Our elf is doing some very colourful research. His latest invention appears to be a rainbow in three little cups! 🌈
Red, yellow and blue water line up on the tray, with an empty cup waiting for the next experiment. He’s even made himself a paper apron, which is probably wise given his enthusiasm.
This easy elf idea can lead into a little colour-mixing activity in the morning. The overnight setup itself only needs a few drops of food colouring and some cold water.
What you’ll need:
- One official Elf on the Shelf doll (paid link)
- Three small clear plastic cups and one extra empty cup
- Cold water and red, yellow and blue drops from a liquid food-colouring set (paid link)
- A broad tray
- One plastic teaspoon
- Paper for labels, an apron and a sign
- A low box to seat the elf
Setup:
Put a little cold water into three cups and tint each a different colour. Label them “Red”, “Yellow” and “Blue”, then arrange them across the tray with the empty cup in front. Sit your elf on the low box behind the tray and fold a simple paper apron around his middle. Rest the teaspoon against his mitten and add a “Rainbow lab” sign beside the cups. Keep the bottle closed and the liquids on the tray so the display stays tidy. You can leave the actual mixing until the children arrive, letting them spoon small amounts from two cups into the empty one and see what happens. The elf looks busy even before the experiment starts.
Make it cheaply:
Use clear containers you already have rather than buying miniature laboratory equipment. If there’s no food colouring, put coloured paper behind empty cups and make it a pretend lab instead. The apron can be an envelope corner, while the tray can be a clean container lid. A drawn rainbow on the sign adds colour without using any water.
Try the Christmas biscuit forecast or the cardboard robot costume for another elf scene.
