Leaf Chromatography: The Hidden Colors in Fall Leaves

You tear red or purple fall leaves into a jar, cover them with rubbing alcohol, and drape a coffee filter strip so it touches the liquid. An adult handles the rubbing alcohol. Over about an hour, the strip wicks up hidden yellows and oranges from the leaf pieces. Ages 6 and up.

What Do You Need for Leaf Chromatography?

You need red or purple fall leaves, a glass jar, rubbing alcohol, a coffee filter, tape, and a pencil. The adult handles the rubbing alcohol from start to finish.

• A handful of red or purple fall leaves (these show the biggest change)
• 1 glass jar
• Rubbing alcohol
• 1 white coffee filter
• Tape
• 1 pencil

How Do You Reveal the Hidden Colors?

You tear leaves into the jar, the adult covers them with rubbing alcohol, and you tape a coffee filter strip to a pencil laid across the jar so the strip tip touches the liquid.

1. Collect a handful of red or purple fall leaves. Red and purple leaves carry the widest mix of hidden pigments.
2. Your child tears the leaves into small pieces and drops them into the jar.
3. An adult pours in enough rubbing alcohol to cover the leaf pieces.
4. Cut a strip from the coffee filter, about 1 inch wide and tall enough to reach the liquid from the jar's mouth.
5. Tape the top of the strip to a pencil. Lay the pencil across the mouth of the jar so the strip tip dips into the alcohol and the tape holds the rest of the strip up.
6. Wait about an hour. The alcohol wicks up the strip and pulls yellow and orange bands along with it.
7. Lift the strip out and lay it on white paper. The green fades into bands of hidden color.

The science stays simple. Green pigment in leaves breaks down in fall, which uncovers yellows and oranges that sat underneath all along. The alcohol carries those pigments up the paper, so your child sees them as separate bands.

What Can Go Wrong with Leaf Chromatography?

The filter strip slides into the jar and the wick stops working. Tape the strip to the pencil and lay the pencil across the top so the tip stays in the liquid. Pale or yellow leaves give a weak result too, so pick leaves with strong red or purple color.

How Do You Keep It Safe?

The adult pours and handles the rubbing alcohol, and the jar sits on a steady table away from the edge. Rubbing alcohol stings eyes and is not for tasting, so kids watch and wait while the adult manages the jar. Work in a room with fresh air moving through it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What age is this for?

Ages 6 and up. Your child tears leaves and watches the bands climb while the adult handles the alcohol.

How messy is it?

Low to medium. Spilled alcohol wipes up fast, and the jar stays put on the table.

How long does it take?

Ten minutes of setup and about an hour of wicking. The bands keep climbing the longer you wait.

Is it safe?

Yes, when the adult handles the rubbing alcohol. Kids do not pour, taste, or carry the jar.

Try leaf rubbing art with the leaves you do not tear up. Pair this one with our apple oxidation experiment for a two-part fall science afternoon.

Be safe and have fun!