Stained Glass Bubble Wrap Window Decoration

As the holiday season hovers all around us, we have a fun color mixing activity that will also use some of the bubble wrap that abounds this time of year. Grab a few cups, some colored water and a sheet of bubble wrap to keep them entertained while color mixing and creating a stained glass window decoration. It’s a kitchen science rainbow!

Stained Glass Color Mixing with Bubble Wrap | Steve Spangler Science

Materials

  • Bubble Wrap (the larger the bubbles, the better)
  • Pipette
  • Food coloring or True Color Tablets
  • Plastic cups
  • Scissors
  • Water
  • Paper towels
  • Tape (to hang your masterpiece)

Activity

1. Have an adult cut or pop small holes in the side of each bubble. The holes should all be in the same place on every bubble. This will deflate the bubble, but if you do it carefully, the bubble will keep some of its shape.

Stained Glass Color Mixing with Bubble Wrap | Steve Spangler Science

2. Tape the piece of bubble wrap with the holes pointing up to a window. Place a few paper towels under the bubble wrap in the window sill to catch the drips. And there will be drips. Obviously, this is an activity to do in an easy-to-clean area. Don’t do this over carpeting. You can also tape the bubble wrap to a piece of cardboard, wipeboard or other flat surface and place it in an area that’s easy to wipe up.

Stained Glass Color Mixing with Bubble Wrap | Steve Spangler Science

3. Fill plastic cups 1/2 full with water and drop coloring tablets to color the water. We prefer the True Color Tablets, because they do not stain like food coloring.

4. Fill a pipette with colored water, insert it into one of the bubbles via the holes and squeeze the liquid out.

Stained Glass Color Mixing with Bubble Wrap | Steve Spangler Science

5. Repeat with different colored water mixing different colors in the same bubble.

6. You are done when all of the bubbles are filled and you have a stained glass window! Just be mindful of the colored water and holes when throwing it away.

Stained Glass Color Mixing with Bubble Wrap | Steve Spangler Science

Note – the bubble wrap we used did not have self-contained bubble pockets, so we were only able to fill them up half way before they poured into the next one. You can fill the bubbles higher if they aren’t all connected. 

This experiment is focused on giving children the space and time to discover the colors of the rainbow. Show them how to do it and then step back. Set up in a child-proof area and don’t worry about making a mess. Sometimes the best learning comes from the biggest mess.

Stained Glass Color Mixing with Bubble Wrap | Steve Spangler Science

Color Mixing Tray - Color Science for Early Childhood | Steve Spangler ScienceFor more on Color Mixing and an additional activity, visit the Color Mixing Tray experiment page.

 

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