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Fizzing Color Mixing

May 6, 201348,761 views
Science
Science experiments for kids : Fizzing color mixing activity Save
kids engaging in experiments Save
learn secondary colors Save
fizzing experiments Save
baking soda and vinegar color mix Save
experiments for kids with baking soda Save

by TurkeyMom in Science

Ages2–6 yrs
Prep10 min
Activity30 min
Leveleasy
MessMedium
Works for1:1 · Small group · Class

Kids squeeze colored vinegar onto colored baking soda with pipettes and watch it fizz into new colors. It's a hands-on way to explore secondary colors and a classic baking soda and vinegar reaction.

⚠️ Safety first

  • Vinegar stings eyes. Keep pipettes pointed down into the cups, and wash hands after play.
  • Not food: baking soda and vinegar are kitchen ingredients, but don't let kids drink the colored vinegar or eat the powder. Supervise toddlers closely.
  • Food color can stain hands, clothes and surfaces.

Steps

  1. Put baking soda into small bowls and add a drop of food color to each: red, yellow, blue and pink.

  2. Pour vinegar into clear cups and add a drop of food color to each: red, yellow and blue.

  3. Set out spoons, pipettes and an empty cup for the experiments.

  4. Spoon some colored baking soda into the empty cup.

  5. Squeeze a different color of vinegar onto it with a pipette and watch it fizz into a new color.

  6. Try lots of combinations. What do red and yellow make?

  7. Look closely at the fizzy results and the shapes they leave behind.

  8. Move to an empty egg carton: try yellow baking soda with blue vinegar, then blue baking soda with yellow vinegar.

Tips

  • Somehow during any color mixing experiment, the kids start off making green. Maybe the yellow to green transformation is truly dramatic!from the author
  • Just providing a few challenges here and there, like swapping which color is the powder and which is the vinegar, gets the kids excited and actively engaged.from the author
  • Ameri Gel food paste gives vibrant color with just a drop.from the author
  • If kids have done similar experiments before, let an older child show a younger one the procedure.from the author
  • Add a pink baking soda, because every activity needs a dose of pink!from the author

Make it your own

  • Move the experiment to an empty egg carton so each cup holds a different mix.
  • Swap colors: yellow baking soda with blue vinegar, then blue baking soda with yellow vinegar.

The story behind it

By TurkeyMom · May 2013
science experiments
I set out primary colored baking soda (plus pink baking soda, because every activity needs a dose of pink!) along with primary colored vinegar in clear cups.
1 / 7

Fizzing Color Mixing: the original post

Science should be ideally fun at all ages. Unfortunately somewhere along the way of growing up, school, exams, pop quizzes and projects it loses its charms and begins to get daunting. Ha! Let the kids have fun with science when they can. What better way to have fun than some good old hands - on experiment with baking soda and vinegar? We enjoy color mixing here and today we mix up color mixing and science experiments. This science experiment activity was primarily for my preschooler although my toddler wiggled and forced her way into the fun. Who can blame her? The colors are far too tempting.

  • Clear Cups
  • Eye dropper/pipettes
  • Baking Soda
  • Vinegar
  • Food Color

I set out primary colored baking soda ( plus pink baking soda because everry activity needs a dose of pink!) along with primary colored vinegar in clear cups.

science experiments To color the baking soda and vinegar I just added a drop of food color. I use Ameri Gel Food Paste and love it for the vibrant color it produces.

I also set out spoons, pipette and another empty cup to conduct the science experiments. Since we have done a few similar experiments for kids earlier, my preschooler knew exactly what she can do with the items. It was great to see her show her little sister the procedure. Whether she wanted to follow it or not is a whole different story!

kids engaging in experiments

Somehow during any color mixing experiments, the kids start off making green. May be the yellow to green transformation is truly dramatic!

learn secondary colors

This color mixing science experiment also saw many, many orange colors. So many oranges were created that my toddler kept squealing “red and yellow makes orange, orange!” These experiments seemed like a huge discovery for a young mind.

fizzing experiments

We experiment with many combinations

color mixing

This result reminds me of coral reef. Ha?

baking soda and vinegar color mix

After experimenting in cups, we moved on to an empty egg carton. We experimented with yellow baking soda and blue vinegar. Then we tried mixing blue baking soda and yellow vinegar. Just providing a few challenges here and there gets the kids excited and actively enraged in the experiment.

Here is our final result

experiments for kids with baking soda

Thanks for reading

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What readers say

💬 1 comments

Tried it?

Reviewed before it appears. No links, and please no children's names.

Read all 1 comments

  1. Janis Cox · May 2013

    Just love the vibrant colours. Blessings, Janis

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