Color Mixing Bugs

Elements of Art

Color: an element of visual art; the visible range of reflected light. Color has three properties: hue, value, and intensity.
- Primary Colors:  the basic colors from which all other colors are mixed: traditionally, red, yellow, and blue; no other colors can be mixed to make primary colors.
- Secondary Colors: colors that are created by mixing two primary colors together in equal parts: green, violet, and orange. 
Shape: a two-dimensional (flat) area enclosed by a line.

Vocabulary Words

Color Wheel: colors arranged in a circle to show color relationships.

Materials & Supplies 

Advanced Preparation

Precut six 4" diameter watercolor paper circles for each student. Three of these circles will be cut in half to create the bug wings. Hole punch the bodies and wings in advance for the brads to be inserted. 

Tips & Tricks 

• You can substitute sulphite paper for watercolor paper. It takes paint well and will work especially well for the non-interactive version of this project.
• If the wings are hole punched to do the interactive version of the lesson, it is important that the kids paint a right and left side of each wing in each primary color. 

Discussion Points

Let’s discuss the color wheel! There are 3 primary colors .All other colors are made from these 3 colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue.
Today we will be creating Secondary colors. What are the colors of the rainbow? Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo/Violet (we will call this Purple for Kindergarten purposes).
How do we make Orange? By combining red and yellow. Red and Yellow are the Primary Colors and Orange is the secondary color that is created by them.
How do we make Green? By combining blue and yellow. Blue and Yellow are the primary colors and green is the secondary color they create.
Finally, how do we create purple? By combining red and blue. Red and blue are the primary colors and purple is the secondary color they create. All of the colors together complete the rainbow and also the color wheel for today's lesson.

Reflection Point (Assessment of Learning Objectives)

Students should be able to name the 3 primary colors.
Students should be able to name secondary colors and what two primary colors make each of them. Students have mixed primary colors to create secondary colors.

Instructions for Lesson

1. Demonstrate how to create their bugs, mixing the paint, painting, building the bug and gluing it down as they are working through the steps.
2. Give each student 3 bug bodies (full circles) and 3 sets of wings (3 left and 3 right).
3. On a paper plate, give each student a small amount of yellow, red, and blue tempera paint. Keep the paint at the top half of the plate so the bottom half of the plate or palette can be used for color mixing. 
4. The students need to paint two bug wings with each primary color. Paint two wings yellow.
5. Paint two of the wings red.
6. Paint two of the wings blue. 
7. After the students have rinsed their brushes well, have them start creating their secondary colors. 
8. Mix two primary colors at a time and paint one bug body each secondary color. Start with the lighter of the colors and slowly add the darker color until they produce the secondary color they want. 
9. They should mix red and yellow and paint one orange bug body. Mix yellow and blue and paint one green bug body. Mix red and blue and paint one purple bug body. 
10. Attach a black two-inch circle to each body to make a bug head. Use white crayons to draw eyes (or attach optional googly eyes).
11. Glue the bugs down with dots of glue on their bellies, in rainbow order on the construction paper. When the wings of the bugs touch, it should complete the color wheel.
       
12. Make it interactive – Optional. Instead of gluing the bugs to a piece of construction paper, challenge to the students to mix the primary color of yellow and blue together and see how many different shades of green they can make on one background. Encourage them to keep their brushstrokes in their background and not over mix the colors. This was done on a piece of 9x12 inch sulphite paper. This became the jungle the bugs lived in. They could also use dabbing to create varying hues of green instead of ‘strokes’. 
    
13. Hole punch all the bug wings and attach with a brad. This allows the wings to open and close. The students can then show the two wings colors combine to create the body color. They can open the wings to reveal the secondary color created. When the bug wings are fully extended they form a complete color wheel. 
     
14. Use googly eyes for the bug heads. 
15. Attach the bugs to the background with poster putty. This is a low tack adhesive that will allow the students to easily remove the bugs later and demonstrate their color mixing knowledge.

References and Attributions

Lesson written by Laurelle Graves, Art Docent Program Coordinator, Apollo Elementary School. 

Notes for Educators 

21st Century Thinking Skills
Creating, observing, making connections, sequencing, predicting, comparing/contrasting, cause and effect, synthesizing.

WA State Learning Standards
(VA:Cr1.1.K) a. Engage in exploration and imaginative play with materials. 
(VA:Cr1.2.K) a. Engage collaboratively in creative art-making in response to an artistic problem. 
(VA:Cr2.1.K) a. Through experimentation, build skills in various media and approaches to art-making.
(VA:Cr2.2.K) a. Identify safe and non-toxic art materials, tools, and equipment. 
(VA:Cr2.3.K) a. Create art that represents natural and constructed environments.
(VA:Cr3.1.K) a. Explain the process of making art while creating.
(VA:Re7.2.K) a. Describe what an image represents. 
(VA:Re8.1.K) a. Interpret art by identifying subject matter and describing relevant details.

Please note:  These lesson plans are intended for non-profit use only. Use of these plans for commercial purposes should give attribution to the Issaquah Schools Foundation and be accompanied by a nominal donation at www.isfdn.org/donate. Thank you.

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