toucanBox is a subscription service delivering fun filled activity boxes to your door. Find out more toucanBox Watch as the colour of the sweets slowly starts to creep towards the middle of the plate, making an amazing rainbow effect! Carefully pour warm water into the middle of the plate (but not directly onto the sugar) so that the sweets are submerged. You will find that when the colour begins to spread it slows down a lot when it reaches the sugar in the middle.

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Make sure to scroll down to see our extra experiment suggestions! Discover how a teaspoon of sugar and different water temperatures can effect the speed and shape of the Skittles rainbow experiment. Changing the variables in an experiment is essential for learning and shows kids how results can vary when even the smallest factor is altered.We hope you enjoy conducting this colourful experiment! If you’re in need of more activities to keep your little scientists busy, why not try a toucanBox? Not tried toucanBox yet? Try the rainbow Skittles experiment with different temperatures of water (make sure to always supervise children with warm or boiling water) to see how it changes the resulting look and speed of the rainbow. How long does the Skittles experiment last?

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This super sweet Skittles experiment is the perfect way to teach kids about diffusion. Observe how Skittles make a mesmerising rainbow swirl when submerged in warm water. We recommend reserving a handful of Skittles to enjoy whilst watching the beautiful rainbow creep into the middle of the plate. Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Skimmed Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Sunflower Oil, Milk Fat, Lactose, Whey Permeate (from Milk), Barley Malt Extract, Salt, Emulsifier ( Soya Lecithin), Egg White Powder, Palm Fat, Milk Protein, Starch, Vanilla Extract, Milk Chocolate contains Milk Solids 14% minimumThe oh-so-familiar chewy candy world known as Skittles was born in 1974. This British candy spent its first five years solely in the UK and, in 1979, made its way to North America. The first fruit flavored candy that often comes to mind is Skittles, and with their slogan, “taste the rainbow,” first appearing in 1994, it’s easy to see why. Not long after making its way to the US, mass manufacturing began and many flavors and types of Skittles have been created since. However, you can continue to observe the experiment after the rainbow has met in the middle. Over time the rainbow colours will begin to merge into one another and make a rather murky colour! It’s not as pretty as it started out but it’s an interesting learning prompt, why do the colours start out separate and then blend together? Why do the colours not mix in the Skittles experiment? Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Palm Fat, Acids (Citric Acid, Malic Acid), Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Flavourings, Modified Starch, Colours (E162, E163, E170, E160a, E100, E132, E133), Acidity Regulator (E331 ), Glazing Agent (Carnauba Wax) The colours don’t mix in the Skittles experiment because the concentration of sugar in each skittle is about the same. We know that diffusion is the movement from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. Because the Skittles have the same concentration of sugar they do not mix, they’re far too busy getting to the middle of the plate, the area with a low concentration of sugar.

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If you use warm water then the rainbow Skittles experiment will last for a couple of minutes, from pouring the water onto the plate to the rainbow meeting in the middle of the plate. The rainbow colours creep in nice and slowly, so you and your child will easily be able to observe the process of diffusion.Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Full Cream Milk Powder, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass, Sunflower Oil, Skimmed Milk Powder, Lactose, Whey Permeate (from Milk), Fat Reduced Cocoa, Barley Malt Extract, Milk Fat, Salt, Emulsifier ( Soya Lecithin), Egg White Powder, Palm Fat, Milk Protein, Starch, Vanilla Extract, Milk Chocolate contains Milk Solids 14% minimum We call this process diffusion. Diffusion is the movement of particles (in this case, sugar) from a space of higher concentration (the outer curve of the plate) to a place of lower concentration (the middle of the plate). Do you need hot water for the Skittles experiment? Skittles are made with colourful dyes and sugar. The warm water dissolves this dye and sugar and they move towards a place where there is less dye and sugar, in this case, the middle of the plate! We found that the Skittles rainbow experiment works best with warm water. Warm water makes the experiment slow enough to observe properly but not too slow for fidgety kids to lose interest! Any good scientist knows that repeating an experiment is vital to ensuring reliable results! They also know it’s very important to test and try different variables to see how the results change… Let’s try a different way… You Will Need

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Pretty cool, right?! Now let’s get into the super sweet science behind the Skittles experiment… Why do Skittles make a rainbow in water?