Colorful Bouncy Eggs in 4 Steps

Materials you'll need

• Raw eggs
• White vinegar 
• Clear plastic cups or jars 
• Food coloring 
• Stir stick or chopstick
• Bowl of water

 

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1: Place one raw egg into each clear cup. Pour enough white vinegar over each egg to fully submerge it. You'll notice tiny bubbles starting to form on the shell.

Step 2: Add a few drops of food coloring to each cup, using a different color for each one. Stir gently with a stick to mix the color into the vinegar.

Step 3: Set your cups somewhere safe and wait 3–5 days. The longer you wait, the more shell will dissolve. You'll see the liquid turn cloudy as the shell breaks down.

Step 4: After 3–5 days, carefully remove each egg and gently rinse it in a bowl of water, rubbing away any remaining shell residue with your fingers. Be gentle! The eggs are now bouncy but still fragile!

Learn more

When you soak an egg in vinegar, the acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the calcium carbonate in the eggshell — a chemical reaction that dissolves the shell and releases those tiny carbon dioxide bubbles you see forming on the surface. After a few days, the hard shell has completely disappeared, but the egg holds its shape thanks to the thin, flexible membrane sitting just underneath. That rubbery membrane is what gives the egg its bouncy feel! The food coloring in the vinegar tints this membrane as it soaks, giving each egg its bright new color.