Paper Towel Tie Dye

I saw this “science experiment” in Parents magazine, so I thought I’d try it.  Mr. C and his friends loved it, and it was really easy!  You take a marker, make a squiggly line on a paper towel, then soak the paper towel in water up to the line.  The kids watch the water travel up the paper towel and soak the line, which causes the ink to migrate upwards with the water, separating the colors in the marker as it goes.  If you let it dry, you’ll see the colors better later.  It was really interesting for me and the kids to find light pink, hot pink, and another shade of pink, as well as blue, all in the pink marker.  We also discovered that permanent marker and dry erase marker ink doesn’t move with the water.  You can also try other things, like find out what happens when you soak the line with water and take it out (the ink travels down instead of up) or what happens when you make zig zags or a line of As instead of a squiggly line.  Here are some of our best results: