Supplies:
- Simple color wheel template (I had one on my computer & printed a copy for each child)
- Vanilla Wafers (0r graham crackers, etc.) 6 per child
- Paper Plates 1 per child
- Paper Cups
- Spoons
- Knives
- Paper Towels/Napkins
- Wet wipes or Damp Washcloths
- Frosting divided and colored in the primaries red, yellow and blue
- One finished project to use as an example
Preparation:
Because preschool art time is limited I did much of the work ahead. I made frosting and colored it in the primary colors. I recommend using commercial food colorings; they are thick and bright.
I also cut out the color wheels and glued them to the paper plates. If you have more class time you might have the kids cut their own as cutting skill practice.
Lesson:
We began by having the class frost a vanilla wafer for each of the primary colors. We put a dab of colored frosting on the plate in the circle of the same color. This let the kids know where to set their cookie and became the "glue" to attach the cookie to the plate.
My original plans were to give the class their own small paper cups and let them stir two primary colors together to make secondary colors but there was not much time and the three classes were big with 11-12 children each. Instead I mixed the secondary colors while they watched and then we gave them some to spread on their cookies.
We talked about the secondary colors and that they are found on the simple color wheel between the 2 colors that combined to create them.
The class promised not to eat their color wheels until they had first showed them to someone in their family and talked about what they did. We saved a few cookies for them to frost and eat after completing their color wheels.
Results:
- This was a messy project but they turned out great. It seemed that many of the kids were catching on to the fact that they can mix their own colors.
- Practice mixing the secondaries ahead of time. The purple mix was disappointing. Our first try was more brown than purple but the color did get a little better in the next two classes.
- Have lots of paper towels or napkins for cleaning the knives between frosting colors or all of the colors will become muddy.
What a fun creative idea!! I love seeing what you're doing with the kid's art classes. I think that all kiddos in elementary should learn their primary and secondary colors just like their ABCs! (However, I guess I am a bit biased as an artist.) :)
ReplyDeleteKira loved this project! She came home and told us ALL about it (and she shared her cookies with her brother). Thanks Joanne!
ReplyDeleteI have taught art for 14 years, and I have even done this exact project with middle schoolers. They loved it too.
ReplyDeleteBut I saw that you use the word purple instead of violet. Is there a reason? Because I often fight the cause that artists use violet because there is not a color called red-purple or blue-purple. Crayola has finally put Violet (purple) on their crayons which has helped a lot. I start teaching them as early as Kindergarten what the correct word is so they, hopefully, keep using it.
Just a comment, curious if you had any thoughts.
Thanks for your comments Stephanie, Michelle and Kathy. Michelle, it's nice to get feedback on kids perspective of a lesson.
ReplyDeleteKathy, thanks for your question. I have never really thought much about purple verses violet. I have always used the labels interchangeably. Also I didn't know that there is no red-purple and blue-purple.
Tony Couch, the first artist I studied (outside of college) labels his color wheel with "purple", "purple/blue" and "red/purple".
The great art instructor Edgar Whitney labels his basic color wheel with the word purple.
When it comes to art labels and terminology the more I study the more I realize there is not nor ever has been absolute agreement among artists regarding color (or much of anything else).
There are also many different versions of the traditional color wheel. One I studied included purple and violet as two separate colors next to each other on the wheel with no red violet or blue violet at all and the only tertiary color being blue-green as a complement to red. Color theory is "theory" leaving room for interpretation.
The same is true for what is supposed to be "basic" art elements and principles of design. The terms and the numbers of terms vary among art teachers and artists.
As art teacher with almost no scientific knowledge I have tried to present commonly accepted concepts with correct terminology but I tell students that there are no absolutes in art. There are guidelines not rules.
I plan on using this idea for a "Five in a Row" activity that I am designing. The book that it will go with is Clown of God by Tomie dePaola. Thank you for this idea. I will put a reference to this page on the bottom of the worksheet.
ReplyDelete