Nature is full of wonders and mysteries, and one of the most beautiful natural phenomena is without a doubt rainbows.
In this article, we provide a fun and educational science activity to help kids understand this fascinating phenomenon while having fun. Follow our step-by-step instructions to create your own rainbow at home!
Activity 1: Rainbow cloud
A magical way for your little game expert to learn about the weather. Create your own rain cloud and light up the sky with the Glo Pals Light Cubes !
Materials Needed
- Transparent container (a large bowl or tray)
- Water
- Shaving cream
- Food coloring
- Glo Pal light cubes (optional but fun)
Step 1: Fill the container with water
Step 2: Dip a Glo Pal light cube!
Step 3: Create a cloud with the shaving cream
Step 4: Add a few drops of food coloring and watch it rain!
What just happened? When a cloud in the sky fills with water, gravity (the force by which something is pulled toward the center of the earth) pulls the raindrops from the clouds... just like the "raindrops" of food coloring are pulled from your "cloud" of shaving cream! Science is cool!
Activity #2
Materials Required:
- 6 transparent glasses
- Food coloring: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet
- Paper towels
- Water
Step 1: Preparing the rainbow colors
- Fill the six glasses halfway with water.
- Add a few drops of food coloring to each glass, following the order of the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
- Mix the dyes well in the water to get bright colors.
Step 2: Creating the rainbow
- Place the colored glasses in a circle on a flat surface.
- Fold a piece of paper towel in half, then roll it up to form a bridge between two adjacent glasses. The paper towel should dip into the colored water in each glass.
- Repeat this step for all the glasses, making sure to keep the order of the colors of the rainbow.
- Wait a few minutes and watch the magic happen: the colored water moves along the paper towel bridges and gradually mixes to create the shades of the rainbow.
Scientific explanation of the phenomenon
Rainbow Rain is a great way to explain the concept of capillarity to children. Capillarity is a physical phenomenon that allows a liquid to move up or down a solid surface, such as the fibers of paper towels.
In this experiment, capillarity allows colored water to move along the paper towel bridges and mix to create the shades of the rainbow.
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Rainbow Rain is a fun and educational activity that allows children to have fun while learning important science concepts. This Earth Day, marvel at the wonders of the natural world!
