primary color changing fish

Image from: http://vector.tutsplus.com

Since it's the first full week back to school we're going to start with the basics: Art 101 - Primary Colors.

As an intro I had talked to the kids about what primary colors are (red, yellow, blue) and we practiced mixing colors with paint. Even the older kids who had this lesson before had fun mixing the colors to make different hues. The Pineapple Paintbrush has a great template for color mixing that looks like a paint palette. I suggest you check it out.

For this week we're going to work with colored cellophane. Layering the cellophane over top one another to make new colors is another way the kids can experiment with color blending. My class chose to make fish tanks with color changing fish. Check out the how to!

materials:

cellophane wrap in red, blue and yellow

scissors

glue stick

white paper

get to work:

1. Cut the yellow and red cellophane into fish shapes. Cut the blue cellophane into a rectangle (you might want to make two rectangles to overlay).

2. Glue the fish onto the paper and have the children note the color of the fish.

3. Cover the fish with the blue rectangle aka the water and have them note any changes in the color of the fish. What happens when you add blue to red and yellow? (If the color change isn't dramatic enough, try adding an additional blue rectangle.)