Water Mixing to Create Colors

Alexander played with this activity for HOURS over the course of the day. It was a little messy, but it was mostly contained in the tray.

I put out some guidelines, like using the dropper to mix blue and red, red and yellow, and so on. We talked about how blue and red together makes purple, and how red and yellow makes orange. After about 10 minutes of following MY guidelines, so he started doing his own thing.

He used the dropper to fill the little cups as much as he could. Then I offered him a separate glass so he could dump out the small containers and start the activity over. He restarted at least 5 times in one sitting, then he came back later and did it some more.

Did he learn that red and yellow makes orange? I don't think so, but that's okay. I know he learned something, and even if it was just good practice for fine motor skills (using the dropper tool) and gross motor skills (pouring the small cups into a larger cup), he learned something.

It was a pretty activity, something we'll certainly do again!