This Skittles ‘Science’ Experiment Will Totally Delight Your Kids

What’s the usual response when you hand kids a bag of candy and tell them to go play? Pure excitement of course! What do you think the reaction would be if you give them a bag of candy but tell them to do a scientific experiment?

You’ll probably have some explaining to do. Luckily, DaveHax is here to help out, and with bags of Skittles no less. Oh yes. The chocolate-free candies that seem to spread love and happiness wherever they land is the main variable in this project. Adventures with rainbows await!

We know that our skin wrinkles up when we soak for a long time. But what happens when you let Skittles sit in a watery bath? DaveHax finds out, and you’ll be eager to show the kiddos in your life when you learn too. Grab as many bags and flavors as you want and peep the instructions for this edible, artsy experiment.

Materials

  1. Dinner plate
  2. Packs of Skittles in your favorite flavors or colors
  3. Glass of warm water

Instructions

  1. Arrange the Skittles

    Lay the Skittles around the plate in a pattern of 4 of the same color, close to each other.

  2. Add Water

    Pour a shallow amount of water onto the plate, covering the candy.

  3. Watch & Wait

    Wait a few minutes and watch the dyes dissolve!

 

That’s all there is to it. Check out the video to see how Dave’s turned out. Young kids will love watching the dyes gather together to make cool designs. Some might even want to snap pictures of their swirly creations. And you can still eat the candy if you want!

Dave performs this multiple times with various Skittle layouts, and a different dish to change up the effects. You’ll notice not only do the colors blend together differently, but in some instances it looks like a smile is forming on the plate! Look carefully. Do you see it? And get a load of the flower!

Besides playing around with the Skittle colors, arrangements, and flavors, there are a few other variations you can add to the mix. For a little extra exploration, try out other liquids like cold or hot water, oil, vinegar, or lemonade. You might want to learn what milk would do too!

Instead of reaching for a dinner plate, go for a bowl or a clear dish. Round plates don’t have to be the go-to either; try square or rectangular dishes and see what comes up. Another twist? Observe what happens when you let the Skittles bathe for over an hour or two. They won’t get wrinkly but something else happens. Look out for the “S”.

Become the best science teacher ever with this little “melt the rainbow” project. DaveHax encourages drinking the sugary water with a straw, but other Skittle researchers have also found great joy in freezing it and then eating it with a spoon. Yum!

Would you drink this Skittle rainbow water? What do you think of this colorful test? Have you ever done candy experiments as a kid? Tell us in the comments!