Montessori How-To: Color Mixing Wheel

Many young children enjoy expressing themselves through artwork.

In a typical Montessori classroom, art appreciation is part of the daily curriculum. By studying various artists and their techniques, students are able to embrace their own creativity and create their own masterpieces all while learning a little bit about art history as well. Most often, one of the introductory art lessons is that of mixing colors and understanding the color wheel. This week we wanted to give you an easy activity for you to implement at home. We assure you that your child will want to keep coming back to this activity day after day. Not only is it a great lesson in learning more about color mixing, but it is a lesson that teaches patience as well.

MATERIALS:

• Color Mixing Template
• Clear Material to place over template
• 3 Clear Dropper Bottles
• Water
• Red Liquid Water Color
• Blue Liquid Water Color
• Yellow Liquid Water Color
• Coffee Filter or Paper Towel
• 12 Toothpicks

Ideas for Clear Material:

• 8.5”W x 11”H piece of Clear Acrylic
• Sheet Protector (and slip the printed template inside)
• Print the Template on Cardstock and Laminate

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Fill 2/3 of each dropper bottle with liquid water color (one color per bottle). Top off the remaining 1/3 of the bottle with water. Put the top on tightly and shake to mix.
2. Loosen the tops of the dropper bottles so they are ready to use.
3. Check that the template is in the correct position with the circle of 4 blue dots at the top. Place the clear material on top of the template.
4. Fill the blue dropper and carefully squeeze one drop of color over each blue dot. (Note: the dropper should be held above the template and not touch, allowing the one drop to gently fall.) After the first circle of blue dots is complete, move to the next until all blue dots around the wheel are filled.
5. Repeat the process in Step 4 with the red and yellow.
6. When all 12 circles are covered with drops, use one toothpick per 4-drop circle to mix (Note: a different toothpick must be used for each circle so the colors don’t mix).
7. Slowly place a coffee filter or paper towel top of the clear material and the 12 color pools, and gently press down.
8. Once the color pools have fully soaked through the filter or paper towel, remove it slowly and hang to dry.