Color Blending: Hands-On Learning Stations
Getting the colors right can turn a good piece of art into a masterpiece. When my kids are out trying to paint in their nature journals, they're always experimenting with mixing colors to get just the right shade of green or brown. It's a tricky task. When I looked on Pinterest to find fun color blending activities to share with my kids, I was amazed that playing with colors is apparently only something that is fun for toddlers. I'm pretty sure all my kids would enjoy and benefit from a little practice in creating colors.
I'm focusing on Art this week in my 31+ Days of Hands-On Learning Stations series, and today is all about learning to blend colors in fun ways.
Mixing Many Ways
You can mix paint with your fingers on foil or with a straw on canvas. Kids will love color blending in baggies and mixing colors with water. As they play with their color experiments, utilizing a way to record their findings like this would be a great way to enhance their learning.
Different materials also blend in different ways. Try some of these fun mediums:
- Tempra Paint is cheap and easy to use. Downside is it doesn't wash out of clothes. Make sure they have an old shirt on while playing with these.
- Water Colors are also fun to use. The good news is that if you add a little more water, you can keep the blending fun happening. Use a watercolor brush to add water as you go.
- Shaving cream makes everything more exciting. Watching the colors swirl together with this fascinating stuff will thrill kids of all ages. It is pretty messy, so be prepared. This would be a great project to take outside!
- Why not try blending colors with candy? This skittle experiment mixes color theory with science.
Advanced Color Blending Techniques
If your kids are looking for color blending 2.0, there are some other fun techniques you can introduce your kids to.
- What happens when you take a q-tip dipped in baby oil to basic crayon drawings? Check out this cool blending technique.
- This also works with colored pencils. The better the colored pencils, the better this works!
- Newspaper makes blending with watercolors extremely fun. Turn your watercolor blends into fun art with these owl or snail art ideas.
- Use the makings of a home volcano to play with chemical reaction color blending. This activity is targeted at toddlers, but your elementary aged kids will find it challenging to not over blend their colors, and have a ton of fun in the process.
We covered the bottom of a 9x13 glass pan with baking soda. Then we put vinegar in three cups and colored each with red, yellow, and blue food coloring. The girls had fun pouring the vinegar around the pan and watching the fizz form while the colors blended in fascinating ways.
How do your kids enjoy playing with color?
Check out more hands-on learning stations inspiration in my 31+ Days of Hands-On Learning series! Looking for more art ideas? Try some of these:
Betsy Strauss is an unexpected homeschooler, mother of three, who is in a relationship with a sweet man for life. She loves reading books, drinking coffee, and learning anything with her kids.