How to Make a Rainbow at Home in a Jar of Water

Make a rainbow using household items.

When you are teaching children at home about basic physics, you can make the science lesson more interactive and exciting by demonstrating a basic physical concept using standard household materials. For example, create a real rainbow using a simple jar of tap water. Kids will be able to observe that when sunlight passes through the water inside the glass jar, the sunlight can be split into all the colors in the rainbow.

Things You'll Need

• Glass mason jar
• White copy paper

Instructions

1. Fill a glass mason jar halfway full of tap water.

2. Place a table in a location where the sun is shining onto the table.

3. Place the jar of water onto the table, positioning the jar near the edge of the table and making sure there is floor space around it.

4. Place a sheet of white copy paper onto the floor, and move the paper around the floor until you see the rainbow appear on the paper that is refracted from the jar.

References

• Science Project Ideas: Making a Rainbow: Breaking Light Into Colour