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    Home » Science Experiments for Kids » Forces and Motion » Making a Splatter Pattern with Paint

    Making a Splatter Pattern with Paint

    July 29, 2013 By Emma Vanstone 17 Comments

    What we were hoping to show with this cool splatter pattern investigation was that a water balloon dropped from a greater height will fall with more speed and have a bigger splatter pattern than a water balloon of the same size dropped from a lower height.

    Water balloon experiment

    We hit a few issues along the way,  the balloons broke a little too easily, one on the tap and one was dropped by some little hands. There were lots of great questions and lovely giggles though, so despite it not working very well, we still had fun.

    What you’ll need to make splatter patterns

    A large tray or hard surface

    Paint

    Water balloons

    How to make Splatter Patterns

    Fill water balloons with water or paint and tie the ends. You can water down the paint if you’d rather.

    Drop the balloons from different heights and observe how the splatter pattern changes.

    We found that the balloons didn’t always burst when dropped from a low height, so we placed a needle in the centre of the tuff spot and used plasticine to hold it in place.

    Splatter patterns - messy science for kids

     You can see that when dropped from higher up the water has spread out much further. This is because the balloon had further to travel before hitting the ground and therefore burst when travelling at a higher speed, which made the water spread out more.

    Splatter patterns - messy science for kids

    To make things a bit clearer, I filled some more water balloons with paint and water mixed together. This was a very messy process, I’d recommend filling the balloons either outside or in a sink.

    Splat from the lowest height.

    Splatter patterns - messy science for kids

    From a bit higher up.

    Splatter patterns

    From even higher.

    Splatter patterns - messy science for kids

    With each increase in height the spatter was bigger.

    There are a few issues with this experiment, I couldn’t be sure that the balloons all held exactly the same amount of water/paint. I did weigh the water balloons, but there was a few grams difference and the paint ones were so hard to fill up anyway that it would’ve been impossible to get the same amount in each.

    I would have liked to have measured the distance between the needle and the edges of each splat, but our container was a little small.

    Can you do this with more accuracy? You could draw a graph to display your results.

    How many colours can you include in your splatter pattern?

    Splatter Patterns - Fun messy science activity for kids. Drop paint filled water balloons and observe the splatter pattern #scienceforkids #splatterpatterns #messyscience

    Last Updated on February 15, 2020 by Emma Vanstone

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    Safety Notice

    Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

    These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Alice @ Mums Make Lists

      July 29, 2013 at 7:49 pm

      Fabulous – love this. Popping over from the Pin It Party – have pinned on my science board http://pinterest.com/mumsmakelists/science/

      Reply
    2. MsXpat

      July 31, 2013 at 10:45 am

      What an awesome idea! Creative and a wonderful way to get the kids into a bit of physical activity. I wish I had the space to try this :0)

      Reply
    3. Lisa

      June 30, 2018 at 3:48 pm

      What kind of paint did you use? I want to do this with about 100 kids at a public building. I need to make sure it washes away.

      Reply

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