beginnerswork

I use heavy weight drawing paper at all times. I buy a big box which lasts two years. I buy 24x30 size and cut it up for every activity. None is wasted. This poster is 24x30 inches and makes a great decorative poster. You can adapt the format to any size you choose.

I always use real poster paint... don't even bother doing this project with washable paint ... it won't work. These directions are very basic. Change tosuit your kids and your teaching style. Just remember this is chemistry so blue and yellow will always make some shade of green.

• Draw a large circle on the paper. Find a dish or pot or create a template from card board. Trace the circle with permanent marker.
• Use a yard stick and permanent marker to divide the circle into six equal areas.
• label each section with the name of a color as shown above.
• Create My Color Wheel and the word by: on the computer using Comic Sans ms.
• Cut out the title and paste it on the top. Paste the "by" on the bottom and draw a line for the name.
• Pour primary poster paint colors RED, BLUE and YELLOW into containers. Put one brush in each container -  big poster big brushes, small poster small brushes.
• You will need one mixing brush for each child and a bucket of water to wash the mixing brush. Save until later.
• NOW THE FUN BEGINS!
• Have the children wear smocks. 
• First give the child a brush full of red paint and ask her to paint in the section that says red. You can write the colors in corresponding colors for very young children... you can point to red. Continue until yellow and blue have also been painted in.
• Now take a brush full of blue and put it in the section marked purple then add some red. 
• Ask her to guess what color will be made if she mixes red and blue. 
• Don't tell! Let her discover the answer!
• She can use her mixing brush to find out.
• WASH THE MIXING BRUSH EACH TIME!
• Continue to mix the rest of the colors.
• Ask your student to pick her favorite color marker and sign her color wheel. 
• Kids keep this poster for years after they make it. Laminate it if you can...

This activity is a lesson that must be done with one or two children to one teacher. It is really fun for the teacher because most inexperienced artists have never mixed colors. It is a science experiment as well. It teaches children to predict then experiment to find out if they were correct.  The color names are written around the circle and some children use the word as a clue.

I have been having fun with this lesson for 27 years, ever since my 32 year old son was in a co-op nursery school. As a member I was required to teach and that year I learned to love teaching! Since then I have made color wheels with children of all ages and many adults. They were all equally amazed. It seems like magic!

Here is another version: same idea smaller paper and brushes...

YELLOW + BLUE = GREEN

RED + BLUE = PURPLE

YELLOW = RED = ORANGE

RED + YELLOW + BLUE =

some shade of BROWN

(your beginner will most likely ask what happens if you mix all three primary colors together, be prepared... in my opinion, all shades of brown are beautiful!)

RED, YELLOW and BLUE are called PRIMARY colors, from which other colors are made.

GREEN, PURPLE and ORANGE are called SECONDARY colors and are made from two primary colors.