Primary and Secondary Colors:
Color Rainbow
Preschool Science,
by Rekha Mundkur July 22, 2015
Encourage your students to explore the color wheel with this hands-on activity that has the primary colors
transform in front of their eyes.
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to see how colors transform when different combinations are mixed together. They will
also learn about making colors lighter by adding white.
Materials and preparation Key terms
Materials primary colors
secondary colors
A book about the color wheel
White construction paper
Paint brushes
Small paint containers
Tempera paints in red, blue, yellow, and white
Small plastic resealable bags
Color wheel
Preparation
Set up work stations for students. Have
containers of each paint color, paint brushes,
paper, paper towels, and a color wheel at every
station.
Attachments
Color Wheel (PDF)
Introduction (5 minutes)
Call your students into a group and tell them that they are going to learn about making different colors.
Inform your students that when two or more colors are mixed, they make a different color.
Tell them that they will see how red, yellow, and blue mix to make a new color.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (10 minutes)
Read your chosen book about the color wheel.
Bring out the materials you will be using to show the class how colors change when they are mixed
together.
Take some red paint and brush it onto a piece of paper, then add some yellow paint and show your
students how together the paint turned orange.
Show students how to clean the brushes either using water or by wiping them on a paper towel.
Do the same for other color combinations. Add white to show them how colors become lighter with the
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
addition.
You could also add any two of the basic colors into a resealable plastic bag, seal it tight, and mix the
colors inside the bag.
Let your students know that red, blue, and yellow are known as primary colors, or colors that can't be
created by mixing any two colors together. Also tell them that secondary colors are colors that are
created by mixing primary colors together.
Guided Practice (10 minutes)
Call your students one at a time up to the front of the class and have them try color mixing at the easel
or on art paper.
Provide 2 paint brushes or one plastic bag per student.
Ask students what colors they are mixing and what color it will create.
Check to see if your students can guess the new color.
Quickly review the activity before you send the students to work independently.
Independent working time (10 minutes)
Split students into small groups and send them to work stations.
Encourage students to try different color combinations to see what colors they can make.
Provide assistance to the students who are having difficulty doing the activity. If you are using the plastic
bags help them in sealing the bags.
You can remind students to refer to the color wheel while doing the activity.
Related books and/or media
BOOK: Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
BOOK: White Rabbit's Color Book by Alan Baker
Differentiation
Enrichment: Have advanced students begin to mix the secondary colors to make even more colors.
Support: Make it your goal to have struggling students learn the primary colors and begin to learn the
secondary colors.
Assessment (5 minutes)
Observe whether or not students are using the color wheel. Watch closely as they work independently.
Ask questions to each student as they do the activity.
Check to see if they can correctly guess the color after they do the activity a few times.
Review and closing (5 minutes)
Bring the students back into a group.
Review the activity by going over the color wheel.
Encourage students to explain the concept in their own words.
Ask the class questions about color combinations and let them respond as a group.
Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/
Color Wheel for Kids!
Do you like to mix colors? Did you know mixed colors have names and groups? They do!
The first group is called
PRIMARY COLORS
red-violet red red
yellow
violet red-orange blue
The second group is called
blue-violet orange SECONDARY COLORS
these are made by mixing the
primary colors that “sandwich” them
yellow-orange on the color wheel (skip over the tertiary colors!)
blue
orange
blue-green yellow green
violet
green yellow-green
The third group is called
TERTIARY COLORS
these are made by mixing the primary color
and secondary color that “sandwich” them
Answer the following questions on the color wheel
using the color wheel.
red-orange
1. What two primary colors are mixed to make yellow-orange
the secondary color orange? yellow-green
(Hint: Remember to skip over the tertiary colors!) blue-green
blue-violet
red-violet
red and yellow
Color your own color wheel!
2. What two colors are mixed to make yellow-green?
(Hint: One is primary and the other is secondary)
red-violet red
green and yellow violet red-orange
3. How many tertiary colors are there in
the color wheel? blue-violet orange
six blue
yellow-orange
4. Opposite colors are straight across from each
other like red and green. What color is opposite blue-green yellow
blue on the color wheel?
green yellow-green
orange
