Color Changing Milk!

Color changing milk is an explosion of color, but not simply from adding food coloring to milk. One special ingredient, the colors "explode" and can be blended and swirled around a bowl of milk. This is a neat trick that will amaze any child and their friends.

Check out this video for some really cool shapes that were formed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Wl-V5zOGs


Materials:
- milk (whole or 2%)
- large bowl
- food coloring
- dish soap (Dawn usually works the best)
- cotton swabs

Steps:
1.) Pour enough milk in the bowl to completely cover the bottom to the depth of about 1/4 inch. Allow the milk to settle.
2.) Add one drop of each of the four colors of food coloring - red, yellow, blue, and green - to the milk. Keep the drops close together in the center of the bowlof milk.
3.) Place a drop of liquid dish soap on the end of a cotton swab. Place the soapy end of the cotton swab in the middle of the milk and hold it there for 10 to 15 seconds. Look at that burst of color!
4.) Add another drop of soap to the tip of the cotton swab and try it again. Experiment with placing the cotton swab at different places in the milk.

Oobleck!

Although it may look kind of gross, Oobleck is a pretty cool science project that is fun for kids of all ages!  Oobleck has the properties of both a solid and a liquid when made properly.  Your child will have hours of fun playing with this slimey substance that looks just like a liquid until you squeeze it in your hand.

Leave some surprise to the kids you will do this project with and watch their faces grow excited (and confused!) by what is happening in front of their eyes.  Have them punch the substance to see how it reacts and then have them let their hand sink in while you hold the bowl and have them pull their hand out as quick as they can!

Materials:
  - water
  - corn starch
  - food coloring (optional)
  - large mixing bowl
  - measuring cup (that measures exactly 1 cup)


Steps:
1.)  If you would like colored Oobleck, mix a few drops of fiid coloring into a cup of water.
2.)  Pour your water into the large mixing bowl and follow with two cups of corn starch.
3.)  Stir the mixture, it will take about ten minutes for the Oobleck to mix perfectly.


Here's a neat video to show your kids after making the craft:

Kids Craft #4: Bubble Prints

Almost every child is a bubble lover.  What better way to do arts and crafts than with your child's favorite activity?

This project involves parental involvement becasue it takes some patience and time to get the bubble mixture to be the proper color and still be able to actually blow bubbles.  In doing this project myself, there was a lot of trial and error involved in mixing the bubbles, so your projects may actually turn out way better than my finished project.


Materials:
  - white paper
  - bubbles (from the dollar store in the smaller bottles)
  - food coloring
  - tape and duck tape (optional)

Steps:
1.)  Pour desired amount of food coloring into one half of the bottle of bubble mix.  If using a newer bubble solution, pour half of the bottle into a plastic cup and then add food coloring.  TIP: test out your colored bubbles on a sheet of paper before giving the colored mix to your children.
2.)  If outdoors, tape the white paper to the driveway (or other outdoor surface you do not mind getting dirty).  If indoors, I would suggest covering your work space with newspaper and putting your white paper on top OR cover you surface entirely with white paper and make a colored bubble collage.
3.)  Give the colored bubble mixture to your children and allow them to blow bubbles at the paper any way they prefer.
4.)  When they have completed their project, allow them to dry overnight.  Create a "frame" with fun duck tape if you desire by folding the tape 
in half over the edges.