How to Help Children Learn About Colors

Color theory requires the identification of color. There are several exercises and crafts you can do to make use of the color theory.

Color theory is one amongst the most stimulating art lessons. A lot of activities can be done in order to make your students memorize different hues.

You can use songs about colors. Everything is easier to learn when it has melody.

Have one color each week. Designate a day for clothes with that color. On the next day, you may ask them to bring fruit with that particular color. Have a day also for arts and crafts and to use some medium that uses that type of color.

You can also practice with the colors red, green, and yellow while in the car. You can also make a wand out of construction paper in red, green, and yellow. Cut it into circles and attach it to a straw. Let them use the color wands to show the color of the traffic light.

You may improvise a color mat with red, green, blue, and yellow colors. Practice color recognition by laying the color mat on the floor. Ask may ask the child to:

- hop in the red spot
- fly to the yellow spot
- tip toe to a green spot

In higher grades, you may ask your students to assemble abstract sculptures. For game situations, each sculpture is determined by a set of color relationships. These color relationships become instant and real in their hands.

When they finish one sculpture, they take it apart. They will use the pieces to make new and different sculptures. This must be determined by a different set of color rules. By doing this repeatedly, they instantly begin to learn and make colors of their own. Instantly, they will have a general and basic working know-how about the primary and secondary colors. They will also discover complementary, warm and cool colors.

You may even recruit some parent volunteers to help you, especially if you want to do this to kids in the primary grades. They can be of help in answering questions. This lesson does not get into the tertiary colors. Let your students know that you are going to concentrate your discussion and color wheel on the primary and secondary colors.

For this particular lesson, you need to prepare the pieces of colored foam core. It will make up the sculptures. It needs time and expense but these kits can be used repeatedly.

Things to be needed to make sculpture kits:

1. Foam Core

- Get the foam core board available in colors.
- Colored foam core usually are available in any art supply store
- Have a separate sheet for

• red
• deep blue
• bright yellow
• orange
• deep purple and
• bright green
• black

- Do not use fluorescent colors

If there’s no colored foam core, get only white and use it. You can save time if you use spray paints. Both sides should be painted.

2. Exacto Knife with large box of blades. You need to change the blade regularly.

To prepare the foam core sculpture pieces.

1. Slice into four the sheets of foam core.

2. Dimensions need not to be precise (free-form).

3. Cut into smaller pieces the four pieces of foam core. It can be in any shape such as:

• triangles
• rectangles
• curved shapes

Circles are not applicable because they are difficult. Make sure to vary your shapes. Avoid long pointed shapes. This will bend or break.

4. Cut a long thin notch in one, two, three places for each piece. Join the pieces to the others.

How Many Pieces

In a class of twenty students you can make five color sets. Make your students work in groups of four. If you have a group of eight, you can make eight sets with smaller pieces. Each child can make their own sculptures. Each set must have one or two of each of the six colors and two to four pieces of black. Black is the base piece, you can make it bigger. Pre-sort the colors at home before bringing them to class. You may use small shopping bags to presort it.

Presentation Preparation

Introduce the subject by talking about colors first. Divide the color lesson into two parts:
1.Discussion and introduction of color wheel
2.Assembly of the sculpture

Let them know the importance of color in our lives. Let them imagine living in a black and white world. It’s hard to imagine that, because we normally don’t think of things without colors. Imagine sitting with warm fire. The orange color of the fire is like to be part of its warmness. The cool water of an ocean, it has to be blue green. The vibrant color of grass in a park, the cheerful color of ripe mango, the bright gold color of a goldfish - we can’t detach these things from their colors.