Create a Walking Rainbow!

To celebrate, Norwich Science Festival shows you how to create your own walking rainbow at home!

Watch how the colours move and blend together over time.

This activity is part of Science on Your Doorstep, a project that brings all the wonders of science to families in new areas of Norwich. Walking Rainbows is delivered in partnership with The Little Storytelling Company.

You will have received your Walking Rainbows kit pack directly from your school.

For those who do not have a kit pack, you can still try this at home with a some supermarket food dye and simple equipment from your kitchen!

Find out more about British Science Week.

You will need

• Six clean glasses/cups

• A pair of scissors

• A spoon

• Water from the tap

• Red food dye

• Blue food dye

• Yellow food dye

• Six paper towels

• An adult to help you!

Be careful! Food dye will stain hands and clothes. Cover your working space with old newspaper or a tablecloth that you can wipe down. Wear an apron or old clothes that you don't mind getting stained!

Watch the instruction video

Amanda Hartley, founder of The Little Storytelling Company, walks you through the activity step-by-step!

What's happening here?

Amanda explains the science behind the Walking Rainbows activity.

After 5-20 minutes

You may notice that the water (a liquid) mixed with the food dye started to travel upwards through the kitchen roll (a solid). The water moved against gravity - which should pull it downwards, not up! This process is called capillary action.

After 1 hour

You may notice that the water then started to collect in the empty glasses.

Overnight

If you are able to safely leave your glasses set up on the table overnight, then you may start to notice the colours mixing and making new colours! What colours can you see?

Why does the water travel up the paper towel?

This happens because water is sticky! Although it doesn't feel sticky to touch, does it? Water is made up of lots of tiny particles which we can't see with just the naked eye!

The particles of water stick to each other, and to other materials - like the paper towel!

The paper towel is made of a material called cellulose, which if you could zoom in to look at it, you would see that it is full of gaps.

The tiny water particles stick to the paper towel, filling the gaps and moving up through it.

This is the same process that plants use to transport water from their roots to their leaves!

Science on Your Doorstep is presented by Norwich Science Festival and The Forum. This project is kindly supported by: