Try a Magic Milk Experiment

Try out this cool experiment at home. Become a scientist and figure out why the reaction with the milk is happening!


  • Wide bowl or pie plate 
  • About 1 inch of milk
  • Food coloring 
  • Dawn dish soap
  • Q-tips


  1. Pour about 1 inch of milk in the bottom of the bowl or pie plate.
  2. Drop different colors of food coloring into the milk, spacing the food coloring drops so that the drops don’t touch.
  3. Pour about ¼ cup of Dawn dish soap into a bowl. Dip the q-tip into the Dawn.
  4. Next, touch the milk anywhere with the q-tip (only touch the milk with the q-tip, not the food coloring). You can keep touching the milk in all different spots.
  5. Watch the food coloring react.

Why does this happen?

The Dawn dish soap is a degreaser. So the molecules in the Dawn dish soap are reacting to the fat cells in the milk. This causes motion which creates the swirls of the food coloring, making the different colors as they mix.


Activity by Cheryl Moy, Bates Site
Photo Credit & Inspiration:

Posted in Activities, After School, At Home, Bates, STEM.