How to Tie-Dye Eggs

[Jane]

Activity: Tie-Dye Eggs

You can make beautiful colored eggs using natural
materials found in your own home. Here?s how!

Materials:

1.) Eggs (as many as you want)
2). About 2 teaspoons of white vinegar for each egg
3). Paper towels
4).

A twist tie
5). An 8″ x 8″ piece of cheesecloth or pantyhose
6). A stainless steel or enamel pot

Materials for dyes:

1). Spinach leaves …………….pale green
2). Dandelion flowers…………pale yellow
3).

Red onion skins……………golden brown
4). Cherries, beets……………..pink
5). Red cabbage…………………bluish purple

> Dip a paper towel in vinegar and wipe each egg.
Then rinse the egg and dry it. (This removes the waxy
covering sometimes put on store-bought eggs)

> Decide what you want to use to dye your first egg. Suppose
it?s red cabbage. Cut a leaf of cabbage into small pieces.
Place 3 tablespoons of cabbage in the center of a piece of
cheesecloth or pantyhose.

Put the egg on top of the cabbage.

> Pull the sides of the cloth up around the egg. Try to spread
the cabbage evenly around the egg. Tighten by twisting the
cloth and fasten with a twist tie.

> Put the wrapped egg in your pot and add water until the
egg is covered by about ??of water.

> Add 1 teaspoon vinegar. (You will need fresh vinegar
and water for each color)

> Put the pot over medium heat and boil the wrapped egg for
at least 10 minutes. Let the egg cool in the now colored water.

> When the egg and water are cool, unwrap the egg.
(The cloth square may be rinsed and used again)

> Then gently wipe your ?naturally? dyed egg with vegetable
oil to make it shine.

Another Activity: Air Holes in Eggs
Eggs are covered with tiny holes, too small to see with the naked eye, that allow oxygen to pass in to the growing baby and carbon dioxide to pass out. To see these breathing holes in action, make a small hole in one end of a chicken egg. Use a needle to break up the yolk, and shake all the yolk and white out of the egg.

Seal the hole completely with tape. Now, place the egg in a bowl of water and hold it under. You will be able to see air bubble rise right out of the egg?s shell as the air trapped inside seeps out through the tiny holes!

[Author]

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