Dr. Seuss Art Activity: Color Mixing for Kids

Dr. Seuss’ birthday is March 2. Since that’s right around the corner, why not stock up on kids’ art activities that feature Seuss favorites? One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish is a kids’ classic that can help your little learner with her colors, numbers and more!

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Mixing colors is an easy process art activity that lets your child explore and experiment. Many (many) years ago on my first day of work as a museum art teacher my co-worker asked me to pour some paint on a tray for the children to use. I grabbed a rainbow of temperas, only to be met by a restrained look of disgust. “No. We ONLY use the PRIMARY COLORS and white,” said my co-worker. She explained that making the kids mix the colors added another layer to the art-making process. They weren’t just painting a landscape, creating a portrait or coloring an animal. They were also coming up with their own unique blend of colors.

That brings me back to the activity at hand…

Here’s What You’ll Need:

·        White card stock paper

·        Red and blue tempera paint (you can also use white)

·        A paintbrush

·        Scissors

·        A marker or crayon

Here’s What to Do:

1.     Draw two fish onto the card stock. This is the perfect opportunity to talk about shapes and the part-to-whole relationship. So, add in some math and ask your child what shapes can make a fish (an oval and a triangle or a circle and a triangle both work well as combos).

2.     Cut the fish out.

3.     Pour two pools of tempera – one red and one blue – onto a palette or piece of wax paper. Wax paper makes an easy (and inexpensive) disposable palette.
 

4.     Paint one fish red and one fish blue.
 

5.     Mix the colors. Your child has one red and one blue fish. She can smoosh the fish together or use one as a paintbrush for the other. Any way that she does it, she’s transferring one paint color to the other to make purple.
 

Make more fish and repeat the color mixing activity. Try different amounts of each color, and see what happens. For example, if your child globs on a ton of blue paint, but only uses a teeny tiny amount of red – what color is the result? Try adding white to the mix to see how the color changes.

Don’t forget to include the actual Dr. Seuss book into the activity. Read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish before the art-making begins!

Are you looking for more Dr. Seuss themed activities for kids? Follow my Pinterest board for ideas!

Follow Mini Monets and Mommies's board Dr. Seuss Children's Activities on Pinterest.