We’ve had so much fun with simple science experiments at home over the last few months. I’m not sure where the time has gone but I haven’t shared nearly as many as I wanted to. Today I’m going to share a simple science experiment to do with kids at home – how to dye white flower with food colouring. It’s really simple to set up but the results are amazing, perfect for a little science at home.

Colouring white flower with food colouring equipment
White flowers
A selection of food colours
Water
Glass jars or containers

How to dye white flower with food colouring

It took us a while to find a bunch of white flowers. Carnations or roses work really well with this experiment and fortunately we found a bunch of white roses at the supermarket.

Choose 3 flowers and cut them so the stem is the same length. Then place your cut white flowers each in its own jar or container and fill with water.

Add 10-20 drops of food colouring to each container of water. We used red, blue and green- dark colours work better!

Then leave the flowers and watch how they absorb the coloured water.

As the water travels through the stem, where does it go? How can you tell?

Water travels up tiny tubes in the plant by a process called Capillary Action. Adding food dye to the water in the container lets us observe capillary action at work. It’s simple but a great way for kids to learn at home.

You may be interested in our other science experiments for kids:

How to make a water compass

Grow your own salt water crystals

Easy Skittles vs Smarties experiment