Walking Water Rainbow
Fill six cups with red, yellow, and blue water, leaving gaps. Fold paper towels into bridges and watch colours walk and mix into secondary colours.
Colour STEM Experiments
Hands-on science activities that help children explore mixing, absorption, and light. Perfect for EYFS, KS1, and curious KS2 learners.
STEM
Science
Investigation
Vocabulary
Safety reminders
- Supervise water experiments at all times.
- Use aprons to protect clothing.
- Encourage gentle handling of glass jars.
Classic colour experiments
Sweet Science Rainbow
Arrange Skittles or M&Ms in a circle on a plate. Add warm water and watch the sugar dissolve to make a colour wheel.
Colour Chromatography
Draw a black line with felt-tip pens on coffee filters. Dip into water to reveal the hidden rainbow of pigments.
Light Spectrum Prism
Shine a torch through a glass of water to cast a rainbow on a wall. Compare the spectrum colours with paint samples.
Lesson structure
Start with a prediction prompt and model key vocabulary. Encourage children to draw what they see, then discuss why the colours changed.
- Prediction: What colours will we make?
- Observation: What is happening slowly?
- Conclusion: Why did the colour move or mix?
STEM vocabulary bank
absorb, dissolve, pigment, mix, spectrum, transparent, opaque, gradient
Encourage children to use these words in full sentences for extra communication and language development.