Color Wheel

What a wonderful way to teach children how to mix paints and read a color wheel!

Materials Needed:

- Blank Color Wheel Printout. (one for each student, plus one for the teacher if you want the end result to be pretty and neat for future lessons) I found mine at: http://www.alifetimeofcolor.com (A very good site with useful information on the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors, plus other projects to do with kids)

- Picture of painted color wheel (see above site)

- Washable Paints (red, blue, and yellow)

- Paintbrushes (you will either have to rinse your brush often while working or use many brushes-I opted for many brushes)

- Cup of water for rinsing brushes

- Paper towels

- Egg carton (empty please!)

- Wipes/washcloths for cleaning up


1. Show student picture of completed color wheel and explain that you are going to be mixing a whole rainbow of colors from only three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue)

2. Pour red, yellow, and blue paint into separate sections of the egg carton. Paint each of the large circular shapes on your blank color wheel a different primary color (they are marked ‘Primary Colors)

3. Explain to student that you are now going to be mixing two primary colors (red, yellow, blue) to make three new secondary colors (orange, green, and purple), which you will paint in the square shapes on your color wheel.

Using the color wheel as your guide (the two primary colors you use will be on either side of the new secondary color square, which is marked ‘secondary colors’) mix equal amount of the two primary colors in a new egg section to make the secondary colors. (red + yellow=orange, yellow +blue=green, and blue + red=purple) Either rinse and dry the brush in between colors, or use new brushes, or the colors will be muddy) Paint the square shapes (again, marked ‘secondary colors’ with the new colors.

4. Ask the student what colors they think will go into the remaining triangle shapes on your color wheel. Encourage problem solving here and then add that these next colors are called tertiary colors, and they are created when you mix a primary (red, yellow, blue) with a secondary color (orange, green, purple)

Using the wheel as your guide, mix the two colors on both sides of the triangle shape to make these third tertiary colors on new egg sections, keeping your brushes clean. Fill in these colors on the triangle shapes. (For those interested, red + orange= red orange, orange +yellow= orange yellow, yellow +green=chartreuse, green +blue +aquamarine, blue +purple=indigo, and purple +red=violet red. Violet is the technical name of our purple) (your children will think you are quite clever if you know these)

5. Have your children help you clean up now-they will become very good at cleaning brushes.