Comments

  1. Chantal says

    May 3, 2016 at 3:44 am

    Try putting (sturdy) paper underneath the baking soda. Afterwards, you can brush off the baking soda and you’ll end up with a beautiful and colorful artwork. Use enough vinegar, so the liquid reaches the paper.

    Reply
    • Chelsey says

      May 3, 2016 at 7:37 am

      Love this idea!!

      Reply
  2. Kari says

    July 11, 2016 at 11:54 am

    Is it ok for the kids to touch and play with final product?

    Reply
    • Chelsey says

      July 11, 2016 at 8:31 pm

      It’s safe to touch, but would hurt the eyes if it got in them. My kinders couldn’t resist getting their hands in it, but I wouldn’t children much smaller to go crazy with it. 🙂 This play sand would be a fun material for younger children.

      Reply
  3. Emily says

    August 8, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    Does food coloring work instead of liquid water colors? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Chelsey says

      August 9, 2016 at 10:08 am

      Food coloring will work, but will probably stain, so be sure to wear some play clothes! 🙂

      Reply
  4. forrest says

    September 22, 2016 at 8:04 pm

    Last week we did this in our class with 3 and 4 year olds. They had a blast!
    thanks for the idea. Forrest

    Reply
  5. p. Shawley says

    June 18, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    Going to try a couple experiments with school agers this coming week.Thank you for the ideas as well as the simple ingredients.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous says

    October 3, 2017 at 5:31 am

    Will it dry up? or it will just stay liquid?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 25 Science Activities for Preschoolers That are Totally Awesome says:
    September 20, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    […] science activity encourages kids to explore colors with chemical reactions. It’s also a great way to develop fine motor […]

    Reply
  2. Super Fun & Easy Science Activities That Kids Will Love says:
    June 28, 2017 at 7:31 am

    […] reaction. It is a classic and so fun experiment. This combination can also be a fantastic way to explore the world of color. A chemical reaction + color exploration = […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Buggy and Buddy! I'm Chelsey, a former teacher and parent living on the central coast of California. I love sharing crafts, science, STEM and STEAM activities, free printables and more! Read More…

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