Color Mixing Sensory Bags Experiment

3 gallon-size zip bags

Clear hair gel

Washable paint in red, yellow, and blue

Duct tape

Painter's tape for securing bags to surfaces

Fill each zip bag with about half a cup of clear hair gel.

Add primary color pairs: red + yellow in bag one, yellow + blue in bag two, red + blue in bag three.

Seal tightly and reinforce each seal with duct tape.

Tape the bags flat to a table or — even better — a sunny window.

Ask: "What color do you think red and yellow will make?" Write down predictions.

Let your child press, squish, and blend the paint through the gel.

Compare results to predictions. Red + yellow = orange. Yellow + blue = green. Red + blue = purple.

Hair gel slows the mixing, so your child watches the color change happen gradually — much more dramatic than paint mixing instantly.

Taping to a window lets sunlight shine through the gel, making the colors extra vivid.

Challenge your child to only half-mix — leaving swirls of both original colors plus the new color is visually stunning.

This is mess-free science. The paint never leaves the bag.

Follow up by asking: "What three colors would you need to make brown?" Let them try it with a fourth bag.