This is fun and easy. It can also be a little messy, so you might want to try it yourself before your younger kids do it.
INGREDIENTS:
*Hard boiled eggs.
*Assorted food-grade dye colors.
*Paper Towels
(I haven't tried different towel brands so I can't recommend one over another, but you don't want a towel that's going to tear easily.)
*A Bowl of Vinegar large enough to cover an egg. (DO NOT dilute with water) Vinegar seals the color onto the egg.
*Protection for your work area; newsprint & a vinyl tablecloth?
*Old clothes to wear while playing with the dyes.
TRICK #1
*Wet a paper towel with the vinegar.
*Wring out the towel so it isn't dripping, but isn't too wrung out.
*Next rumple it around the egg. You want lots of wrinkles in the towel as this is what creates the tie-dye look.
*Now using lots of different colors, drip colors in different places all around the towel-covered egg.
*You can remove the paper towel right away.
*You can also use that same towel wrinkle-wrapped around a second egg, (no need to add more colors) which will give you a pastel version of the first egg.
TRICK #2
*Dip an egg in the vinegar (no paper towel on this one)
*Drop a single color onto the wet egg and watch it "run" Turning it as it runs will cause it to run in a different direction, which can be very interesting.
*Let this dry(to seal the 1st color)
*After each color is dry, re-dip the egg in the vinegar again and drip on second color. third color etc.
You can wear gloves if you don't like tie-dyed hands. I never wore gloves and was actually proud of my rainbow hands. It's been a few years since I've done the egg dyes, but I don't remember the color staining my hands for very long. I think most of it washed off right away using soap and water. Your younger kids will probably not want to use gloves. So don't ruin the fun for them if they want to work bare-handed. IT IS food-grade dye and IT DOES wash out eventually. :lol: