Color theory is a fundamental aspect of art class for kindergarten and elementary school students. The concept of mixing colors together to create new colors is recognized by kids early on, but how do we keep this learning engaging and exciting for students as they spend more time on this subject? From unique art projects to science investigations and experiments, we have gathered 18 of the coolest color theory activities that your students will be talking about all week! Read on to discover more.
1. Make a Color Mixing Record
Your students can mix their favorite colors and record the results on this free printable mixing chart. This activity is a super way for students to explore different color combinations.
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2. Create a Play-Dough Color Wheel
Put a new and tactile spin on the traditional color wheel activity. Start with the primary colors of play dough and then show your students how to mix different colors to fill in the spaces on their wheels.
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3. Squishy Bag Experiment
This activity is a fantastic way of teaching colors and blending colors to your kindergarten students. Pour some paint into zip lock bags, keeping them separate, and then let your students mix them up, creating these cool squishy bags for color discoveries!
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4. Get Messy With Hand Print Color Mixing
Little ones will love this hand-painting activity which is a fun way to record their color-mixing discoveries. Paint each hand a different color, and once they have printed them individually, students can then rub their hands together to mix the paint and create a new color.
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5. Create Color Mixing Ladybugs
In this basic color theory activity, students will create cute ladybugs that show what secondary colors are made when we mix each of the primary colors.
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6. Make a DIY Paper Plate Color Wheel
Ensuring your kindergartners know their primary and secondary colors is a super first step in color theory learning. This paper plate craft is the perfect way for them to display this learning as they place the colors in the correct places to reflect on how the primary colors mix to create the secondary colors between them.
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7. Color Wheel Activity Pack
This free printable pack is a fantastic way to support your students on their color learning journeys. Use paint or colored pencils to complete these sheets, which cover learning about primary and secondary colors and color wheels.
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8. Collaborate on a Mix It Up Art Project
Mix It Up is a fantastic book all about mixing colors to create new ones! This accompanying activity is a super way to start a color-mixing challenge with your students, and they can be guided by each page of the book.
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9. Experiment with Color Mixing
Students love getting to experiment, and this task will be no exception! Color some water with food dye or paint and let your students have a go at mixing different colors to see what new colors they can create.
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10. Investigate Melting and Color Mixing
Use an ice cube tray to freeze water with liquid watercolors added in to prep for this hands-on experiment. Students can then set up their experiments by placing two different colored ice cubes in a tray and watching what happens when the ice melts.
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11. Cool Walking Water Experiment
Create a cool science experiment color wheel with this walking water activity. Follow the steps in the video to amaze your students when their liquid primary colors magically walk from their cups into the empty cups and create secondary colors!
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12. Investigate Color Mixing With Watercolors
This relaxing activity is super for students to explore different color mixes whilst creating their own unique artwork. Start each student off with basic colors and see how many new colors they can mix up.
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13. Learn The Basics About Color Theory
Start your color theory lesson with this super video explaining some of the different concepts of color theory for older elementary students. The video covers primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, tone, hue, shade, and more.
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14. Enjoy a Cute Color Mixing Experiment
See the basics of color theory and mixing in action with this cute love heart experiment. Cut out some bleeding tissue paper hearts in the primary colors and then let students lay them so that they overlap and cover them in a water/glue mixture to see the mixing magic begin!
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15. Newton’s Disc Experiment
It’s easy to make links to STEM when teaching colors to your upper elementary school class when you use Newton’s Disc experiment. This experiment demonstrates that white light is the mixing of all colors of the rainbow. Students can make their very own disc and see this phenomenon for themselves.
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16. Put a New Spin on a Color Wheel
Let your students demonstrate what they have learned about color theory and create this abstract color wheel with your students. This activity is a fantastic opportunity to combine color theory learning with creative flair.
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17. Explore the Science of Color With a Craft
Upper elementary art students can create their very own color combinations in this cool activity that explores color saturation and intensity. By overlapping different colors and shades of colored plastic, students can observe how colors can appear to change based on their surroundings.
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18. Color Mixing Grids
Students can start by painting the primary colors in rows on a sheet of construction paper. They then paint the same colors the opposite way and can observe the different mixes. By the end of the activity, students should have all the primary and secondary colors on their pages.
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