There is something just magical about taking two colors, mixing them, and watching a new color emerge! If you have colored craft sticks laying around then you have all you need for this fun craft stick color mixing activity. Who knew color mixing could be so simple!
MATERIALS NEEDED (affiliate links):
- Colored craft sticks in red, yellow and blue
- Water
- Clear cups in plastic or glass
WHAT TO DO:
- Fill the cups about 3/4 full of water.
- Take two craft sticks and drop them in some water. We suggest mixing red/blue, red/yellow and yellow/blue.
- Mix a bit and that’s it!
- We diligently checked back every hour and mixed the sticks a bit and after about three hours we saw the final results! So cool!
Check out the below video to see Oliver doing the craft stick color mixing activity:
THE HOWS AND WHYS:
PRIMARY COLORS: The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. If you have those three colors, you can make all the colors of the rainbow just by mixing them. They also cannot be made by mixing other colors.
SECONDARY COLORS: The secondary colors are orange, green and purple. They are a combination of two of the primary colors and are made by mixing equal parts of two primary colors.
NEUTRAL COLORS: White, black and gray are not considered true colors but are neutral hues and are used to lighten or darken primary and secondary colors . To make a color lighter, add white. Pink is a combination of red and white. To make a color darker, add black. Maroon is a combination of black and red.
Below is a picture of a color wheel. Notice how the colors transition from red to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple.
If you want more info about color mixing, here is a great page from Enchanted Learning.
For more color activities, check out all our color activities here.