COLOUR
ACTIVITY SHEET
Children are born scientists Ð they love to explore and discover. There are many
activities that you can enjoy doing at home with your little scientist.
Questions
• What is your favourite colour?
• What happens if you mix two colours together?
Try This At Home
Coloured water
See a video demonstration of this Science Time activity at www.questacon.edu.au
You Will Need
• At least six clear plastic cups
• Red, yellow and blue food dye
• Water
What to Do
1. Pour water into three of the cups.
2. Use the food dye to make one cup red, one yellow and one blue.
3. Now experiment with mixing the colours. See if you can guess what the new
colour will be before you mix them.
4. Try mixing equal parts of each colour and then more of one colour than
another colour. How does more or less of one primary colour effect the shade
of the secondary colour?
What’s Happening?
The colours are mixing and combining to form a different colour.
Discover More
What colour do you get if you mix all three colours together? Try it and find out.
Did You Know?
Red, yellow and blue are called primary colours. When mixed together they create
different colours called secondary colours such as orange, green and purple.
Sing Songs
Sing this song with your child. Don’t forget to do the actions if you know them!
I Can Sing a Rainbow
Red and yellow and pink and green,
purple and orange and blue
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too
Listen with your eyes. Listen with your
eyes and sing everything you see
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing
along with me
Try These Other Activities
• Coloured top: cut out a small cardboard circle. Divide in ½ and colour each
half a different primary colour. Put a drawing pin in the centre and glue it in
place. Spin your top and see the colours mix to make a secondary colour.
This works because of something called persistence of vision. When our eye
sees the image in very quick succession they can blend into one image. This
is how car toons work.
• Play eye-spy with colours: how many red things can you find in your room?
In your backyard?
• Mixing coloured play dough: make play dough in primary colours. Mix them
together and see the new colours created.
• Edible finger paints: stir 2 tablespoons of sugar and cup of cornflour
together. While stirring, slowly add 1 cups of cold water and heat over
medium heat until mixture thickens. It will thicken further when it cools. Add
food colouring.
• Look through coloured cellophane: put 2 primary colours together and see
what happens.
• Coloured glasses: cut out cardboard frames and stick on coloured
cellophane.
• Cordial colours: try mixing different coloured cordial together. What colour
do you end up with?
Read Books
Have fun finding more at your local library, book store or online.
• Froggy Green by Anna Walker
• The Magic School Bus Makes A Rainbow by Scholastic Publishing
• The Science Book of Color by Neil Ardley.
Go on an Excursion
Go on a colourful excursion! Here are some suggestions in the Canberra region.
Visit the National Gallery of Australia and look at all the colours in the art, then go
home and do a painting of your own!
Investigate Websites
There are also many websites for children about colour. We suggest you start with:
• Questacon Watch the Science Time Colour video at www.questacon.edu.au
• Online Colouring www.thecolor.com
• Kidspot Art/craft/science activities www.kidspot.com.au
Open 9am - 5pm every day.
Closed Christmas Day.
Admission fees apply.
King Edward Terrace, Canberra
t 02 6270 2893
www.questacon.edu.au