Color Mixing Lab STEAM Activity

What do you get when you combine science and art into a fun STEAM project?

A color mixing lab!

We continued our study of color by performing some experiments to find out what happens when you mix color.

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Set up your color mixing lab

We used two basic forms of color: colored water and colored ice cubes.

I prepped the ice a few hours earlier by adding a couple of drops of food coloring to the water in an ice cube tray. I only made the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue.

When it was time to experiment, I also made three cups of primary colored water using food coloring again.

I set up the lab with the ice cubes, water, and a pile of white coffee filters.

I showed the girls how they could dip the filters into the water to dye them.

Experiment with color

The experiments began in earnest.

We’d dip in blue and then use a yellow ice cube to color over it. Suddenly we had green!

We tried red and blue and got purple.

It wasn’t long before we had a pile of colorful coffee filters and a couple of girls wondering what would happen if they dipped a coffee filter in all of the colors? The result, a “beautiful” brown coffee filter!

When we ran out of coffee filters, we took our experiments one step further. It was time to mix the water and the ice cubes.

We dropped the yellow cubes into the blue water and watched as the water quickly turned from blue to green. Drop, drop, drop, and suddenly our primary colors turned into secondary colors.

So much fun!

Experimenting with color is a fun and vibrant way to mix a little art and science together.

Set up your own color mixing lab; it’s fun for preschoolers and school-aged kids!

What is your favorite way to experiment with color?

More colorful activities you may enjoy:

Rainbow Writing

Rainbow Color Hunt

Color Wheel Painting

Indoor Color Scavenger Hunt