Colour mixing with ice cubes

A fun, easy STEM activity which teaches simple colour mixing.

Discovering which colours are made when mixing different primary colours together was certainly exciting for Leo (3yrs) and for Ella (almost 7yrs) it's been a good reminder. Leo said he really loved this so I think we will be doing it again!

WHAT TO DO

Add blue, yellow and red food colouring separately to water and freeze in an ice cube tray.

Pour slightly warm water into some glasses and then you might like to try these colour combinations:

Red + blue (makes purple)

Yellow + blue (makes green)

Red + yellow (makes orange)

You can ask the kids to experiment with different combinations of multiple ice cubes - is a better colour produced when you add more than one of the same colour cubes?

You could also ask the kids to predict what colours they think will be made before they add the cubes to the water.

THE SCIENCE BIT

The colours used are all PRIMARY colours. Primary colours can not be made by mixing other colours. All the colours made by mixing the primary colours are SECONDARY colours.

The kids had a blast doing this and once all the ice had gone they enjoyed making 'potions' with the coloured water.