If you’re looking for cool things to do with dry erase markers, you have to check out this floating ink experiment! It’s a fun and easy science activity to do with kids and a great party trick that will “wow” the grown-ups too.
I have another very cool dry erase activity for your kids to try. It’s a dry erase and water trick that’s going to blow your kids’ minds! We’ve used the Dry Erase Markers with Ink Indicators that the good folks at EXPO sent us, and we’ve made drawings that float on water!
I didn’t even know that dry erase ink could float until I saw the dry erase stick-man trick (more on that in a bit) making its way around the web a few months back.
That trick looked so awesome that we were inspired to try it ourselves but instead of making floating stick-men, we made floating hearts.
Check out this video that I shot for you:
How fun is that?!!
The kids were fascinated! They did the experiment over and over again, testing different colours of ink and different writing surfaces. This is definitely a science activity that kids AND adults will love.
You may also love these 5 dry erase activities that don’t require a white board.
Supplies:
To do the Dry Erase and Water Experiment, you’ll need:
- EXPO Dry Erase Markers (affiliate link)
- dinner plate or baking dish
- jug of water (we also experimented with medicine droppers)
- Towel or vinyl table cloth to protect your work surface
A note about our drawing surface:
We experimented with a few different surfaces for this activity. I’ve heard you can use any glass surface or even a laminate table top, but we wanted to contain our water, so we tried the experiment with 3 types of plates:
- a white ceramic quiche dish
- a white dinner plate
- white disposable plastic plates
How to Make Dry Erase Ink Float
- Test your markers
Test your markers to make sure the ink is flowing well.
- Draw shapes
Draw shapes, stick figures or letters on your plate or baking dish.
- Add water
Pour water into the dish close to the edges of your drawings.
Within seconds, you’ll see the dry erase ink reacting with the water, and the edges of your drawings will begin to lift. As you add more water, the ink will lift away from the bottom of the dish and float to the surface of the water. Note: Some of your drawings may only lift a little, and some might not at all. Our results were different every time.
Experiment again and again
We had a great time doing the experiment over and over again, pouring out the water, drying the dish, and trying new shapes and colours to see what would happen.
Make observations
It was fun to make observations to try and determine what factors made the experiment work best. Have your kids do the same. Here are some questions to ask your kids to think about when doing the dry erase and water experiment:
1. Is there a colour of ink that works best?
Is it the colour of the ink? Does it depend how thick the layer of ink is? See if your kids can nail down what works best for them.
We found that a thicker layer of ink worked best, and the colours we used had varying results. We had the least success with the black ink. Sometimes the red ink floated quickly, and other times, like in the video above, the red wouldn’t come away from the plate at all. Was this due to how hard we pressed? How much ink we used? Which colours work best for you?
2. Which drawing surface works best?
The disposable plastic plates didn’t work as well as our dinner plate, and the quiche dish worked best of all. For some reason, our drawings seemed to stick to the dinner plate more than the quiche dish. The quiche dish was ideal too because of the rim. We could pour quite a bit of water into it and not have to worry about spills.
3. Do solid shapes float better than stick figures or letters?
Experiment with different types of drawings – letters, pictures, outlines, solid shapes etc. to see which ones float best.
4. Can you pick up your floating shapes!
What’s really cool is that we were able to pick up our floating shapes with our fingers. When we did, they completely deflated and looked like a little strand of rubber, but when we gently placed them back on the surface of the water and jiggled them a little, they expanded back into their original shape and floated again.
5. Does the temperature of the water make a difference?
Try your experiment with hot, cold and room temperature water and observe your results.
And have fun trying the experiment over and over again!
Why DOES dry erase ink float?
If you’d like to know the science behind the dry erase and water experiment, this dry erase stick-man article explains how dry erase ink floats.
Learn more about EXPO Dry Erase Markers with Ink Indicator here. #EXPOTeacherWin
This post was sponsored by EXPO Markers. The ideas and opinions are my own.
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Brenda Penton
I use them to write reminders on the bathroom mirror. We also use them on the patio door to play around. One person will draw something and a few hours or days later someone else will add to it until we have a whole scene, then we start again.
Jane
Very cool! Certainly something to do at home now that the rainy season is here!
Caitlyn
Looks like a great experiment!
Deborah W.
We have a busy household. My daughter and I use dry erase markers to leave messages on her mirror. This helps us remember what’s happening and when.
happyhooligans
I love that idea!
nogard0
try lifting out with very porous paper or such … that might wor.
Amie
So cool!! My kindergartener loves expo markers, this will be a fun experiment for her, thanks!
Dane
I have one of thoe giant whiteboards on my fridge; this would be great!
Jessica Gipson
I use it in our classroom to demostrate class activity on the white board.
Tracey A
I have used dry erase markers on different surfaces over the years. My favorite surface is a small porcelain sign(5X7) that I write on and then put on a stand. I sometimes write the menu or a greetings of a holiday! Such fun!!!
Jessica Mcfarlin
I Love using it in the playroom/den on the dry erase board.
Lori W...
making all kinds of art. i like these!
Kim Crichton-Struthers
We like to use dry erase markers on the fridge.
Susie
Just the traditional way here- we use it on the whiteboard to draw pictures, fill out the monthly calendar and sometimes list chores.
Smfsprout
Dry erase markers have so many uses, but I can’t wait to try these experiments.
Velma Garcia
I can’t wait to try these experiments with my 3-year-old grandson!
Linda Madden
I use them in a walk in my kitchen to show which chore each of my children need to complete before I get home from work. It works out great!
happyhooligans
Brilliant!
Debbie
These look like so much fun!!
Jonnie
I love using dry erase markers to keep our family calendar in order. It’s colour coordinated and the dry erase makes it so easy to make changes.
Joanne
Why not send sets of these to the teachers who were in hurricanes in tx and Florida as supporting them in time of loss and help them rebuild their classrooms just thought much love from tx
happyhooligans
I think that’s a wonderful idea! I’m hopeful that EXPO will make a corporate contribution to relief efforts.
Shelley Brewer
What a cool project! Definitely need to try this.
Sharnett
We use dry erase markers to help with our music lessons and also to practice our multiplication tables. We sometimes use them to leave messages for each other as a way of encouraging each other to always try our best. Sometimes I write chores on the white board so that once the boys get home from school, they know what is expected of them that day. Much easier than walking around behind them and constantly reminding them :-).
Amanda Wilcox
I love this! I can’t wait to try it with my daughter. Regularly we keep a dry erase calendar in our kitchen which I religiously update to keep us on track. My daughter also has her own collection of fun colored dry erase markers and a board in the garage which she draws on while spending time with daddy in the garage…and there’s always hangman too!
Cari Herrera
We love using expos to decorate our windows and tables. It comes right off with water! Can’t wait to try this. Thank you.
happyhooligans
So fun! We played Hangman on our glass sliding door!
Jaclyn
This is so cool!!
Sue Meyerson
I am a pediatric occupational therapist so I use a lot of dry erase markers to work on handwriting, pencil grasp, hand and finger strength, etc. I use dry erase alphabet and number books, or I put worksheets into a plastic sleeve. We work on hand, finger and arm strength when bunching up a paper towel and pressing hard to erase.
sharon drapela
We use them for directed drawings and graphing/voting
Maria
I am boring…I just use them on dry erase boards and laminated pages.
happyhooligans
Hey, nothing boring about that!
Mollie
I use my Expo markers everyday to update the parents of my students on my whiteboard
Kids and moms
These colors so so cute and bright, we use for art and craft. hehe.
When free, please visit my youtube channle- cute art ideas for kids and moms 🙂
Kimberly
We do homework every night with a dry erase board. It helps my daughter to be able to erase if she had the wrong thing and we can write it a bit bigger than on a sheet of paper and use fun colors to make the homework experience a bit more enjoyable….Love our Expo Markers!!!!
happyhooligans
That’s a great idea, Kimberly!
Lori
I use dry erase markers during OT with my students. They love writing letters and erasing them as they trace with their fingers. Or, we play games – hangman, tic-tac-toe, etc. Doesn’t waste paper and the kid shave fun!
Donna VanHook
This will be great in my science class!
Linda
I like to use dry erase markers during presentations in class.
Kerrie Gregory
My favorite way to use dry erase markers in the classroom is having my students use them to trace over laminated cards or fill in the answers on the laminated cards
Chrissy
Wow, this is a seriously cool activity that I know my kids would get a kick out of. I can’t wait to do this with them. Thanks so much for sharing!
Barry
This looks great. Will be fun to try. Thanks.
boby toan
It was so much fun to do with the kids and they were so amazed they wanted me to do it over and over again adventualy I ran out o fink in my expo markers so we had to stop doing but we did dinosaurs hotdogs and other fun kid things like a xbox controller a baseball bat but thank you some much for sharing it my kids had a blast
Christian Shebchuk
Hello! I just tried this and I had a great time thanks for sharing!