Are you looking for exciting ways to keep your little scientist engaged at home? Try this fun science experiment for kids that is easy as pie and that uses items that you already have.
What you will need
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Full-fat milk | du lait entier |
Food colouring | du colorant alimentaire |
Dish soap | du liquide vaisselle |
Plate | une assiette |
Cotton swabs | des cotons-tiges |
Setup
Place the items above on a tray. Point to each item and say the French word out loud or if your child is already familiar with them, you can ask them to guess what’s in front of them. At this stage, you can also take the time to review colours in French if you’d like, focusing on the food colouring that you have.

Let them know you will be conducting a scientific experiment called “Magic Milk” or “Le Lait Magique”.
Instructions
To start, we pour the milk onto the plate.
Pour commencer, on verse le lait dans l’assiette.
Now, we add the colours.
Maintenant on ajoute les couleurs.
You can count the drops together.
One drop, two drops, three drops…
Une goutte, deux gouttes, trois gouttes…
Next, we dip the cotton swab into the dish soap.
Ensuite, on trempe le coton-tige dans le liquide vaisselle.
Now, dip the cotton swab into the milk. Watch carefully what happens.
Maintenant, met le coton-tige dans le lait. Observe bien ce qui se passe.
You can ask them to describe what they see or just let them marvel at the spectacular dance of colours.
Expanding on this activity
This fun science experiment for kids can be adapted to different ages. While my two-year-old was happy playing with the dish soap and colours in the milk, an older child may have questions about the reaction they are observing. Another little scientist may enjoy exploring surface tension with 2% milk v/s whole milk. You can enrich this simple and fun science experiment for kids in many ways!
Here is more information about the science behind the fun and how you can continue to ask more questions and explore this phenomenon with your child.