CLEVELAND — If you’re like me, you needed a weekend with the kids self-entertaining with no schedule or projects. But then, their behavior tends to go off the rails. So, when my 1 year old threw a book that narrowly missed my head, I knew I needed to get this train back on the track and started searching Pinterest for something that would keep their attention.
That’s where I found a “walking water rainbow." It checked off a few boxes: Stuff I already had in the cupboard, takes minimal effort but a chunk of time AND it makes a rainbow – something my girls will be excited about.
Here’s how to do it:
- Line up seven cups (clear ones give the best view of what’s happening).
- Pour water in the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th cup.
- Put a few drops of food coloring in each. 1st cup has red, 3rd has yellow, 5th has green 7th has blue.
- Measure out a long trail of paper towels a little more than the length of the cups you have laid out.
- Fold the paper towels in half length-wise and then fold in half again (creating a snake-like paper towel).
- Stick the first end of the paper towel into the red water cup. Then arch it, stuffing part of the paper towel “snake” into the empty 2nd cup. Arch it again, stuffing a portion of it into the 3rd yellow water cup. Repeat this until you get to the last cup filled with blue water.
- Now it’s time to sit and wait!!
Eventually, your kids will see the colored water crawl up the paper towel. Wait even longer, and you’ll see water start to fill the empty cups.
If you want the kids to mimic a science class, there are PDF worksheets you can print out online that helps guide their observations. My girls were thrilled to just watch every drop, the change in colors and how the water levels changed.
Better than a book being thrown at my head.
