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Skittles Experiment

By Karen Cox | Affiliate Disclosure | Filed Under: Colors, Science Experiments

This is a really cool experiment I saw at a workshop I attended. In this experiment children will place Skittles in water and watch the “S” float to the top!

Exploring Colors: Floating S Experiment

Materials Needed:

Disposable bowls
Small cups
Skittles candy
Pitcher of water
Printable recording sheet and crayons or markers

Set Up:

In advance, gather all materials. Place at least 3 Skittles in each child’s cup. I gave each child about 6, so they could eat a few, but they will need 3 for the experiment. Find a stable surface for the experiment (the floor, a table that does not shake). Print and copy the Recording Sheets for each child.

Download: Floating S Recording Sheet

Procedure:

I gave the children a bowl, a small cup of water, and a small cup of Skittles candy. The children were instructed to pour the water into the bowl (you only need enough water so that it will cover the Skittles.) Then they choose three different colors of Skittles to place in the bowl at the edges and spaced out so they weren’t touching each other (I let them eat the rest). The children observed what happened to the colors (the colors will spread out and eventually blend with other colors and the three S’s float to the top).

I recorded their verbal observations on paper and the children recorded their observations by drawing what they saw in the bowl (see example below). An important note: this experiment only works well if the bowl sits on a very stable surface, such as a table that does not shake or the floor. Make sure the children understand not to touch or move the bowl. Be sure to place the Skittles with the S side up.

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37 Comments Tagged With: Pre-K, Preschool

About Karen Cox

Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Audrey says

    July 12, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    What a great idea! We are doing a Summer Camp unit of “Colors All Around” and this will be a perfect addition to the science center. Thank you for the visual. It really helped to see exactly what the end result should be. Thanks again for the wonderful idea. P.S. LOVE your site.

    Reply
  2. prekinders says

    July 12, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    Thank you, Audrey!

    Reply
  3. Deborah K Welcher says

    February 28, 2010 at 9:29 pm

    Hello,
    Thanks for the skittle observation lesson. thi s is simple but extremly complex. Thanks a million. We are using it in class At Wee Patriots Academy on the camous of Westside HIgh School in Augusta, Georgia.
    Deborah K. WElcher

    Reply
  4. Ayn Colsh says

    March 1, 2010 at 7:13 pm

    I tried tis last year and it didn’t work. After reading your post, I realize we did it on the table and my friends were probably wiggling the table about! I’ll try a more stable landing spot this year!

    P.S. I’m from Augusta, Ga, too!

    Reply
  5. Raz - London says

    June 5, 2010 at 7:12 am

    Great ideas! Wonderful site. Many thanks.

    Reply
  6. kristan schrader says

    December 16, 2010 at 9:59 pm

    I tried this at school the other day and every child had success!! I did do it on the floor which I think helped!! The kids ALL loved it and it was nice to actually have something work the way it was supposed to!!!

    Reply
    • Secret says

      January 28, 2012 at 11:35 pm

      Thank u for these ideas I’m a fifth grader I needed some help trying 2 do a science project with my BFF.and we needed some help thanks alot

      Reply
      • Karen says

        January 29, 2012 at 9:01 pm

        Great! I’m glad you could use it.

        Reply
  7. melissa says

    January 26, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    I use some of these ideas for my MD Unit in high school. It is great hands-on stuff usable for Any ability level!

    Reply
  8. Stacy says

    November 8, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    I just wanted to THANK YOU! Your website is phenomenal!!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      November 9, 2011 at 9:49 pm

      thanks so much Stacy!

      Reply
  9. Josie says

    January 11, 2012 at 9:14 am

    About how long does this activity take? I am wanting to use this experiment for my Sunday School class, but only have a certain amount of time to do it in. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 17, 2012 at 6:21 pm

      Hi Josie, I’m not sure. I believe I had a 30 minute block of time, but sometimes things take a little longer. Time can also depend on the interests of the children. I’d say about 30 minutes. If you need to do it more quickly, you might want to do one that all the children can see.

      Reply
  10. marion evans says

    January 26, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    Just did this with my pre-k class, they loved it and was asking all kind of great questions . Thanks for the great experiment!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 28, 2012 at 10:37 am

      Marion, I’m glad your class enjoyed it!

      Reply
  11. Jime says

    May 23, 2012 at 5:39 pm

    Hello,

    I wanted to ask you, several have asked me why the colors dont mix, do you some clear explanation I could give?
    Please, it is for the Science Fair this friday,

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      June 11, 2012 at 11:53 pm

      Hi! The colors actually will mix if the bowl is stirred or shaken. That’s why I recommend using it on a table that is pretty solid, with no shake to it. I don’t think there’s any fantastic scientific reason preventing the colors from mixing — it’s simply that the water hasn’t moved at all.

      Reply
  12. mickey sayles says

    June 11, 2012 at 4:56 pm

    Why does the S float to the survace?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      August 13, 2012 at 8:25 pm

      Same reason anything floats– density. The object is lighter than the amount of water it displaces.

      Reply
  13. Joy Novak says

    June 14, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    Did this today with my boys – they LOVED it! Thank you for sharing! 🙂

    Reply
    • Karen says

      June 14, 2012 at 5:52 pm

      Glad you & your boys enjoyed it!

      Reply
  14. Karen says

    July 5, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    I can’t wait to try this with my class next year! What a great experiment and site!

    Reply
    • Karen says

      July 11, 2012 at 2:00 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  15. Midge Diener says

    August 22, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    I’ll be using this in my children’s church. I love to have a visual object lesson.

    Midge,
    Delaware

    Reply
  16. Lindsay says

    November 6, 2012 at 12:26 pm

    Thanks for this!!! i am doing this for a science experiment and you are the only person who did this!!!! i have to have a source that already did this and i looked for 3 days trying to find a source! Thanks for being my source!!

    Reply
  17. Lindsay says

    November 6, 2012 at 12:28 pm

    Do you know any other source that has this Experiment?

    Reply
  18. Tara says

    January 9, 2013 at 11:30 am

    I LOVE this idea!!! My kindergartener is Scienctist for the day and he is going to do it with his class.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  19. ahcali says

    January 22, 2013 at 5:27 pm

    Hi, my 4 year old was “scientist of the week” at her preschool today. She did this activity and it was HUGE hit. I got a personal email from her teacher telling me how great the activity was and that she is adding it to her list of things to do with future students. I gave her this link as well. Thanks so much for the fabulous idea!

    Reply
  20. Colleen Edwards says

    January 28, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    Thank you so much Karen for allowing me to use your site. I am aspiring to be an Early childhood teacher and you site has so many things I can use for class. Thanks again.
    Colleen

    Reply
  21. Lakshmi says

    June 15, 2013 at 10:29 am

    Dear Karen

    I tried the experiment using skittles and it was a big hit with my four years old. They were fascinated and excited watching the colours mix and blend and finally waiting to see the letter S floating up. Thank you, you have a great website, very useful.

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      June 17, 2013 at 4:40 pm

      Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  22. Marsha Reynolds says

    July 16, 2013 at 3:23 pm

    This sounded so cool that I had to try it NOW. Since I did not have skittles I used M&M’s. Within 2 minutes I had cool colors and floating M’s! I will have to try this with my Pre-school class. They will love it.

    Reply
  23. Dalia says

    August 23, 2013 at 4:04 am

    Love your site, I live in Israel and was wondering if m+m’s will work? Don’t think we have skittles here.

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      August 23, 2013 at 8:11 pm

      I think M&M’s will work. I haven’t tried it, but I think I’ve heard of people doing the experiment with them.

      Reply
  24. Sheryl says

    March 17, 2014 at 6:13 pm

    Thanks for the worksheet! My class will be doing this as part of “Rainbow Week.” They love experiments!!

    Reply
  25. amber crabtree says

    March 23, 2014 at 1:16 pm

    thanks for sharing i am going to try this for my science project it looks great!

    Reply
  26. Bianca says

    March 9, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    My friend Amber did it and won first place . She said she got it off of this site I was like wow good job pre k who ever did this awesome.my name is Bianca I love this thank you .

    P.S. my friend said thank you too.

    Reply

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Glad you're here! You'll find hands-on learning activities, themes, and printables for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten kids. I'm Karen Cox, a Pre-K teacher in Georgia. I have taught 4-5 year olds for 20+ years! Read More…

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