How to Teach Secondary Colors

You do not, nor should you not, wait until your child is of school age to teach them some basic concepts such as colors. This is a concept that can easily be taught at home and in a fun way to boot!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• water
• cups
• food coloring

1. You should have previously gone over the primary colors of red, yellow and blue in order to be more successful at teaching the secondary colors. Even if you have not, this experiment will still be fun and useful to your child. Get out three cups of water.
2. Add a few drops of red to the first cup. Add a few drops of blue to the second and a few drops of yellow to the third.
3. Talk with your child about the first three colors and ask them what they think will happen if you mix some colors.
4. Add some yellow drops of food coloring to the red-colored water. Talk about what happens, and that this is now the color orange.
5. Add some blue food coloring to the yellow-colored water and talk about what happens, and that this is the color green.
6. Add some red drops of food coloring to the blue-colored water. Discuss that this is now the color purple.
7. Let your child try mixing a few colors on her own using red, yellow and blue. See what happens if you mix all three. Have fun and explore!