Activities that explain and define the elements of art
Introduction:
Mixing colors seems magical to children. They even voice the word “magic” when observing a simple mixing demonstration. The color mixing exercises were always in use. The following color activities are based on the work of the Swiss artist and art educator, Johannes Itten. His book, The Art of Color, is a classic color theory curriculum. His background and teaching history are interesting.
Color has five qualities. Books may only tell you there are three. The first quality is hue. Hue is another name for color. The second quality is value. Value is the lightness or the darkness of a color. The third quality is intensity. Intensity is the brightness or dullness of a color. The fourth quality of color is interaction. Colors influence each other. The fifth quality is weight. Each color by its natural lightness or darkness has a feeling of weight. Yellow is at the top of the traditional color chart while purple is at the bottom. Red and blue are closer in lightness and darkness and are on either side of purple, which is the darkest. Orange and green are darker than yellow, yet lighter than red and blue. The lightness and darkness of a color is important when mixing hues. The traditional color wheels are weighted. The lightest color is at the top and the darkest is at the bottom, and the rest of the colors follow in order of descending darkness.
The Montessori color boxes, while important, do not address all the qualities of color. There is a wealth of exciting information to be found in the study of four color groups and four color wheels. Once each of them is learned, have the children record their work. Suggestions are given, but structure the recording of the information as you like.
The primary colors red, yellow, and blue are not mixed colors but they can be combined to create three other groups of colors. The Secondary Colors are orange, purple, and green. Each secondary color is visually midway between the two primaries that produce it. The Intermediate Colors are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, and yellow-green. They are not visually balanced colors. There is only one orange but many yellow-oranges and red-oranges, etc. They appear to have more of one primary than the other. The neutral colors are brown, gray, black, and white. They are made using all the primary colors except one of them that cannot be mixed. The four color wheels reveal relationships that exist between these color groups.
Color paddles and spinning tops – like the ones pictured here – are dry color mixing activities. Wet activities are done with transparent watercolor paint mixed in white containers. Mixing color is a sensorial activity, not mathematical. Allow the children the freedom to see when they have arrived at the color they want.
Note: The first and second color boxes start the study of color. The traditional lessons are important to give.
GEORGIE STORY
Introduction:
The color paddles exercise is a dry mixing activity. It can be put in an elementary environment on day one. Artistically, the colors in The First Color Box belong to a group called the Primary Colors. Primary means first, or basic. They can be mixed to make all other colors except one. Within color theory, making colors with paint is called a subtractive system. The primary subtractive colors magenta, yellow, and cyan are specific red, yellow and blue ink colors used for printing. The older 9-12 children would also be interested in the additive color system, which mixes light in the colors red, green and blue. Additive color is used to create the images on the electronic screens that they use and enjoy.- Prerequisite: The First and Second Color Boxes Use of the Color Paddles as a discovery tool
- Direct Aim: To experience finding the secondary colors without water.
- Indirect Aim: To creatively use color as a tool for self expression
- Point of interest: “Now that you know how important the Primary Colors are, you may record them for your Special Work file.”
Materials:
- Color Paddles: 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 blue
- 3 trays: white or gray
- The Primary Color Group Work sheet or recording method of your choice
- A tray for the worksheet
- Crayons, markers, or oil pastels in a container with a pencil
Preparation:
- Place two paddles on each tray
- Place a yellow and red paddle next to each other on a tray. Yellow on the left and red on the right
- Place red on the left and blue on the right.
- Place yellow on the left and blue on the right.
- Place the work after the First Color Box or on the art shelf.
- Put the worksheet and its crayons next to the color paddles.
Presentation: 5-6
- Place the three trays across the mat horizontally.
- Introduce the work by its name.
- “The First Color Box holds the colors red, yellow, and blue. This group of colors has an artistic name. These colors are called the Primary Color Group. Primary means first, most important. Red, yellow, and blue are primary colors. These special colors when mixed together will make all the colors you will need except one. We will discover which one that is.”
- “We are going to put two primary color paddles together and make a new color. Each tray will make a different color that you can name.”
- “Let’s start with the first tray.” Hold up the paddles by their handles and ask the children to name each primary color. Cross the paddles. “Yellow and red make (wait for the answer) orange. Yes, they make orange. A primary color mixed with another primary color will make a what’s called a secondary color. Orange is a secondary color.” Place the paddles on their tray.
- Proceed to the next tray. Hold up the paddles by their handles and ask the children to name each primary color. Cross the paddles. “Red and blue make (wait for the answer) Purple. Yes, they make purple. Red is a primary color and blue is a primary color and together they make a secondary color. Purple is a secondary color.” Place the paddles on their tray.
- Proceed to the next tray. Hold up the paddles by their handles and ask the children to name each primary color. Cross the paddles. “Yellow and blue make (wait for the answer) green. Correct. Yellow is a primary color and blue is a primary color and together they make a secondary color. Green is a secondary color.” Place the paddles on their tray.
- Suggest they read the color paddles with you.
- Restore and return the work to the shelf.
Extensions: Other dry color mixing activities:
- Color tops which when spun create a secondary color. (see photo)
- Transparent color swatches can be used with an overhead projector to mix secondary colors. (see photo)
- Fill tall chemistry test tubes with the primary colors and place them where they can be seen but not touched. Place them so they will make secondary colors as you pass them. (see photo)
- Dry mixing can progress in difficulty.
- Place three primary color paddles in a container. Place one orange, purple, and green color tablet in a matching container. (see photo)
- There will be no control of error, just trial and error. Let the children discover brown with the paddles on their own.
- Place three primary color paddles in a container. Place one orange, purple, and green color tablet in a matching container. (see photo)
- You can make your own spinners. To find wooden tops, you want to search the internet using “spinning wooden tops”. The spinners pictured here use pie sections of color, but here is an easier way:
- Cut two circles of cover paper the size of the spinner. Punch a hole in the middle of the circles. Use a grommet kit to make the desired center hole size. You will need one yellow and one red circle to make orange. Glue the red circle onto the spinner. With a hole punch, scatter holes over the yellow circle. Consider using ¼” and ⅛” hole punches to reach the desired color. You will need to check your work often. To make sure the yellow circle stays in place during testing, put only a tiny bit of glue stick under it, so you can pull it up and make more holes if necessary to achieve the orange effect.
- Start with blue and punch holes in the red circle for purple.
- Start with blue and add yellow for green.
- To produce the neutral colors brown or grey, combine a circle of purple on top of yellow, or green on red, or blue on orange. Enjoy the experimentation required to get the effect you want. A small group of children would also enjoy doing this with you.
- Glue the finished pieces on top of one another and seal them with plastic spray finish. Glue the punched paper to the top.
- Ideally you want five tops; three for the secondary colors orange, purple, and green, as well as two for the neutrals, brown and gray.
- I found a set of five wooden tops #1290067479 on etsy.com through TimsWoodenToyShop. They are beautiful. I would not want to cover them with paper but one could. Use them to teach children how to use a top first.
Resources:
- Paddles and tops:
- Montessori Services
- School supply stores
- Internet
- General Tools 71264 Grommet Kit with grommets, Amazon
Introduction:
Simple color wheels are not available to buy. Manufactured wheels are very complex and do not isolate information that would make it easy for younger people to learn color theory. At this time, it is up to us to make the simple ones for our environments. There are three basic wheels, with a fourth that is optional but beautiful because it is Johannes Itten’s original full color wheel creatively edited in Elements of Color, page 31. Once the three simple wheels are mastered, it is easier for 9-12 students to use the manufactured, more visually cluttered ones to learn what they offer. For this activity I have included directions for making a model and a puzzle of the first two color wheels. Directions for making the third and fourth color wheels will be covered in a future Section – Understanding Art III.- Prerequisite: The first color box presented as Primary Colors
- Direct Aim: To establish the importance of the Primary Colors
- Indirect Aim: To introduce the color wheel as a learning tool to introduce the second color wheel
- Point of interest: “Would you like to learn how to read the First Color Wheel? Can you read it forwards and backwards? It starts with yellow at the top.”
Materials: Masonite Color Wheel (see photo)
- Tempered Masonite cut to 12” x 12” squares (see Preparation)
- Primer paint – medium gray
- Clear sealant spray paint
- A soft pencil
- A pointed black permanent marker
- Red, yellow and blue paper
- Medium gray Bainbridge Board
- Drafting equipment: compass, protractor, T-square, ruler
- Yes Paste, or glue stick
- A roll of cold laminating material
- A 12” x 12” square of gray felt for each color wheel
- A container for the movable pieces of the color wheels (optional)
- They can be stacked on top of the wheel.
Preparation: Primary Color Wheel
Note: Read all the following directions before you begin. In the steps below, we will create a control model (chart) on Masonite for the primary color wheel and a set of color puzzle sections for students to match your model in the activity. If you plan eventually to make permanent models of the three (or all four) color wheels, have that number of Masonite squares cut now. To prepare the primary color wheel:- One square of tempered Masonite cut 12” x 12”.
- Paint the top surface with medium gray primer and let it cure.
- Seal all other surfaces of the Masonite with clear spray paint.
- On the gray surface of the Masonite square, use a soft pencil dot to mark the center of the square at the intersection of its diagonals.
- Using a pointed permanent marker, mark another dot about ½” higher for the center of the wheel, and erase the first dot.
- The outer circle will have a 10” diameter and the inner circle will have a 5” diameter. From the center dot, use the compass to draw these two circles.
- Draw a horizontal line through the center point of the wheel, parallel to the top and bottom edges of the square. The line is used under the protractor to make the lines that separate the color sections.
- Each section will be 120 degrees. Make a pencil dot at 30 degrees and 150 degrees on the outer edge of the protractor.
- Place a ruler vertically at the 90 degree mark down through the center of the protractor; put a pencil dot at the bottom of the circles.
- Draw the lines that intersect the circles at the 30, 150, and 90 degree marks.
- Erase any pencil lines that are not part of the wheel.
- Draft the wheel again on lightweight gray 12” x 12” Bainbridge board or heavy paper, with the outer circle having a 10” diameter and the inner circle has a 5” diameter. Each section will be 120 degrees, as before.
- Carefully cut the Bainbridge board wheel into its 3 sections.
- Choose the red, yellow and blue paper needed for the wheel and its separate sections.
- Trace each board section twice onto each primary color paper.
- One set of each color will be glued to the Masonite square to make the completed wheel.
- The other set will be used in the activity as puzzle sections to form the wheel on gray felt.
- Trace each board section twice onto each primary color paper.
- Paste the first set onto the Masonite wheel. Spread the Yes Paste smoothly to prevent wrinkles. Use a good glue stick or spray glue if you prefer. Let the paste dry. It is ready to seal. Use a clear matte-finish spray product.
- Paste each primary color puzzle section onto the Bainbridge board or heavy paper you are using for the puzzle sections. Spread the paste thinly and smoothly to prevent wrinkles. Let them dry.
- Read the instructions that come with your laminating materials. To cut the laminate to fit, you can draw around one of the puzzle sections. Cover the front first with a piece of laminate that is ½” bigger all around. Cut tabs or slits about every ⅜” - ½” around the piece and bend them over to the back. Then cover the back with another piece of laminate the fits it exactly.
- Cut a gray felt square the same size as the Masonite square.
- Place the wheel on a shelf after the first color box, with the rolled felt and the wheel puzzle sections on top of the completed wheel, or place the mat to the left of it. You choose.
Materials: To make a Paper Color Wheel, professionally laminated
- 3 sheets of heavy grey cover paper 12” x 12”
- One sheet for the background of the model, one for backing the color puzzle sections, one background to put the sections on in the activity
- If you plan to eventually make all three (or four) color wheels, buy enough paper for making all the wheels, so they match.
- Utility scissors to cut heavy paper
- Red, yellow, and blue paper for the wheels you plan to make
- Drafting equipment: compass, protractor, T-square, ruler
- Yes Paste, a good glue stick, or spray glue. You choose.
- A container for the puzzle sections of the color wheel (optional)
Preparation: Primary Color Wheel, paper version
Note: Read all the directions before you begin.- Choose the red, yellow, and blue paper needed to complete the wheel and its separate parts. Buy enough of everything for three wheels.
- Cut the gray heavy stock into three squares, 12” x 12”.
- One to make the color wheel background
- One to create the background for the separate red, yellow, and blue puzzle pieces (sections). This plain gray square is ready to be laminated.
- One to cut apart to make the backing for the puzzle sections.
- Draft the wheel onto the square that will be the model wheel background. Follow steps 1—5 above under Preparation: Primary Color Wheel
- Draft the wheel again on the second square for the sections backing.
- It is not necessary to center it on the paper. Carefully cut the wheel into the three sections. Keep the scraps for other materials you may wish to make.
- Trace each piece on each primary-color paper twice.
- One set will be used to make the completed wheel model.
- One set will be used to make the separate puzzle sections needed for students to match the wheel in the activity.
- Adhere the first set of color sections to the wheel using the adhesive of your choice. Spread it smoothly to prevent wrinkles. It is ready to be professionally laminated.
- Paste the second set of color sections onto the heavy gray sections you cut out. Spread the glue smoothly to prevent wrinkles.
- Each puzzle section of the wheel, the drafted background square, and the color wheel model should be laminated with 10mil or thicker hot laminate. There are sign shops and print shops that are equipped with hot laminating machines for plastic this thick. Do not attempt to run laminate this thick through an ordinary office laminator that is not rated for 10mil or thicker.
Presentation:
- Introduce the work by its name. “This is the Primary Color Wheel.”
- Show the wheel to the children. “It is called a wheel because of its shape. It is round and looks something like a tire. It is called the Primay Color Wheel because it contains only the primary colors. The Primary Colors are red, yellow and blue. When these basic colors are mixed, they make all other colors except one.”
- Roll out the mat. Look that the model wheel and begin to match it with the puzzle sections on the felt mat. Put the yellow section in place on the top of the wheel. “Yellow belongs on the top.”
- Put your finger on the wheel and follow the yellow down until it hits the red section. ”Red is the next color.” Put the red shape to the left of the yellow shape on the felt.
- Put your finger on the wheel and follow the yellow and the red sections until it lands on the blue. “Blue is the last color on the wheel.” Place the blue section on the felt mat.
- Turn the model wheel over. “Let’s make the wheel puzzle without looking at the model.”
- Shuffle the pieces.
- “What color is on the top?” Let the children answer the question. “Yes, yellow is at the top.” Place the yellow section on top.
- Run your finger down the yellow section until you are on the felt. “What color is next? Correct, red is next.” Place the red section on the felt, next to the yellow.
- “What color is last? Yes, it is blue.” Complete the wheel.
- “Let’s check our work.” Turn the model wheel over.
- “Let’s make (say) the wheel backwards.” Repeat the steps in the opposite direction. You could just say them backwards. You Choose.
- You decide whether to use the terms “clockwise, counter-clockwise.”
Resources:
- Masonite and paint: hardware stores
- Yes! Paste – https://www.unitednow.com/product/13606/yes-paste-archival-adhesive.aspx
- Michael’s, art supply stores or school supply sites for colored paper, paste, spray glue
- Avery Permanent, Glue Stic: Office supply, https://www.staples.com/
- Item AVE98096 Model 98096
- Color Wheel Poster: Triarco.com/product/RA15407 (Not traditional)
Introduction:
Provide a printed blank color wheel on 3-hole paper. The wheel can be colored using crayons, oil pastels, or markers. You could also choose to have the children draw and color the wheel themselves. You choose.- Prerequisite: Success making the Primary Color Wheel
- Direct Aim: To record the wheel
- Indirect Aim: To reinforce learned information
- Point of interest: “Will you read the first color wheel to (with) me? Can you read the wheel forwards and backwards?”
Materials:
- White paper 8½” x 11”
- Print the work sheet example from the pdf file supplied, draft it using the materials below or design one with a computer drawing program.
- Drafting equipment: compass, protractor, T-square, ruler
- Dry transfer letters and numbers if you do not have a computer
- A new thin black marker and ruler
- Red, yellow, and blue crayons, markers, or oil pastels
- A pencil
Preparation:
- Decide if you want to title the wheel, leave it blank, or provide lines for children to print their name and the name of the wheel. Use a computer to title the wheel; provide space for a child’s name and when it was done.
- Draft the wheel ½” to the right of center so it can be printed on 3-hole paper if you wish to create an art journal.
- Each segment is 120 degrees (See: Work Sheet next page).
- Draft it first with a pencil, then use a new thin black marker to ink the wheel and its sections. You might wish to practice using the marker with a compass and a ruler.
- Print copies of the worksheet and place them on a tray
- Put the crayons, markers, or oil pastels in a container. Include a pencil. Place the coloring materials on top of the worksheets.
- Install the worksheet next to the wheel.
Presentation: 5-12
- “Now that you can make the wheel and can read it forwards and backwards, I invite you to color a copy of it for your art file.”
Extensions:
- Create a large wheel using string and chalk outside, and have the children color it.
- Create with the children a large wheel to display in the school with written statements made by the children about the primary colors. Display it in the community’s Public Library.
Resources:
- Drafting tools: art, office, school supplies stores, or online
- Coloring materials: discount stores, office and school supplies stores and online
- Reeves Large Oil Pastels in 24 colors at michael’s.com
Introduction:
Secondary colors are very special. Each secondary color is visually in the middle between its two primary colors. Primary means basic or first. Secondary means having been derived from something primary, or is second in rank. These are wet mixing exercises, using liquid watercolor paints, which require a simple water cleanup. The simple structure for mixing secondary colors is used again and again for many color mixing exercises. Isolate each activity on a table.Sequence of lessons:
- Put one secondary color mixing activity out in the environment at a time. Introduce mixing orange. Replace it with purple, then green.
- The children are then ready to have all three colors isolated in the environment at one time. Choose a special place for each one.
- Once they have mastered all three in isolation, the three secondary colors can be put together in one activity using all three primary colors. The color tablets are arranged in the order in which each appears in The Second Color Wheel (orange, purple, and green).
Georgie Story
When teaching 9-12 students for the first time, I was approached by a frantic, creative, and intelligent student that I had taught since kindergarten. She asked would I please tell her how to make orange. After answering her, I thanked her for reminding me that I must review prior learning so they can move on. I immediately placed color mixing and color wheel review activities in the environment. It also prompted me to institute each student making an art book or journal of things they mastered (but might have forgotten) in the 6-9 studio.- Prerequisite: Experience using an eye dropper (See Practical Life), The Primary Color Group, The First Color Wheel
- Direct Aim: To make secondary colors with watercolor paint
- Indirect Aim: To use color spontaneously, creatively, and knowingly to make art
- Point of interest: “You did not need a lot of water for cleanup. Good!”
Materials:
- Yellow, red, and blue liquid watercolor paint, diluted as above
- 1 orange color tablet, 1 purple color tablet, 1 green color tablet from the Montessori second color box, or make your own.
- An apron for each activity
- The following things will be needed for each secondary color mixing activity:
- 2 containers for primary colored paint, 1 for water and a spoon
- Note: 4 containers: when all secondary colors are mixed in one activity: 3 for primary colored paint, 1 for water, and a spoon
- 1 tip tray large enough to hold 2 paint containers for each separate color mixing activity, or tray of choice
- 1 tip tray large enough to hold 3 paint containers when all three color tablets are placed in one activity or tray of choice
- 1 white individual butter dish for each color to be mixed
- 2 plastic eye droppers for each secondary color mixing activity
- 3 when mixing all three secondary colors in one activity
- 1 small plastic or silver salt spoon for each separate color mixing activity
- A work mat for each activity
- 2 containers for primary colored paint, 1 for water and a spoon
- Summary of equipment needed: 6 containers for paint, 6 eye droppers, 3 water containers and 3 spoons for water, 3 small trays for paint, a larger tray for paint, 3 small white dishes, 3 color tablets
Preparation:
- Gather all the equipment needed.
- Prepare the paint as described in the introduction.
- Each activity will have a work mat, a tray with two containers of paint, and an eyedropper in each. Place the container of water with the mixing spoon to the right of the paint tray.
- Place the color tablet and white dish in the middle of the work space.
- The order of the color containers for each secondary:
- yellow then red for orange
- red then blue for purple
- yellow then blue for green
- Place the white mixing dish on the table.
- Place the secondary tablet to the left of the dish or above it.
- Decide where to isolate the work.
- Decide where to place the apron.
Presentation: 5-9, (9-12 Present all three together.)
- Invite the child to wear the apron.
- Demonstrate how to fill the eyedropper. Use the words “press” and “release or let go” while demonstrating.
- Invite the child to fill the dropper and put the paint into the dish.
- Invite the child to add the second color.
- Suggest the children stir the paint with the spoon. If they use their finger to mix the paint, they may wipe off their finger on their clothing or on the carpet.
- Verbalize the results. “Half yellow and half red makes orange. Orange is a secondary color. It is the color that is in the middle between yellow and red. It is a half-and-half color.”
- Assist the child to get water and to clean up the activity, or demonstrate the cleanup process. Very little water and a sponge are needed. Empty buckets at the sink when any water cleanup activity is in the environment. Refresh the sponge. (See: The Sink in Environment.)
Extensions:
- Place a beautiful clear container on the table where children are mixing all three secondary colors. Ask them to pour each color they’ve made into the glass. Sometimes it will be brown, sometimes it will be gray, or even black. Bring the container to the group so everyone sees the color made that day.
- Note: This is a way to introduce the neutral colors brown, gray, and black. White is the fourth color of the neutral group. It is present in this work as the clear water. Watercolor paint is a transparent medium. The addition of water will lighten any color. The white mixing dish makes it possible to see the color correctly. Red, yellow, and blue make every color except one, and it is not considered primary. Remember, four-color photographic printing must be done on white paper in order for the colors to “mix” correctly.
Resources:
- Eye Droppers: Carolina.com Item 736913, package of 12
- Liquid watercolor paint: Liquid watercolor: Discount School Supply 1-800-627-2829
- Small white individual dishes: White Sauce Dishes set of 4. World Market, Select size 2.75 UPC 67435
- Artist Stores will have a stacked palette which consists of three ceramic dishes and lid. The set is usually used for painting with ink. It is more expensive but very elegant.
- Small plastic tasting spoons: Amazon
- Small paint containers: use votive candle containers, restaurant supplies, discount stores, recycle baby food jars, bud vases available at Michael’s
Introduction:
There is no secondary color box unless you use the appropriate parts of the Montessori Second Color Box. Being an art teacher, I made my own color boxes; first out of illustration board colored with acrylic paint, then made out of wood and painted. They were even manufactured for a short while. The simplest presentation of the Secondary Color Group is to introduce them just as you did the primary colors. The lesson below is how I, as a Montessori trained art teacher, handled color mixing and color groups. Labeling the work needs to be done at the discretion of the teacher.- Prerequisite: Mixing secondary colors
- Direct Aim: The secondary colors and how they are made
- Indirect Aim: Prerequisite for the Neutral and Intermediate (Tertiary) Color Groups
- Point of interest: “How much do you remember about mixing the secondary colors?” Use the Second Period Lesson “What does yellow and red make, etc.?”
Materials:
- All color tablets from the First Color Box
- 1 orange, 1 purple, and 1 green tablet from The Second Color Box
- A divided container or two small identical containers
- Labels:
- The Second Color Group
- orange, purple, green
- Tray for the activity, gray felt work mat
- Three wooden “plus” signs and three wooden “equals” signs
Preparation:
- Select containers for the color tablets and labels.
- Place the 3 secondary tablets and the 6 primary tablets in separate containers, with primary on the left and secondary on the right.
- Place the work on a tray and decide where it belongs in the environment.
- Place the math symbols in a container for the presentation, if using.
- Include a rolled gray felt mat to the left of the activity.
Presentation:
- Introduce the work by its name: “This is the Secondary Color Group.”
- Place each secondary color section on the mat one under another. “Orange is a secondary color, purple is a secondary color, and green is a secondary color.” You can ask the children to say the words with you, if you wish.
- “Orange is a half-and-half color, It is half (wait for an answer).” Place the yellow tablet to the right of the orange one. “Orange is half yellow and half (wait) red.” If no one answers, supply the information. “Orange is half yellow and half red.” Place the math symbols as you speak the words.
- Proceed to purple and green, placing the rest of the primary tablets where they belong.
Extensions: Incidental Learning
- I found three plastic cylinders. One was yellow, one red, and one orange. When turned over, they oozed color from the top to the bottom sections like a lava lamp. They were placed in the concentration building section of the studio and were always used.
- Set up a flower arranging activity using yellow, red, and orange flowers, etc.
Introduction:
Provided here is a printed blank worksheet to record the secondary color group and how each color is made. It was designed to look like an addition problem.- Prerequisite: Success mixing all secondary colors
- Direct Aim: To record the color group and how each is made to reinforce learned information
- Indirect Aim: Prerequisite for Neutral and Intermediate Color Groups
- Point of interest: “Would you like to read the work sheet to (with) me?”
Materials:
- White paper 8½ “ x 11”
- Print the work sheet example from the pdf file supplied, draft it using the materials below or design one with a computer drawing program.
- To create your own, you will need:
- Drafting equipment, or you can use a computer drawing program
- Dry transfer letters and numbers, or use the computer
- Pencil, a new thin black marker, and ruler
- Red, yellow, blue, orange, purple, and green crayons, markers, or oil pastels
- A tray for the worksheets and a small container for the following:
- A container for crayons, markers, or oil pastels, and a pencil
Preparation:
- Print the worksheets and place them on a tray.
- Put the (crayons, markers, or oil pastels) and pencil in their container and place it on top of the worksheets.
- Place the work sheets to the right of the Secondary Color Box.
- Decide how to present the crayons or markers. Choose a container for them.
- Install the work sheet next to The Second Color Group activity.
Presentation: 5-12
- “You now know the names of the secondary colors and how they are made with primary colors. I invite you to record the information to put in your art journal.”
Extensions:
- Use this work as a writing assignment. Ask the children if they would enjoy explaining the secondary colors using words. Explain that it could be their writing assignment on their contract.
Resources:
- Drafting tools, dry transfer lettering/numbers, burnishing tool for transfer lettering: on line, art or discount stores
Introduction:
The Secondary Color Wheel is a wonderful piece of equipment. The relationships between colors that can be revealed using the wheel give rise to some of the most interesting activities that children love. The Primary Color Wheel is used to present the secondary one. It is introduced after children have had experience making secondary colors in isolated color mixing activities. The presentation of The Secondary Color wheel is a sensorial and intellectual “slam dunk.”- Prerequisite: Mixing secondary colors in isolation the Secondary Color Group
- Direct Aim: To learn The Secondary Color Wheel
- Indirect Aim: For advanced color theory information
- Point of interest: “Can you read the secondary color wheel?”
Materials:
- The model Primary Color Wheel
- The model Secondary Color Wheel
- The Secondary Color Wheel Puzzle
- All six puzzle sections of the secondary color wheel
- A square of gray felt the size of the finished wheel
- 3M wall mounts, Scotch removable mounting putty, or loops of masking tape
- The Second Color Wheel Worksheet
- Markers, oil pastels, or crayons and container
Preparation:
- Read and review the entire The First Color Wheel Lesson if needed.
- Make the model Secondary Color Wheel and all six color sections.
- Follow the instructions for making The First Color Wheel.
- Divide the circle into six sections, each 60 degrees.
- Reproduce or print the blank worksheet supplied with this lesson.
- Follow the instructions for making The First Color Wheel.
- Select the coloring material and place it in the container.
- You will also need the model Primary Color Wheel for this presentation.
- Place a wall mount, mounting putty, or tape loop on the back of the orange, purple, and green pieces of the Second Color Wheel.
- Decide where the new wheel is to be placed. Then, place the work sheet to its right.
Presentation:
- “Let’s take a close look at The Primary Color Wheel. Yellow is at the top, and if I follow the yellow with my finger, it comes to a special place where the yellow touches the red. Imagine with me, please. What if the yellow and red were paint and we mixed them together, what would they make _________(wait for answer)? Orange. So, orange belongs in this space on the Secondary Color Wheel.” Attach the orange section to the wheel. Center the orange piece.
- “If I follow the red with my finger, it comes to a special place where the red touches the blue. What if the red and blue were paint and we mixed them together, what would they make _________(wait for answer)? So, purple belongs in this space on The Secondary Color Wheel.” Attach the purple section to the wheel. Center it.
- “If I follow the blue with my finger, it comes to a special place where the blue touches the yellow. What if the blue and yellow were paint and we mixed them together, what would they make _________(wait for answer)? So, green belongs in this space on The Second Color Wheel.” Attach the green section to the wheel. Center the piece. Each color needs to be equal in size.
- “This is The Secondary Color Wheel.”
- Lay out The Secondary Color Wheel, place its background piece next to it (felt square or laminated square), and all its color puzzle pieces on your teaching mat.
- Demonstrate how to make the wheel (yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, and green). If done silently, it will go fast.
- Turn the model wheel over and ask the group to make the puzzle with you. Mix the puzzle pieces.
- “What color goes at the top, etc.?”
- Clean up the work and put it on the shelf.
Extensions:
- Make a large blank color wheel with gray or white paper and have the children cut things out of magazines to place on it. Don’t forget to make the title lettering too.
- Create The Wet Second Color Wheel that follows.
Resources: See: Resources suggested for The First Color Wheel
Introduction:
This activity is popular and it also catches children who need repetition for learning to mix the secondary colors. Give individual lessons when needed. The child must know how to use an eye dropper, so her attention is on making and placing the colors. It is a prerequisite for dull and bright color mixing.- Prerequisite: The Secondary Wheel, success using an eyedropper and mixing colors, success with water cleanup
- Direct Aim: To reinforce the secondary color wheel to reinforce mixing secondary colors
- Indirect Aim: Preparation for advanced color mixing
- Point of interest: Did you think about what color you could put in the middle of the flower palette?
Materials:
- A full sized laminated Second Color Wheel on a mat
- Watercolor paint
- A watercolor mixing set up of all three primary colors with eye droppers
- A tray for the paint containers
- A small container for water and a spoon to mix the colors
- A flower palette (see picture)
- An apron
- A container with three primary color paddles (optional)
Preparation:
- Make a copy of The Second Color Wheel and laminate it.
- Gather paint and water containers.
- Buy a flower palette (see Resources).
- Prepare the paint for mixing.
- Put the color paddles in their container if using.
- Decide where to place the apron.
- Assemble the activity.
- Place the color wheel on a work mat.
- Fill paint containers halfway and put an eye dropper in each one.
- Place the paint above the wheel.
- Place the flower palette in the middle of the wheel.
- Place the small water container with spoon to the right of the paint.
- Place the container of color paddles above the wheel and to the left a little out of the way.
Presentation: 6-9 review 9-12
- Introduce the exercise by its name.
- “Each color of the secondary wheel has a cup for paint.”
- I suggest you start with yellow.
- Assist when necessary.
Extensions:
- Make a second wheel with the secondary colors as white spaces. It is a higher level of difficulty.
- My illustration (photo) shows it upside-down for greater difficulty. Children would not stop using the simpler one.
- Both Batik and Tie Dye rely on color mixing information to be mindfully successful.
Resources:
- Eye Droppers: Carolina.com item #736913, package of 12
- Amazon: plastic eyedroppers
- Liquid watercolor paint: Liquid watercolor: Discount School Supply 1-800-627-2829
- Ceramic flower palette: #407681 schoolspecialty.com 888.388.3224
- Amazon: plastic tasting spoons
Mixing Neutral colors,
The Neutral Color Group,
Mixing Intermediate Colors,
The Intermediate Color Group,
The Third Color wheel,
and The Fourth Color Wheel.