In Ukraine, the quarantine has been going on for the third week. One of the main questions is what to do with kids while staying at home. If your imagination for organizing children's leisure has run out, it's the perfect time to come up with something new. Since our field of activity is water, we’ll tell you about simple and interesting experiments you can do with kids to diversify your home entertainment.

1. Mixing colors

When different colors mix, there is a spontaneous process of substances mixing due to thermal motion. This is called diffusion.

What you'll need:

• Water

• Containers (such as disposable plastic cups)

• Watercolors

• Syringe, pipette, or spoon

How to perform: 

This is probably the simplest experiment you can do at home with kids. Fill three containers with an equal amount of water and paint the water in three basic colors — yellow, blue, and red with a brush.

By simply mixing the colors in empty cups, you can obtain:

• Orange (yellow + red)

• Green (blue + yellow)

• Purple (blue + red)

You can also dilute the colors with water or white paint and observe the change in brightness.

You can also repeat this experiment on paper.

2. Colors that escape

This experiment, like the previous one, shows how diffusion works.

What you'll need:

• Water

• Watercolors or other water-soluble paints

• Containers

• Bandages or wet wipes

How to perform: 

In three cups, dilute different colors, such as yellow, blue, and red, as in the previous experiment, but you can use other colors and sequences. Then, pour clean water into three other cups and place them in a circle or a straight line.

After that, you need to place pairs of bandages or wet wipes in each cup of paint and a cup of water. Leave this setup for a few hours, and you'll observe how the water in the cups with clean water gets colored, forming a mixture of two adjacent colors. This is also a diffusion effect.

3. How can an empty bottle inflate a balloon?

In this experiment, we'll see how temperature changes affect gases. Also, how the air around us can expand and contract when influenced by temperature. Water will act as a heater and cooler for the air in this case.

What you'll need:

• Two empty containers

• Water at room temperature and hot water

• Ice

• Boiling water

• 0.5L plastic bottle

• A balloon

How to perform: 

Put a balloon on the bottle’s neck, fill one container with room-temperature water, and add a few pieces of ice to it. In the other container, pour hot water.

Then, immerse the bottle in the container with hot water, which will cause the balloon to inflate due to the air inside the bottle expanding. After that, place the bottle in the cold water with ice, and the balloon will deflate.

4. Experiment with red cabbage

In chemical laboratories, there are special substances — indicators — that help determine whether the environment is acidic or alkaline. It turns out that the simplest indicator can be bought in a vegetable shop.

What you'll need:

• Water

• Red cabbage juice

• Baking soda

• Sugar

• Vinegar

• Juice from one lemon

• 5 clear cups

• Teaspoon and tablespoon

• Pipette (optional)

• 5 wooden sticks or pencils

How to perform: 

To prepare, squeeze juice from a quarter of the cabbage. You can simply blend it in a blender and drain the liquid into a container.

Next, fill 5 cups with 20-30ml of water and add the following reagents in each cup:

• ½ teaspoon of soda

• 1 teaspoon of sugar

• Nothing

• 1 tablespoon of vinegar

• Squeeze the lemon

Mix and bring the liquid level in all cups to the same level.

Now, let's determine the pH of the environment. You can let the child do this entirely. In each cup, use a pipette or teaspoon to add about the same amount of cabbage juice and stir with a wooden stick or pencil (they should be washed). You’ll see how it reacts to alkaline (baking soda), neutral (plain water, sugar), and acidic (lemon, vinegar) environments.

5. Rainbow made of water and sugar

This beautiful experiment is based on the density of water solutions.

What you'll need:

• Water

• Sugar

• Watercolors or any water-soluble paints

• Pipette, syringe, or teaspoon

• Cylindrical glass container

• Cups

How to perform: 

For the classic rainbow, you’ll need six cups. Pour about the same amount of water into each cup (fill up to ⅓) and add the appropriate color with a brush. Once the colors dissolve, add sugar to each cup, following this ratio: the first cup should have no sugar, the second one 1 teaspoon, the third 2 teaspoons, and so on.

Next, take a syringe or pipette, gather a few milliliters of the solution with the most sugar, and pour it at the bottom of the glass container. Then, take the solution with less sugar and carefully, touching the side of the container, add it drop by drop. Repeat this with the other solutions. If you do the steps carefully, you will get a beautiful multi-colored rainbow.

6. How gases work

What you'll need:

• Water

• Plasticine

• Several matches

• A cup or small jar

• A shallow container for water

How to perform: 

Place a piece of plasticine in the center of the water container. Add 1-2 cm of water to it. Stick a few matches into the plasticine and light them.

Quickly cover the matches and plasticine with a glass or jar. You will observe how, simultaneously with the burning of the matches, water from the plate is drawn into the jar to replace the burned oxygen.

7. Lava in a bottle

What you'll need:

• Sunflower oil

• Water

• A glass jar or bottle

• Watercolors

• Effervescent tablet (aspirin, fizzy vitamins, etc.) or vinegar and baking soda

How to perform: 

Fill a clean, transparent container with sunflower oil. Add water on top. Add some watercolor to the water with a brush.

Next, drop effervescent tablets into the container or alternately add baking soda and vinegar, and watch the magical process unfold.