- 5 - 15 mins
- Fine motor, colour mixing, science concepts
- Minimal mess
- Easy
Rainbow Fizz is a super easy experience that can be set up in minimal time, is inexpensive and will engage and capture your little one’s attention. By just using baking Soda, food colouring and vinegar your children will create some magical rainbow fizziness to explore colour and colour mixing. Your child will engage their fine motor development, be encouraged to engage with basic science concepts and thinking and have a load of fun doing it. I’m certain your children will love this one!
What you will need
- Cupcake tray
- Food colouring
- Vinegar
- Baking soda
- Cup
- Range of fine motor tools- spoon, pipette, syringe.
Activity steps
Setup
- Put a drop of food colouring in each cupcake hole. I used a range of colours and mixed all the colours up, so it was really a guess with which colour was in each.
- Add a well heaped scoop of baking soda to each cupcake hole to cover the food dye. You may need to add more/less depending on your cupcake tray.
- Now fill up a plastic cup with some vinegar.
- Offer the cupcake tray and vinegar cup to your child with a range of fine motor tools and lets them explore and discover!
Questions to ask:
- What colour do you think will be in each hole?
- What happens when you add vinegar to the bicarb soda?
- Why do you think the bicarb soda reacts that way?
- What will happen if you mix some of the colours together?
Learning Opportunities
- Fine motor- Your children will engage their fine motor development when manipulating the various tools to dispense the vinegar to the cupcake holes.
- Science concepts- Your children will be encouraged to engage in basic science concepts such as prediction, experimentation, investigation, and critical thinking. They will learn the basic effects of cause and effect and chemical reaction.
- Colour mixing- Your children will be able to engage in colour identification and colour mixing attributes throughout their play.
Reference sites
We would like to acknowledge these amazing sites that have inspired us to create this activity. Thank you!