(Intro)

Hi everyone! Squeaks and I were just getting ready to make some paintings, but we can't find our paint. Luckily, Squeaks taught me how to make my very own watercolors, and I'd like to share how you can make them for yourself.

First, we'll need to make our paints in a place where it's OK to be a little messy. We're going to make our watercolors here, in the kitchen.

Next, let's find the ingredients that we'll need to make our watercolors. We'll need baking soda, white vinegar, cornstarch, and, to color our paint, food coloring. And, finally, let's find paper towels, a bowl, a tablespoon for measuring, a regular spoon for stirring, and something that our watercolors will dry in. We're going to use an ice tray, but you could use something else like a muffin tin or some just cups. 

See this big measuring spoon? This is a tablespoon. We'll use it to measure our ingredients. We'll begin by combining 4 tablespoons of baking soda with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in the bowl. After you've mixed these two ingredients, you'll need to add 3 to 4 tablespoons of vinegar to your bowl. This mixture is fun, because it gets all fizzy. You'll want to mix the ingredients with a spoon until the fizzing stops. The mixture will be ready when it's not clumpy, but a liquid. 

Now that we've added these ingredients, we'll spoon the mixture into 6 of the cubes of our ice-cube tray. Let's fill our cubes to about half way to the top.

After we've filled our cubes, let's add some color. We're going to start with primary colors. Do you remember what the primary colors are? That's right! Red, yellow, and blue. We'll add a few drops of each color into separate cubes, and combine them into our mixture with our spoon. It might feel a little bit sticky, but it's easy to break up and mix in. You'll also want to wipe off your spoon between colors so they don't mix with each other.

All right, so we've got red, yellow, and blue, but I think that we could use some green, orange, and maybe some purple. We know that we can mix colors to create new ones. So, can you tell me how to make green? I'm thinking yellow mixed with, that's right, blue! We'll add just one drop of blue, since it's pretty dark. Then I'll add some yellow until I get the color I want. What do you think Squeaks? I think it's pretty good, too. Now, how will we make orange? Yeah! We'll mix some red with some yellow. And, finally, what colors should I mix together to make purple? You got it! Blue and red.

Now that we've got all of our colors mixed, we need to set our ice tray in a spot where it can sit and the mixture can dry out. The watercolors can dry at different times. So your paint might be ready overnight, or it could take up to a couple days.

Once your watercolors are dry, they should look like this. Once our paints are dry, we'll grab a piece of paper, a paintbrush, and some water, and we will be ready to paint.

So, what colors will you make? Let us know, and, if you've made your own painting and would like to share, grab a grownup and send us an email at kids@thescishow.com. We'd like to thank Google's Making Science for helping us make this episode, and we'll see you next time here at the fort.