Floating Dry Erase Rainbow and Shapes Experiment  

Did you see the floating erase hearts experiment we made on Valentines Day? 

That one was so much fun. 🙂 

I wanted to extend our dry erase and floating ink experiment even further by trying out floating rainbows and shapes!

This science experiment for kids is so much fun. 

My kids were in awe at how the drawn out marker just floats up and around after you add water.

I hope yours are too! 🙂 

I’ll be sharing below all we used to make this fun STEM activity for kids and I am so excited about it! 

Note: Have you ever tried the skittles experiment before? This science experiment is so much fun and so cool watching as the skittles create a cool illusion. Check it out here. 

Materials: 

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• Dry Erase Marker (I used this set here.)

• Water (It doesn’t have to be hot or cold, just regular water.)

• Glass/Ceramic Plate

• Straw (this is optional).

All of these items we had at home and you may have them at home at this very moment also as they are regular household items. 🙂 

Floating dry erase marker experiment video below 🙂 

How do you draw on water with dry erase markers? 

These are the steps we took to make the dry erase marker float: 

• Draw a rainbow/shapes onto a glass/ceramic plate. 

• Then pour water onto the plate slowly. 

• Watch as the rainbows/shapes magically start to float upwards. 

• Use a straw (optional) to blow wind around the water so that the rainbows/shapes get carried by the wind. 

What surfaces can you use dry erase markers on? 

The only surface we have tried them on to try the floating ink experiment was a glass plate.

A follower friend mentioned to me it worked when she used a ceramic plate. 

I am not certain if it would work on a plastic plate as I have had this question asked a couple times but haven’t experimented with it yet. 

What is the best dry erase marker to use for this science experiment? 

The dry erase markers that I have found work best are the EXPO markers. 

I used the neon EXPO markers and those do not work in the floating ink dry erase marker experiment. 

The ones that worked were the regular EXPO markers and the colors that worked each and every time were the red and black markers.

What is the science behind the dry erase markers floating within the water? 

Dry erase markers contain insoluble ink.

This in turn causes water to create a heavy buoyancy causing the ink on the plate to rise to the surface and float on water. 

This experiment is a great multipurpose activity that can use science, shapes, colors, letters, addition, subtraction and so much more to learn about new concepts and ideas for early learning. 

If you’d like to see how we made a hearts floating ink experiment, check it out here.

It was really fun! 

Leave me a comment below if you’ve ever tried this experiment before. 🙂