Walking Water Experiment

Watch water 'walk' from one cup to another to create new colors! This experiment teaches kids about capillary action, which is how plants pull water from the ground up to their leaves.

Materials

• clear plastic cups (7)
• paper towels (6-7 sheets)
• water (approx. 3.5 cups)
• food coloring (red, blue, yellow, and purple bottles)

Safety

• Protect work surface. Materials may stain clothing.
• Adult supervision required for children under 8.

Steps

1. Line up 7 clear cups in a row.
2. Fill every other cup with water (the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th cups), leaving the cups in between empty.
3. Add food coloring to the filled cups: put red in the first, yellow in the second filled cup, blue in the third, and purple in the fourth.
4. Stir the food coloring into the water until well mixed.
5. Fold a sheet of paper towel into a long, thin strip by folding it three times.
6. Repeat the folding process until you have 6 paper towel strips.
7. Place one end of a paper towel strip into a filled cup and the other end into an adjacent empty cup.
8. Continue this process until all cups are connected by paper towel bridges, alternating between filled and empty cups.
9. Wait overnight (or several hours) for the water to travel up the towels and fill the empty cups.
10. Observe how the colors mix in the empty cups to create new colors like green and orange.
11. Carefully remove the paper towels to see the colorful 'tie-dye' effect left behind.