Hiya, Pal! Pippa here; we are going to have some fun in my color lab learning about PRIMARY and SECONDARY colors with this simple experiment you can do at home with everyday materials.
Note to parents:
Let your child be the scientist! Give clear directions, but ask them what they think should happen next and disuss your results as you experiment together. Use our FREE printable to record important discoveries.
Pippa's Color Lab
written by: Brittney LeighAnn Dowell
Supplies:
- A sunny window
- 3 empty containers of graduating sizes with the ability to nest - large, medium, and small.
- Red, Blue and Yellow coloring
- Water
- Glo Pals (optional) - Sammy (red), Blair (blue), Alex (yellow)
Step 1:
Find a sunny window - you will need light shining through the containers to see the color change the best. If using Glo Pal cubes in this experiment, you can try conducting this activity in a dim part of your home. It's also fun to see how the Glo Pals change color along with the water - even in a sunny spot!
Step 2:
Fill each container with water, and add a drop or two of food coloring. The large container with red, the medium with blue, and the small with yellow. These are your 3 PRIMARY colors. Additionally, you can drop Glo Pals cubes in with their corresponding color container!
Step 3:
Here comes the color magic, Pals! We are going to create SECONDARY colors. Nest the medium (blue) container into the large (red) container. This will make PURPLE. Continue with the following formulas to create all 3 SECONDARY colors.
Note: If colors are too dark/light, you made to experiment by adding more water to dilute the pigmentation of the food coloring, or more food coloring to pigment the water.
Red + Blue = Purple
Blue + Yellow = Green
Yellow + Red = Orange
Another observation to make: Notice how the water magnifies the Glo Pals when one container is placed within another.
There you have it, Pals! We've learned about Primary & Secondary colors. Try color mixing with paints, crayons, and markers for more color fun, and don't forget to download our FREE printable below!
