Dyeing eggs has been a springtime tradition for centuries. Though today many of us rely on store-bought kits to make our eggs colourful, vegetable scraps have long been turned into beautiful dyes, and are a great way to use up food scraps!
Note: This activity uses a stove. Ask an adult for permission and supervision before doing this activity.
Materials:
Hard-boiled eggs
Vegetable scraps (see list below)
Water
Vinegar
Pots
Bowls
Vegetable scraps to use:
Yellow onion skins = Pale yellow
Red cabbage = Blue
Red onion skins = Pale purple
Beets (shredded or skin chopped up) = Pink
Carrot tops = Pale green
You can experiment with other vegetables and fruits, too!
Instructions:
Add your veggie scraps to a pot, and add water until the ingredients are just covered. Aim for around a cup of scraps to two cups of water. The more scraps you add, the brighter the colour will be!
Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to the water. This will help make the colour brighter.
With the help of a parent, bring the pot of ingredients to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes. Let cool.
Once the dye is cool, dip your hard-boiled eggs into the dye. The longer you let them sit, the brighter the dye will be! Try to let them sit in the dye for at least 10 minutes. Remove the egg, and see the beautiful colours!
Quick tip: Don’t feel like using the stove to make your dye? Try using things like juices, instead! Beet juice from a jar of pickled beets will stain eggs bright pink, and leftover coffee and tea can be used to dye eggs brown. Generally, the darker the liquid, the more likely it is to stain. You could try green tea, grape juice, or cranberry juice, too!
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