Use old crayons to teach students about primary colors and how they create secondary colors.
Teaching children about art gives them a chance to discover how colors work together to create images. While letting children have free time to simply draw to learn about colors can be beneficial, children will also enjoy structured activities that teach them principles of color and art.
Learning About the Color Wheel
One of the basic tools in teaching about color is the color wheel. Teach students about the color wheel so that they can understand how colors work together. Choose a corner of the room, or a group of objects, and have students draw them with a pencil. It is okay if the drawings are not exact. Explain to them that colors that are the opposite of each other on the color wheel are called complements. That is, they work well together. Show your students a picture of the color wheel. Students should choose two complementary colors, and only use those two to fill in their drawing of the area or objects they drew. They can use crayons, markers or colored pencils. Ask students if using the complementary colors makes the drawing look prettier. What do they think makes complementary colors so appealing together?
Blotter Bugs
Teach small children about primary colors by allowing them to create colored bugs. Explain that the primary colors, red, yellow and blue, can be combined to create other colors. Have paintbrushes, washable paints and water ready for children. Encourage them to dab a few drops of two of the primary colors onto the center of a white sheet of paper. After they fold the paper in half, they will see their new color. For instance, red and blue will make purple. The paintings should dry overnight. The next day, children can cut out the colored blots and add embellishments to make them look like bugs. They can use markers, googly eyes, colored pencils, stickers and more.
Melted Crayons
Students can create new crayons with muffin tins and old crayons. Have students gather old crayon pieces in the primary colors. In muffin tins, they can put several pieces from two of the primary colors in one tin. For instance, they might combine two greens and one blue. Once each tin is full, place the muffin tin in an oven pre-heated to about 300 degrees. Allow the crayons to melt; this should take about ten minutes. Once they are melted, pull the tin out of the oven and let it completely cool. Once cool, children can pull their new colored creations out of the tin, see what new colors they have made, and use the new disc-shaped crayons to color.
Colors and Emotion
Many colors represent emotions. Ask students to share some of the emotions that they feel when looking at some colors. For instance, yellow might mean spring, and black could mean evil or death. Give them some time to create a self-portrait, and ask them to only use the colors that represent the emotions they are feeling. When they are finished, ask them to explain what each color means to them.
