Toddlers are so much fun and very curious! Gabe is full of energy and has a million questions a day. I don’t always have the answers, but I try hard to explain things as best as I can. One thing that he has been particularly interested in lately is how things grow. He has learned a lot about how things grow at school, and I wanted to do something fun to bring that learning home.

The Flower Power Experiment is easy and fun! Gabe will be 4 at the end of July, so he was a super helper for this experiment. Sofia is 22 months and a bit too young to be my helper. My kiddos are learning different things right now, but that doesn’t mean they can’t both benefit from our activities!

My favorite part about this particular activity is that Gabe and I did the experiment while Sofia was napping yesterday (fantastic 1:1 time for me and my big boy), and when she got up, she was excited about all the beautiful colors! Gabe got to learn about how plants take in water and why, while Sofia got to practice her colors in a fun new way!

What You Need:

• White flowers – I went with 8 flowers so each kid could have a flower in each of the 4 colors we were using.
• Food coloring – Don’t spend a lot on this since you aren’t eating the coloring at all.
• Mason jars, clear water glasses, clear plastic cups, or other smallish containers to hold a couple of flowers on their own. I like mason jars because they are sturdy, great for food storage, art projects, baking, canning, and more.
• A large measuring cup or something easy for your kiddos to pour water out of.
• Water

The Experiment:

Step 1: Start by talking about the flowers. This is a simple explanation that you can use – or modify – for your kiddos.

“Plants absorb water through their roots through a process called osmosis. Can you say osmosis? The water travels up tubes in the stems to the other parts of the plants like the petals, and is used by the plant to make food. Can you show me the stems of the flowers? Can you show me the petals? We can’t see the plant drinking water because it happens very slowly. When we add food coloring to the water, the flowers drink the water and the food coloring travels up the stem and into the white flower petals! The colors help show us that the plant drank the water! Plants need water and food to grow, just like you and me!”

Step 2: Put out your mason jars and fill your measuring cup with water. I recommend filling one of them first to show your toddler how to be careful, pour slowly, and about how much water to pour. Then let them try it! The great news is water is easy to clean up! Keep a towel handy in case of any spills.

Step 3: Let your helper put in the food coloring. Just like with the water, show your kiddo how to do the first one. I showed Gabe how to put the food coloring in the first jar and we counted 15 drops together. I then let him do the other 3 colors while we counted to 15 together each time.

Step 4: It’s time to pick out the flowers for each jar. Let your helper pick 1 flower at a time. Using sharp scissors, cut the bottom of the stems so the flowers fit your jar/glass without tipping over. I used this as an opportunity to remind Gabe that adults are the only ones who get to use sharp scissors. They are off limits to kiddos – which includes him. You can hand the flower back to your helper so they can put one or two in each cup of color.

Step 5: Talk about what they think will happen next. Will the flowers look the same (white) even though they are drinking water with colors in them? Will they change colors? Will they have little spots or stripes of color or will they drink all the water quickly and be super dark..? Have a discussion about what they think will happen and why.

Step 6: Check on the flowers in a few hours, and again the next day. Talk about what they think has happened and look at the amount of color the flowers have taken in so far. After 2 days, cut another inch off the bottoms to refresh the stems and see if the flowers take up more water/color. Enjoy checking in on this experiment for a few days until the flowers start falling apart. Compost flowers when done.

Have fun! XOXO