This is the best color mixing activity for your light table because it also includes some simple science for kids! Children love to create new colors and they totally adore anything that will bubble and fizz. Having both those two elements in a hands-on science activity makes this activity a sure fire hit with kids! This activity is part of our Light & Reflections Series so make sure you check out the links at the bottom for more fun light table activities!
Affiliate links provided for your convenience, see my disclosure for more info.
Bubbling Color Mixing! Fun Light Table Science
Materials:
- Light table
- Baking soda
- Vinegar
- Food coloring
- Plastic pipettes
- Clear cups/container for baking soda & vinegar
- Plastic tray for mixing colors
To make the colored baking soda I added a few drops of food coloring to the baking soda and mixed until it was well blended. The red looked pink no matter how much food coloring I seemed to add, I think gel food coloring would have worked better than the traditional food coloring I used to make it a red color. Regardless of being more pinkish, it worked perfectly as red when vinegar was added.
I set up 3 clear containers with vinegar and added a few drops of food coloring to each of the containers. I did add a few extra drops to the yellow because in other projects the yellow often gets overpowered by red & blue if it’s not a bit more concentrated. Then set out the containers of colored backing soda and the colored vinegar with some pipettes and a tray for mixing.
The kids jumped right into and were color mixing right away! They would select a color of baking soda, scoop some into a tray, and then pick a color of vinegar to mix with it. Before they mixed them together I would ask them to predict what color they thought would be created by combining the two colors they picked. Next, the kids would combine the two and see what happened and what color was created.
“Red and yellow make orange!”
My kids were so excited when the mixture would start to bubble and fizz! It was a great beginning science activity for them!
The older kids did a great job of predicting what colors would be created and the younger kids loved the instant changes that occurred.
After they mixed colors into each section of the tray they decided it was time to make some “color stew” This involves much dumping, pouring, and mixing of the “fairy dust” and “magic bubbling water.” First you need to scoop lots of “fairy dust” into the middle
They went all crazy at the end. It became a total sensory play activity and our tray ended up like a hot mess. Thankfully this is why the light panel has a cover! 😉
It was so much fun! The kids ask to do this color mixing activity all the time. Try it today! We’re obsessed with our light table but even if you don’t have one this will still be so much fun!
Here’re more science activities for the light table:
Exploring Symmetry with Snowflakes at Next Comes L
Experimenting with Ice on the Light Table at Happily Ever Mom
Looking for more crafts and activities? Check out our index for 100+ plus kids activities! Find activities by theme, materials, skills, age and much more!
What a beautiful invitation, Lisette! I love that princesses can get messy too 😉
Oh and I totally need some clear containers like those for my light table!
Thanks! I got all those trays from the dollar store we have locally. They have all kinds of trays and containers in clear and all different transparent colors, which also means that I do too! It may be the dollar store but I end up spending a lot of those dollars 😉
great post! I like the pictures. Great project.
will comment back – http://www.oldfashionmom.com/
oh my gosh how cute i love this such a great experiment for the kids!
Sheena @ http://thekeeperofcheerios.blogspot.com/
What a great idea! I just found your site via Mom Bloggers. Glad I came across is.
Such lovely colors! I just need a light table!
I love this. I recently did something like this with my son but I never though of adding the food coloring to the baking soda. I am sure he would have a blast with this as well!
Great post! An activity where little ones can learn and have fun at the same time. My type of activity.
Stopping by from "Sharing Saturday". Following you via Bloglovin.
Have a great weekend 🙂
Thank you SO much for linking up this week on Mommy Club Wednesday!We can't wait to see what neat ideas you may link up in the future! And what a fun light panel craft! I love how vibrant it makes the colors!
Thanks so much!
Shannon Schmid (MilkandCuddles.com)
This looks like lots of fun for children and grown ups too! Thank you for sharing with We Love Weekends recently. I have highlighted this post in today's We Love Weekends via Peakle Pie http://peaklepie.com/last-day-of-autumn-wlw-30th-november-2013/ as it is a fabulous way to show colour mixing! Please join us again soon to share some more of your posts!
It was so much fun! Thanks for highlighting it!! 🙂