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Explore · Wild and Tumble activity

Colour-changing flowers

Magic! The white flower turned blue! Watch flowers drink up coloured water.

  • 10 min + a day
  • Some mess
  • Ages 2–5*
  • Indoors
  • Any season
Let's do this

*Illustrative age guidance. Your child's development and circumstances matter more than a number.

A tiny plan for your day

Estimated time: 3 min to prepare · 5 min to set up · 2 min to tidy. Then check tomorrow. Plus waiting time: a day. It's fine to stop early.

Before you start

What you’ll need

  • White flowers, like carnations or daisies
  • Clear cups of water
  • Food colouring

Let's begin

Five simple steps

That's the whole activity. Tick each step off as you go, and stop whenever you like.

  1. Little one leads

    Your child adds a few drops of food colouring to each cup.

  2. Grown-up job

    An adult trims the flower stems.

  3. Pop one flower in each cup.

  4. Guess what will happen.

  5. Check in a few hours, then tomorrow. The petals change colour!

All done!

That's every step. However it went, you made a little moment together.

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