Have you ever done the magic spoons trick? It’s great for a little bit of magic and a little bit of science in one fell swoop. For the magic spoons you need spoons (of course), small glasses (clear is best), food coloring, baking soda, and vinegar. Perhaps you can see where this is going.
To prepare, make sure you have an equal number of spoons and cups. Put a little bit of food coloring on all spoons but one, and let them dry.
Then put a bit of water in all the cups but one. Put vinegar in the last cup.
Put cornstarch on each spoon with food coloring. Put baking soda on the spoon without any.
Then, let the children stir their spoons into their cups, one at a time. Obviously, the spoons with food coloring on them will ‘magically’ turn the water colors.
The spoon with the baking soda (do make sure you match it up with the cup of vinegar, or this will be quite the flop) obviously does something different.
Now, if you set this up ahead of time, your kids won’t know what’s going to happen. The boys had seen someone else do it, though, so I was explaining to them how it worked and showed them every step along the way. Either method is fun, and it’s really easy. Go on! Try it!
