While at a friends house, her mom mentioned how to create tie dye on fabric with sharpies.  I did some research and found an example on Steve Spangler Science and decided to give it a try with my kids.

We had a lot of fun creating different designs and watching how the colors changed when they blended together.  It's a simple, fun and educational activity.

Items Needed:

• Sharpies in a variety of colors
• White pre-washed fabric.  We cut up old t-shirts.
• Rubbing Alcohol (You'll want to get one with a high % of alcohol.  Ours was 70%)
• Small plastic cups
• Rubber bands
• Medicine dropper

Directions:

• Stretch the material over the top of the cup and secure it with a rubber band.
• Draw a small design (about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter) in the middle of the circle of fabric.  Experiment with different colors and patterns.
• Use the medicine dropper to put 10-15 drops of rubbing alcohol in the middle of your design.
• Watch as the alcohol gradually blends the colors together and creates a tie dye effect.

It's a pretty simple experiment, but it kept the kids entertained for quite a while.  Next time we plan to make some designs on a white t-shirt so they can wear their designs.  And if we get really ambitions, we'll try embellishing the shirt like Jackie did.