Have your kids try mixing lights together to create numerous different colors.
What You'll Need:
- 12-inch square box
- Cord with a plug at one end and a socket at the other
- Black paper
- Red, blue, and green cellophane
- White paper
How to Create Mixing Lights:
Step 1: Have your children cut a few holes in the top of a 12-inch square box to let out heat. They should cut a square three inches wide and five inches high in one side of the box; the bottom of the square should be one inch above the bottom of the box.
Step 2: Your kids can then cut a hole in the other end of the box big enough for a lightbulb to go through. Have them put the socket through the hole and into the box, and screw the lightbulb into the socket.
Step 3: Have your kids cut out a 4x6-inch piece of black paper; they should cut three vertical rectangles that are each two inches tall and 3/4 inches wide in the black paper.
Step 4: Ask them to tape a strip of red cellophane over the left-most hole; then have them tape a strip of blue cellophane over the center hole; they should tape a strip of green cellophane over the right-most hole.
Step 5: Have your kids tape the black paper with the color filters over the square they cut in the side of the box. They should put a sheet of white paper on the table in front of the filters.
Step 6: Have your children plug in the light cord, and then turn out the lights in the room. The light from their box will shine through the filters onto the white paper, showing red, blue, and green light.
Step 7: Have them use a mirror to reflect the red light onto the green light. What color did they create? Now have them reflect the blue light onto the green light. What color did they create? What other colors can they mix to form new colors?
Keep reading to have your kids learn that plants will grow around obstacles to reach light.