Recycled Crafts | Kids’ Oil + Water Science Experiment

We’ve been enjoying drinking more water, courtesy of my partners at Absopure. We also talk in our house about ways to re-use and recycle (often by making recycled crafts!), and with my daughter off school for Thanksgiving break, I thought I’d put some empty bottles to use with the classic oil-and-water kids ‘science experiment!

Raya has been loving the packable sized water that Absopure offers, because they’re just her size (and can fit easily in a lunchbox)!  So I told her to save her next couple of bottles so that we could do a little science experiment.

She proceeded to drink three bottles that morning. ;) That in itself felt like a mom win, haha!

We removed the Absopure labels, filled the bottles halfway with water, and I let her add a few drops of food coloring just for fun!  Then, we topped off the bottles with a few ounces of vegetable oil.  (Any kind of liquid oils should work for this experiment, we were just going for inexpensive ingredients on-hand.)  I even let her add a bit of glitter, to see what would happen.

We talked about what would happen if she shook it up.  She predicted it would all mix together.  And, at first, of course it did!  But then, we waited.

Pink water.  Purple glitter suspended in the oil.  And they separated.  I know all you parents out there know all about this little trick, of course!  This is certainly nothing new.  But I had a lot of fun watching my daughter learn it for the first time, and it was quality time for the two of us that involved glitter, recycling, and healthy drinking habits – so it was a win all the way around!

Absopure already has a great recycling program for their bottles, which you can learn more about on their website!  But this was a fun way of re-using the bottles at home.

Have you done this experiment at home with your kids before?  How did they like it?

Note: As an Absopure blogger, I get occasional free Absopure products in order to share crafts and ideas involving water initiatives and recycling with you, my awesome readers.  This post was not a paid promotion, and the ideas and opinions I share are all my own.