Want to amaze your kids while also teaching them a science lesson? In part 2 of our preschool botany lessons series, I am sharing how we dyed flowers three different shades of colors in order to teach a lesson about how plants take up water from the ground.
Note: For more botany lessons for kids of all ages, see my botany unit study page.
I purchased three white carnations from a local florist and put them into three different colors of water (dyed with our Colorations Liquid Watercolor Paints).
By the next day, they had already started to turn shades of color, although the blue was by far the most pronounced.
The colors continued to deepen for several days.
When I showed the colored flowers to the kids, we talked about where the colors came from. They correctly guessed that the color in the petals had come from the water below, and we discuss how the water comes up the stem to reach the petals.
More botany resources for kids
More botany posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Teaching kids where food comes from
- The basics about plants
- Dissecting flowers
- Vegetable people craft
- Sprouting seeds
- Do seeds need light to grow?
- How leaves breathe
- How leaves get water
- Why do leaves change colors?
- Gardening do-a-dot printables
- Leaf rubbings book
For more botany activities for kids of all ages, see my Botany Unit Study page and my Botany Pinterest Board.
Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Botany Unit Study on Pinterest.
Pinkoddy says
May 20, 2013 at 3:01 amI really love this and it is on my to do list with the boys – thanks for the reminder and linking up with #MotivationalMonday
Carla says
May 21, 2013 at 9:11 amOooh, those turned out wonderfully!! Thanks for sharing this at Teach Me Tuesday at Preschool Powol Packets!!
Jeni says
May 22, 2013 at 6:04 amWow! I did not know this could happen!
Sarah says
May 23, 2013 at 1:09 pmI really love science experiments and lessons that are simple and straightforward. This is a great idea and I will be using this with my own kiddos. Thanks for posting!
Janis Cox says
May 24, 2013 at 4:19 amI saw this link from Family Fun Friday and had to write as I took a carnation from Mother’s Day and did the same thing. I am still waiting though. I will be away for a few days and I wonder if anything will happen when I get back. Did you do anything special with the stem?
Blessings,
Janis http://www.janiscox.com
Katie says
May 24, 2013 at 8:52 amI didn’t do anything special – I just cut the bottom off and put them in the colored water. Within 2 hours I could see a color appearing on the flower in the blue water, but it took longer for the flower in the orange water to show any color. Have fun with this!
Sam @ Thrive 360 Living says
May 25, 2013 at 9:21 pmOh I love this…I remember doing this as a science project when I was younger and I thought it was the coolest. When I did it, I think I spit the stem partially down the middle and put one side in one color and the other in another. So glad I saw this on here, I’ll have to do it with my son.
Katie says
May 25, 2013 at 9:54 pmNext time we do this I’m going to split the stem and put the various parts into different colored water. I can’t wait to see what the flower ends up looking like!
Kate says
May 26, 2013 at 2:45 amWow – such a great experiment! I will be doing this with my girls … I think we have white Camelias in the garden, maybe it will work for those too? We’ll see …
Carrie says
May 30, 2013 at 8:17 amSuch a fun lesson!! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Julie says
May 30, 2013 at 12:15 pmThat’s a neat science project. I think you can do something similar with celery, but the flowers look so much prettier.
Ticia says
May 31, 2013 at 6:15 amGreat idea to use liquid watercolors! Why didn’t I think of that?
Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday.
Rebecca from Here Come the Girls says
June 1, 2013 at 1:49 amGreat activities! You’ve explained so clearly.
Just letting you know I’ve featured these on The Sunday Showcase this week: http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2013/06/01/the-sunday-showcase-summer-school.html
Cdninak says
October 24, 2015 at 3:23 pmDo you dilute the liquid water colour? What ratio do you use?
Katie SG says
October 24, 2015 at 8:51 pmI am sure I did dilute the liquid watercolors, but I don’t recall the exact ratio. But given how strong the liquid watercolors are, you don’t need a lot of watercolor to make a nice colored liquid. You can probably do 1 cup of water to about 1 tablespoon of liquid watercolors, or add more if you prefer.