Have you ever met a kid who doesn't LOVE to mix colors? Neither have I! I'm certain there is a special tone of brown reserved just for describing what happens when children have more than one color of playdough at their disposal. For those of us who might be a bit more prone to orderliness, painting, sculpting, watercolors and even coloring with young children can be a bit overwhelming. And yet, there is something so pleasurable about watching colors mix. That feeling I get in the morning when I see milk clouds in my coffee probably stems from early experiences with finger painting at the easel. There are more "traditional" methods of teaching about colors in our environment, but when it comes to exploring secondary colors and shades and hues of colors, a hands-on approach is invaluable.
In every class I have ever taught, there is always that one kid who colors EVERYTHING black. What is the fascination with black? Fast forward to my own preschool aged son, and S is fascinated by black. It's dark, ominous, powerful. It can make things magically disappear in one fell swoop of a paintbrush. There are educators who remove black markers, crayons and paint from the setting altogether, but I prefer not only to give access, but to encourage the process of exploration. Shades of colors are created when black is added to a primary or secondary color and it darkens. Hues occur when white is added, and the color lightens. In this simple Invitation to Explore Shades and Hues, both my boys got to experience hands-on how shades and hues of green are formed.
We chose green since [this week] it is S's favorite color. I filled a plastic condiment bottle with green paint and provided two recycled baby food jars with black and white paint. I set out some paper and brushes, a container with water for rinsing and a rag for drying or wiping up splatters and spills. I also set out an old ice cube tray with a lid that we bought for freezing and storing homemade purees when S was a baby (boy was I a first time mom!) and a couple of plastic spoons for scooping paint out of the jars. There are a variety of ways you could set up this activity, but I love the unique fine-motor opportunities of squeezing the condiment bottle and scooping/transferring paint from the jars. I also added in some laminated paint samples that can visually demonstrate shades and hues of green. These are available for free at hardware supply stores and even Walmart and can be used in so many play and learning activities!
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| The only "directions" I verbalized were that we would be exploring how shades and hues are formed. I explained what they are and that the ice cube tray was where we would be able to mix and store our colors. |
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| Y was ready to go, paint brush in hand. For him, I put a small scoop of white and black paint on either side of a blob of green. |
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| Little ones will likely love the feeling of squeezing, squirting and scooping paint. Remember that this is part of the process, too! Paintbrushes and paper are really just the icing on the cake--this is the essence of process art! Using containers with lids that can be closed and stored allows this to be an experience you can return to without wasting supplies. |
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| Hands-on fun and learning! |
Happy Playing!
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