We love getting creative, especially at Christmas time! Art and science combine in this festive experiment to make a brilliant, easy Christmas decoration that you can hang on the tree, or make lots to hang around the house!

You will need:

• Bowl or tray
• Cocktail stick
• Marbling inks – We used these from Amazon – Scola 6 x 25ml Marbling Inks
• Festive template – Click here to use ours
• Scissors *adult assistance needed*

Method:

• Cut out your template.
• Half fill your bowl or tray with water.
• Choose your colours and add a 3-4 drops of each to the water.
• Swirl the colours round gently using the cocktail stick, be careful not to mix it too much, or the colours will merge into one. Less is more!
• Place your template into the water and count to 5.
• Remove the template and leave to dry!

The Science Bit:

• Marbling inks are made from an oil based paint, because oil is less dense than water, it doesn’t mix with the water, it just sits on top.
• The paint then sticks to whatever you put into the water!

Why not try:

• Another density experiment from our blog
• Marbling some different materials.
• Making some marbled decorations for different seasons and holidays, it doesn’t just have to be a festive experiment!