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Walking Rainbow STEM Activity for Kids: a simple science experiment that includes colorful science lessons for kids of all ages! Plus, get 15+ Bonus FREE printable STEM activities and worksheets!

walking rainbow stem activity and printables

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It’s Back-to-School time (even if that may look a little different this year!), so my Totally Free Printables friends and I decided to bring you an awesome and, of course, Totally Free collection of printable STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) and STEM activities to kick off the school year!

This collection includes a variety of STEM activities, games, lessons, coloring pages, artwork, and more! We created a fun set of color mixing and color wheel printables to go along with one of our favorite kid’s science experiments – the walking rainbow!


Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of this post for 15 more Totally Free STEM printables that I know you’re going to love!

Walking Rainbow STEAM Activity

The Walking Rainbow activity can be adapted to fit a wide variety of different age groups of students from preschool aged children through upper elementary and middle school grades. For older students, we suggest delving into learning how the cellulose fibers of the paper towels use a capillary action along with the properties of adhesion and cohesion to move the water and color from one jar to another – you can learn more about the process here!

For the purpose of our Walking Rainbow STEAM activity and corresponding printables, we are going to focus on the color mixing properties, a lesson that’s suitable for all ages, but geared best towards younger children.

supplies to make a walking rainbow  (jars, paper towels, food coloring)

Supplies Needed for Walking Rainbow Experiment:

  • (6) Small Glass Cups or Jars – roughly the same size/shape. (We used these 9 oz glass jars, but mason jars are also a great option!)
  • (6) Half-sheets of Paper Towels
  • Liquid Food Coloring in Red, Blue, and Yellow
  • Color Mixing & Color Wheel Printables (available below)
strips of white paper, paper towels and clear jars laid out on table

Fold each paper towel into quarters. Press along the seams with your fingers so that it will keep its shape.

folder strip of paper dipping into two clear plastic jars

Measure the length of the paper towel between two of your jars. You want your paper towels to stick up just a bit above the top of the jars (as shown in the photo above), so if your paper towels are too long, trim the ends to fit.

drops of red, yellow, and blue food coloring in 3 out of 6 jars placed in a circle

Arrange the jars into a circle, and add 10-15 drops of red, yellow, and blue food coloring to three of the jars as shown.

colored jars filled with water in circle of jars

Add water to the food color jars, filling them up nearly to the top. Leave the other three jars empty.

walking rainbow color experiment printables

Next, allow the kids to hypothesize and predict what color they think the water in the empty jars will become.

Note: This printable is available in three different designs – colored, labeled, and unlabeled jars. Use whichever printable is most appropriate for your group.

strips of paper folded between each jar

Place the folded paper towels into the jars as shown.

overhead of colors bleeding onto the strips of paper from colored jars

It won’t take long before the cellulose fibers in the towels start transferring the water! Watch the water “walk” up the paper towel and back down into the empty jar!

colors bleeding further from strips of paper dipped into the yellow,red and blue colored jars
empty jars now filling with the secondary colors from submerged paper strips in primary color jars

After a short while, the empty jars will begin to fill up with a mixture of the two adjacent colored waters, creating a new shade of the rainbow.

mixed color activity walking rainbow being done in jars
printable stem activity walking rainbow color wheel and mixing chart

Use this observation time to complete the printable color mixing chart and color wheel activities!

walking rainbow stem activity overhead view
walking rainbow stem activity jars lined out in a straight line

When the experiment is complete, all of the jars will have approximately the same amount of water in them, and you will start to see the secondary colors traveling upwards on the paper towels. (Note: This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight depending on the brand of paper towels that were used.)

different colored jars of food coloring with paper chain interlinked to create a walking rainbow STEM activity
walking rainbow printable kids stem activity worksheets

If desired, you can take the color mixing wheel one step further by mixing the primary and secondary colors to create a more detailed color wheel. Use a paintbrush to mix the colors on white paper or our printable color wheel (like watercolors) and observe the six new tertiary colors created.

walking rainbow colored jars

This Walking Rainbow (aka “Walking Color”) STEAM activity is SO much fun for all ages! Everyone loves watching the color magic happen, and older children will also enjoy learning about the plant-like properties of the paper towels that allow this experiment to be possible. It’s fun for the whole family!

Get the Walking Rainbow STEM Activity Printables Here

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15 More STEM Printables

If you like my The Walking Rainbow STEM Activity Printables, you’re going to LOVE these STEM printables files from my Totally Free friends!

Click on the links below to be taken to the download page for each individual file:

Tangram Puzzle
Tangram Puzzle
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Science Lab Matching Game
Science Lab Matching Game
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Straw Rockets
Straw Rockets
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Steam Maker Space Lists & Observations
Steam Maker Space Lists & Observations
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Space Coloring Sheet
Space Coloring Sheet
GET THE PRINTABLE!
STEM Challenge Cards
STEM Challenge Cards
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Bugs Coloring Activity Sheet
Bugs Coloring Activity Sheet
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Science Is Rad Poster
Science Is Rad Poster
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Secret Decoder Ring
Secret Decoder Ring
GET THE PRINTABLE!
LEGO CHALLENGE CALENDAR
LEGO CHALLENGE CALENDAR
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Solar System Bingo
Solar System Bingo
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Math and Science Notebook Covers
Math and Science Notebook Covers
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Space Rocket Coloring Pages
Space Rocket Coloring Pages
GET THE PRINTABLE!
STEM Math Coloring Worksheet
STEM Math Coloring Worksheet
GET THE PRINTABLE!
Walking Rainbow STEM Activity
Walking Rainbow STEM Activity
GET THE PRINTABLE!

Which one of these STEM printables is your favorite? Which will you download first? They’re all SO good!

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Don’t Forget to Pin These STEM Printables for Later!

walking rainbow stem activity for kids
collection of printable stem activities for kids
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