What happens when you mix blue with red? Or red with green? These are common questions that young children might have during colour mixing activities. As curious explorers, set-up activities that encourage children to be hands-on in their learning while they make new discoveries and build upon existing knowledge. All you need to get started in this activity is some food colouring and some water. Or, for a cool spin on this, try oil instead in your colour mixing experience. Let’s get started.  

Things You will Need: 

Process: 

Start with water in a clear container and have food colouring and a whisk nearby. If you are doing this experiment with oil then have some oil nearby too. 

Engaging with Your Child: 

Invite your child to the table where you have set-up the experience. “Let’s go see what I have set-up over at the table. Today we are going to add food colouring to water and see what colours we can make.” Get your child to think about what will happen, “What do you think will happen when the red mixes with the blue?” Next ask your child to use the whisk to mix the water with the two colours, “Looks like the water is turning green!”  

Note- Depending on the age and stage of your child, you will adjust the amount of support your child might need. A younger toddler for instance will not care too much about the change in colour but will enjoy mixing the water with his/her hands or with the whisk while preschoolers will certainly find the colour change fascinating and will be able to make predictions and draw conclusions from this learning experience.  Just doing activities together is most important so have fun and be present.