Grow a Rainbow Science Experiment

May 24, 2023

Grow a rainbow with your kids! This simple experiment is so easy and fun! You just
need markers, a paper towel and two cups of water! This experiment is quick to
setup and just takes a few minutes to finish!
The great thing about this experiment is young kids can do almost all of it on their
own! Our kids completed it several times! As always, make sure you supervise the
kids and be sure to ask questions about the science experiment!

Grow a Rainbow Science Experiment

Supplies Needed:

 Two Clear Cups

 Marker (Washable Markers)
 Paper Towel
 Water

Video of Grow a Rainbow Experiment

Grow a rainbow with your kids! This simple experiment is so easy and fun! You just
need markers, a paper towel and two cups of water!
0 seconds of 1 minute, 33 secondsVolume 90%
 

Grow a Rainbow Instructions

1. Take a paper towel and fold it in half so it absorbs the water better. 
2. You will then want your kids to measure the paper towel and cut it at around 7
inches. You don’t want it too long, as the colors might not connect in the
middle if it is.

Our cups were so short that the paper towel could have been a bit shorter and
the colors would have met in the middle even better.

3. You will want to use the markers to fill in about 6 or 7 rectangles on both sides
of the paper towel. They should extend out about an inch and a half. Use the
colors of the rainbow or close to it: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,
violet.
4. After that, pour water into the 2 cups. You will want the cups to be about 1/2
to 3/4 full. This will depend on how tall your cups are.
5. You will now gently put one end of the paper towel in one cup and the other
end in the second cup – making a bridge between the two cups. Try to make
sure the paper towel doesn’t fall too far into the water. If it does pull it out
slightly or separate the cups a little more. 
6. Now you just wait and watch the fun! The colors should connect in 5 – 10
minutes!
Additional Tips

 Do not place the paper towels too far into the water as the color will dissolve
into the water and not travel as high.
  The more marker dye you use, the easier it will be for the colors to travel up
and meet.
 Make sure you use a really washable marker. The more washable they are,
the better the colors will travel up the napkins.
 Use an absorbent paper towel.

The kids had a blast with this science activity! They enjoyed trying different colors
and amounts of marker. They would try to color in the sides of the paper towel with
extra marker dye to make the colors connect even faster.

This activity definitely kept them busy and having fun. And it was easy to set up and
quick to clean up too!

How does this simple science activity work?

In this rainbow experiment, capillary action is the reason the water moves up the
paper towels.

Capillary action occurs because water is sticky since water molecules like to stay
together (cohesion). And thanks to adhesion, water sticks to other substances and
will move along their walls. This allows the water to move up the paper towels!

This same action is how water moves up into plants from the roots! It’s also why
paper towels and pool towels are great at absorbing water!
Extend the Fun
Your kids can extend the fun by trying different colors, different paper towel lengths
and different amounts of marker. Our kids tried to use a lot of marker to get the
colors to grow faster!

They absolutely loved this science experiment! It was one of the easiest we have
tried and they had a blast trying lots of variations!
Using markers, water and paper towels is a great way to show capillary action at
work and amaze your kids!

Check out the Rainbow Walking Water and Color Changing Flower experiments
below for more fun experiments showing capillary action.