- paintbrushes
- paper plates
- scrap paper
- tempera paint (white, colors)
- color
- darker
- darkest
- lighter
- lightest
- mix
- paint
- shade
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
Language/L.PK.MA.6: Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Receptive Language: Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Language Development/Expressive Language: Uses language to express ideas and needs.
Language Development/Expressive Language: Uses increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2: Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Explore Together (indoors): Many Shades of Paint
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: There are many different colors; A color can have many different shades (from very light to very dark); White paint mixed with a color makes a lighter shade of the same color
ELA Focus Skills: Color Recognition, Vocabulary, Listening and Speaking, Follow Directions
Children explore mixing paints to make different shades of a color. To introduce the activity, say, Last week we explored making shades of color with food coloring. Today we will start to explore mixing paints. Explain that to mix paint, you need to use a brush because paint is thicker than food coloring.
Put a blob of one color of paint and a blob of white paint on a paper plate. Invite a volunteer to mix a small amount of the white paint into the color. Ask, What is happening to the paint color? How is the white paint changing the color paint?
Then allow children to explore the paints. Encourage them to turn to a buddy and share what they observe as they mix their paints. Circulate and engage children when you notice they are exited or curious in their explorations. Ask questions such as,
- What do you think will happen if you add a little more white paint to the red paint? What if you added a lot of white paint?
- What can you do to make the color as light as Adra's color? How can you make it lighter? Darker?
- Jamal, how did you get the red color to be so light? Is that the lightest color red you can make? How would you make the darkest shade of red?
Reflect and Share Together
Have children share their observations. Allow them to show their color mixings as they describe their colors and shades of color. Encourage them to explain how they made each color using key words such as lighter, lightest, darker, darkest.
Take It Further: Have children continue creating new colors by mixing the white paint into the red paint. Ask children how they might record each color they make before changing it again. Show children the scrap paper. Say, How can we keep all the shades of red we make? Guide them to record the new shades they make by using the paintbrush to make a streak of each color on a sheet of scrap paper. Ask, Why might it be helpful to keep the shades of color? Encourage children to think about how recording the color shades helps them to talk more about and discover more about the results of their explorations.
Adaptation: Adapt the materials and procedures if younger children will be working in a group. You might prefer to have each young child do the activity individually, with one-to-one supervision.