Color Mixing With PreK!

Color Mixing with PreK!

This is my first year to have PreK as a part of my Art program at school.  At the beginning of the year, I found it to be a bit of a challenge.  But now, I am loving all that they can do as we creep closer to the end of the school year and them graduating to Kindergarten.

One of the things they learn is Primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and how they can mix to create Secondary colors (purple, green, orange).  In the fall we used Delight Air Dry Medium plus red and yellow markers to create pumpkins.  With Spring arriving soon, I thought it was the perfect time to revisit color mixing.  In my mind, I saw leaves of green and flowers of purple and orange.  BUT this is a PreK group with ideas of their own, so may I present Spring color -mixing PreK style 😉

The materials are simple: 

1 package of Delight Air Dry Medium

watercolor markers: red, blue, yellow (I also put out pink & 2 shades of blue)

2 hands (I think everyone has those handy)

I work with 9 students at a time, so I cut the package into 9 pieces and handed each student one piece.  They were directed to break/pull apart the clay into 3 somewhat equal pieces.  I then showed them how to flatten the clay before adding color.  

Each student chose 2 colors to mix and dabbed the color on the clay (one color on each side). 

Once color is applied, the color is mixed in by folding and squishing, folding and squashing until the color is blended in.  The kids were amazed at watching the color changes.  Some were even more excited with the marbelized colors!

A few of the students created flowers.  Many more had other ideas: a one-eyed octopus who's eye was created by pressing the clay with the marker cap, a car (you may need a good imagination to see that one), balls (of course), and a pair of googles!

You have to love the imagination of a child ❤

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I have to share what was happening in the 4th-grade classroom while I was working with my PreK babies!  The 4th-grade teacher came to me early in the week and asked if I had any kind of clay that she could use with her students to create coiled pots.  I immediately handed her Creative Paperclay and gave her instructions for creating coils, joining them together (dip a finger in water and apply to the clay before joining), and possibly creating lids for the pots.

NOTE:  I also handed her a bottle of "slip" that came in my last box of clay.  I don't know what it is technically called, but here is a photo.  I gave it to her in case anyone had troubles with getting the clay to adhere with only water, knowing that certain "someone" would need a little help 😉

She shared a few photos of what they created.  Once dry, the students will paint them with acrylic paints.