Magic Milk Science Experiment

This Magic Milk Science Experiment is so neat to watch! We are surprised with the color changes and designs every time we complete this activity.

This Magic Milk Science experiment never gets old! This experiment is fun and easy to set up experiment for the kids. Watch our videos below to see this experiment and keep reading below for more information!

Your kids may want to complete this experiment over and over a few times, so be prepared and have plenty of milk and supplies devoted for this experiment on hand! Try different color combinations to see what new designs you’ll get. Also, please note that your experiments will look different each time and it’s fun to see how they all turn out.

I’ve completed this activity before with a cotton swab, but I found that when we used a cotton ball, the experiment lasted quite a white, so I definitely prefer the cotton ball method over the cotton swab method. Either is fine, having fun is the most important part!

Don’t forget to check out our Shaving Cream Rain Science Experiment, too!

Supplies:

1 tsp. Dish Soap
Cotton ball
Food Coloring
Large Glass Plate
Whole or 2% Milk

Directions:

Pour milk onto a large glass plate. Towards the center of the milk, pour about 5 drops of desired color of food coloring onto the milk leaving a space between the colors. Try not to let the colors touch, but it’s okay if they do touch. Colors may start to spread out a little and that’s fine, too.

Place a cotton ball into the dish soap. Allow the cotton ball to absorb the dish soap.

Gently place the cotton ball in the center of the colors and let go.

The colors should disperse to the sides quickly and start moving around, leaving cool designs around the plate.

If you notice the colors start to slow down with no activity, try pouring a drop of soap into the mixture or repeating the above step. You can also stir around the colors slowly to mix the colors.

Here’s a look at how the same experiment above changed over time.

Once complete, repeat the activity if desired!

Why does this happen when using whole milk? According to Education.com:

“The food coloring in the whole milk bowl will move the fastest because the dish soap bonds, or holds tight, with the fat in the milk. This bond is so strong that the water and the food coloring are pushed out. Everything else has to dance out of the way to make room for the dish soap and fat bond. Since there is less fat in 2 percent and 1 percent milk, you won’t see as much movement. In the bowl of skim milk, the dish soap has no fat to bond with, so the food coloring isn’t pushed away.”

I hope you enjoyed seeing our Magic Milk Experiment! Try to complete this activity soon and tell us how it went!