I am super excited to have Loralee Leavitt guest posting today! Loralee is the creator of www.CandyExperiments.com and author of the book Candy Experiments, which just hit the stores this month. Be sure to read my raving review of Candy Experiments. Today, Loralee is sharing how she used the idea of my FREE printable color wheel to experiment with color mixing and…of course, candy!
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Kids love color. That’s one reason our family loves to experiment with colorful candy. When I saw Jenn’s color wheel, I couldn’t wait to try a candy version. Since one bag of M&M’s contains all the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), I chose M&M’s for my color wheel. You could also try this activity with Nerds, jelly beans, or various flavors of Skittles.
To create an M&M color wheel, arrange six small bowls or cups in a circle. Place the M&M’s in the cups in this order:
- 2 red
- 1 red, 1 yellow
- 2 yellow
- 1 yellow, 1 blue
- 2 blue
- 1 blue, 1 red
Add enough warm water to cover the M&M’s and let them dissolve. Stir each cup to mix the colors. You should see a color wheel like this.
But a simple color wheel is only the start. You can create all sorts of color shades, and work in some math besides. For instance, this color wheel combines yellow and blue M&M’s in groups of five (five yellow, four yellow and one blue, three yellow and two blue, etc.)
Once your kids grasp the idea of mixing colors, they’ll be excited to experiment on their own. If you have extra M&M’s, let them play around and see what happens. You may end up with color cups like my four-year-old’s.
One final tip: Before you start any candy experiment, decide what the candy-eating guidelines will be. If you don’t want children to eat the candy, try saying “The candy is for experiments, not for eating.” Most children have so much fun that they soon forget about eating the candy. If you don’t think that strategy will work, agree together that they can have some M&M’s after you’re done experimenting.
Loralee Leavitt destroys candy for the sake of science at www.candyexperiments.com. Her new book, Candy Experiments, contains dozens of dazzling experiments including creating giant gummy worms, turning M&Ms into dazzling comets, growing candy crystals, and having lots of fun with candy color. Candy Experiments is available at Amazon.com.
Want to get rid of excess candy?
Looking for some fun science experiments?
Sounds like you need Candy Experiments!
Be sure to check out Loralee’s new book, Candy Experiments! My kids love the experimenting and I love that the amount of candy in our candy drawer is slowly diminishing! Now, that’s a win-win situation to me!
