Amaze your preschooler with this invisible ink activity that will be requested over and over.
Magic?
No!
It’s science with household items!
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Why Do Invisible Ink with Preschoolers
This invisible ink activity will provide a great springboard for conversation about reactions with your preschooler.
A seemingly blank white sheet of paper will somehow reveal a hidden message when grape juice is rubbed over it.
Talking about what happened to make the message appear will help your preschooler to reason and to think through the order of events.
Letters, numbers, shapes, sight words, the possibilities are endless as to what could be hidden on the paper.
You can make a sheet with letters hidden on it and have your preschooler reveal the letters.
When the letter is revealed, he can tell you what letter it is and/or what sound is used to represent that letter.
The invisible ink activity can be adapted to fit whatever you are working on.
Check out the Little Detectives Week 36b in our Homeschooling Preschool Curriculum for other activities to do with your preschooler.
Science is being introduced in a fun way.
Having your preschooler question why something is happening probably isn’t new to you, but when it comes to science, questioning why is important!
This is how things are discovered because people wanted to know more.
Fostering this love for digging deeper and figuring out ‘why’ while your child is still young helps your child learn to look for reasons and answers.
Maybe this new confidence from figuring out how the invisible ink works will help your child to look and figure out ‘why’ for himself next time.
Items Needed
- baking soda
- water
- small cups
- cotton swab
- cotton ball (or use another cotton swab)
- paper
- purple grape juice– the more concentrated the better
How to Make Invisible Ink
- Mix two tablespoons of baking soda and two tablespoons of water in a cup to make the invisible ink.
- Dip the cotton swab into the mixture taking care to get the baking soda on it.
- Write the secret message on the paper using the invisible ink and let it dry. You can have your preschooler do this or you can do it and surprise them with what is revealed.
- Use another cotton swab and dip it into grape juice. ‘Paint’ with the cotton swab all over the paper. A cotton ball can also be used to speed up the process.
- Watch as the hidden message is revealed.
Why does this work?
This works because the baking soda is a base and the grape juice is an acid.
Acids are things that are sour, like grape juice or lemon juice.
Bases are usually soapy or bubbly.
When the grape juice (acid) and the baking soda (base) touch, they created a reaction which is the color change on the paper.
This makes your secret message be revealed.
Invisible Ink Activity
Made using household items, this activity will leave your preschooler in awe.
Enjoy making and revealing invisible ink again and again!