Make Colorful Blooming Flowers in 5 Steps

Materials you'll need

• Paper towels
• Scissors
• Washable markers (any colors)
• Cotton swabs
• Rubber bands
• Cup of water

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Fold a paper towel in half three times so you end up with a small square.

Step 2: Round off the open edges with scissors. When you unfold the paper towel, it will have a petal shape.

Step 3: Use a marker to color a stripe across the middle. This will become the colorful center of your flower!

Step 4: Pinch the center of the towel around one end of a cotton swab to form the flower shape. Secure it tightly with a rubber band. Use a yellow marker to color the tip of the cotton swab — that's your stamen!

Step 5: Set your flower upright in a cup of water with the cotton swab acting as a stem. Watch the petals slowly open and the color spread like magic!

Learn more

The secret behind your blooming flower is capillary action — the same force that helps trees carry water from their roots all the way up to their leaves. Water molecules are naturally attracted to the fibers in the paper towel (that's called adhesion) and like to stick to each other (that's called cohesion). Together, these forces pull the water up through tiny gaps in the towel, almost like the paper is drinking! As the water climbs, it carries the marker color along with it, turning your plain white petals into a burst of color.