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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
After a long, chilly winter, residents of Dover rejoiced in the arrival of spring. Last week, when 85-degree weather rolled into town, it was understandable that so many spent every moment of the afternoon soaking up the sun.
However, a handful of children decided to take a break from playing outside and head to the Dover Town Library, where “Creative Colors,” a special STEM program, was taking place.
With Yvette Sammarco and Kathleen Greulich of Walpole Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Programs (CFCE) programs, children at the Dover Library experimented with colors while simultaneously learning about science.
After a walkthrough of the four stations set up in the Community Room, the children flocked to the tables to begin the experiments on their own.
At one table, they used dotters to make their own designs on color diffusing circles – a type of paper similar to the feeling of a coffee filter. One child created a blue and red striped pattern, and another focused blue and yellow dots in the center of his circle, adding math equations to the edge of the circle with a black marker.
Yvette helped the children submerge their color-diffusing circles in water, pointing out the spots where the colors began to blend into one another.
At another station, the children stood at the table with a tray of baking soda in front of them. Food-colored vinegar sat on the table in ice cube trays with eyedroppers sticking out of the compartments. The children experimented with the vinegar, using the eyedroppers to drip different colors onto the baking soda. When the two substances mixed, the baking soda bubbled up and made colorful foam.
The children also practiced their artistic talents at the third station, which tasked them to create their own color palettes by mixing red, white, yellow, and blue paints.
At the last station, the children used a variety of household staples, like milk, liquid detergent, Q-tips, and food coloring. They used eyedroppers at this station, as well, and the children dripped the diluted food coloring onto a tray filled with milk. With a Q-tip covered in liquid detergent, the children witnessed a chemical reaction occur as the detergent reacted with the milk fat, making the food coloring move away from the Q-tip.
The afternoon program proved to be the perfect relief from the heat and a wonderful way to mix fun and science.
