Science, Milk, and Fireworks!
After seeing a great link to a science experiment post about making fireworks with milk, dish soap, and food coloring, I wondered if the results might yield a print. Boy did it!
You can find the original instructions for the experiment here...
After following all the steps here I placed the paper on top of our mixture we had prepared in a shallow cookie pan. What resulted was very pretty, but not exactly vibrant as you can see...
In pursuit of capturing the bright firework colors permanently, we decided to try placing the paper in the pan first and then adding the milk, food coloring and finally the dish soap.
This process produced significantly richer colors.
We allowed them to stay in the milk mixture for about 10 minutes after we were done adding colors and soap and laid them to dry on paper towels. The paper was quite curled by the time it was dry so I mounted them on shiny black cardstock to simulate a night time sky.
This was a fun way to combine science and art with my boys and I plan to try it out soon with my art students as well.
Next time I think I will experiment with liquid watercolor paint and perhaps tempera as well and see what happens!
As a science extension to this activity you might try finding out what causes this reaction. Is it a physical or chemical reaction that occurs.
Steve Spangler has a great explanation of
the science behind the fun here.
Or for more soapy fun, check out this link.
As an art extension, take a look at the prints and see if there are any hidden pictures in there waiting to be more defined. Might there be an alien hiding in those fireworks or maybe a friendly hoot owl, or even a roaring lion. Just think ink blot and see where your imagination will take you.
