My daughter loves experimenting with Skittles and we had fun experimenting with the classic Skittles experiment, and adapting it for a little Halloween science and Christmas science too. We thought it would work just as well for New Year so designed this New Year Skittles experiment for kids, perfect for a little STEM exploration at home.
New Year Skittles experiment for kids
You don’t need much equipment. Just a big bag of Skittles, a white plate, and a jug of cold water. You could also grab a timer if you want to time how quickly the colour changes.
The first thing to do is decide what colours you are going to use. My daughter wanted to make the numbers 2021 from Skittles and tried a few different ways.
First she used all the colours, then decided to make each number from a different colour.
The next step was to pour a little water onto the plate, slowly enough that the skittles didn’t move out of place, but enough to cover the sweets.
Gradually the colours leeched from the skittles. The food colouring in the Skittles was very strong and created a really pretty pattern, drawn to the centre of the plate.
So why does this happen? Well the Skittles are covered in sugar and food colouring which dissolve as the water touches them. The coloured water then slowly moves towards the centre of the plate.
The above process took about 4 minutes but we left the experiment out a little longer. The end results weren’t so pretty but my daughter decided the sweets could still be eaten!
You may be interested in our other science experiments for kids:
Grow your own salt water crystals
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