Young kids love to bake. This activity lets them go frosting crazy, while experimenting with colors, and how they mix. Once the science experiment is done, it’s time for milk and cookies!
What You Need:
- Sugar cookies (either homemade or store bought)
- Food coloring
- White frosting
- 10 small plastic bowls
- Set of measuring spoons
- Larger spoon for mixing (like a tablespoon)
What You Do:
- Explain to your child that there are three fantastic colors, called the primary colors, that can be mixed to create different colors.
- Together, put 3 tablespoons of frosting in 3 different bowls. Add food coloring to the frosting so that you have 1 bowl of each of the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue.)
- Show your child how various colors can be made by mixing equal amounts of these primary colors, to make new colors. (For example, Red + Yellow = Orange; Red + Blue = Purple, Yellow + Blue= Green.)
- Let your child explore. Have her scoop a tablespoon of 2 colors of her choosing into an empty bowl and mix them, to see what color it makes. She can continue doing this with all of the other empty bowls. She can also experiment with creating different shades, depending on how much food coloring is added to the white frosting, and she can add white frosting to an already mixed bowl, to see how it adjusts the color.
Once the novelty wears off, it’s time to decorate! Grab the plate of cookies and ask your child to do her magic, using whichever combination of colors she’d like. Pour two glasses of milk, and enjoy!
By Andrea McConnell
Andie McConnell has taught a wide variety of grades at charter, private and public schools. She holds a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. And she's the proud mom of a preschooler.
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