Art and Design · Year 1

Active learning ideas

Mixing Secondary Colours

Mixing secondary colours requires hands-on experimentation so children feel the ‘weight’ of paint and see the immediate effect of their choices. Active learning lets students test, adjust, and correct their own colour recipes, which sticks better than watching a demonstration alone.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS1: Art and Design - Painting

• 10–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Inquiry Circle
• 25 min · Pairs

Inquiry Circle: The Secret Recipe

In pairs, students are given a 'target' secondary colour (e.g., a specific shade of green). They must work together to mix primary colours, recording how many 'scoops' of each they used to reach the target.

Construct the perfect shade of green by mixing blue and yellow.

Facilitation Tip

During Collaborative Investigation, circulate with a damp cloth to wipe brushes between colour tests and keep colours pure.

What to look for

Provide each student with a small card. Ask them to draw a simple landscape and label one area with the primary colours they would mix to create the secondary colour used there. For example, 'Grass: Blue + Yellow'.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Stations Rotation
• 45 min · Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Landscape Layers

Set up three stations: 'The Orange Sun', 'The Green Field', and 'The Purple Mountain'. At each station, students mix the required secondary colour and add one element to a shared class landscape mural.

Predict the outcome if you mix all three primary colours together.

Facilitation Tip

For Station Rotation, set out three clearly labelled palettes (red+yellow, blue+yellow, red+blue) to prevent accidental muddy mixes.

What to look for

Hold up two different shades of green paint, one clearly made with more yellow than the other. Ask students: 'Which of these greens looks more like the grass in our school field? How did you make your green? Can you explain the 'recipe' for your colour?'

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 10 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Colour Predictions

Before mixing, the teacher holds up two primary colours. Students whisper to a partner what colour they think will appear. After the mix, they discuss if the result was what they expected and why.

Compare the secondary colours you created to colours found in nature.

Facilitation Tip

In Think-Pair-Share, provide a small pot of ‘muddy’ brown paint as a visual anchor for the misconception that all colours mix to black.

What to look for

Observe students as they mix paints. Ask individual students: 'What two colours are you mixing right now? What colour do you predict you will make?' Note their ability to predict and identify primary colours.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach the mixing process in short, snappy steps: name the target colour, select the two primaries, test tiny ratios, and check against a reference. Avoid long waits for paint to dry; keep sessions fast-paced with immediate feedback. Research shows young children learn colour best when they mix small amounts and see quick results, so limit paint quantities to prevent overwhelm.

Successful learning looks like students confidently naming two primary colours to create orange, green, or purple, mixing clean secondary shades, and applying them accurately in a landscape painting. By the end of the session, they should explain why more of one primary changes the shade.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Collaborative Investigation, watch for students adding extra colours to ‘improve’ the mix.

  Direct them to mix only the two specified primaries, then compare their result to a clean secondary shade on a reference card.

• During Station Rotation, notice students assuming equal amounts of both primaries are always needed.

  Have them test three small pots: one with a pea-sized dab of the stronger colour, one with equal amounts, and one with a tiny amount of the stronger colour, then label the pots with the shade produced.

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Methods used in this brief

• Inquiry Circle
• Stations Rotation
• Think-Pair-Share