
Then paint a swatch of yellow along the rim of your paper plate, where the triangle labeled “yellow” is pointing.ģ. Turn your color wheel template so that the triangle labeled “yellow” is at the top. Have students paint along with you as you demonstrate….Ģ. Introduce the primary colors:red, yellow, and blue. yellow and violet, red and green, or blue and orange)ġ.

Secondary Color – orange, green, or violet (a color created by mixing two primary colors together).Primary Color – red, yellow, or blue (a color that can’t be created by mixing other colors).Water in small plastic containers (I like the clear, pint size containers from the deli).Tempera paint: red (or magenta), yellow, and blue (or turquoise)… I like to use magenta and turquoise for color mixing since they’re closest in color to the magenta and cyan inks used in the four color printing process – magenta, yellow, cyan, and black.Color wheel templates, cut out and glued onto “uncoated” paper plates (paint adheres best to the “uncoated” plates, and they’re cheaper, too!).


Why purchase pre-mixed paint colors when students can learn to mix their own colors for more variety and more interesting results? Making a color wheel teaches students how to mix the colors they want while learning the basics of color theory! For a printable 7 page pdf of this project (including my color wheel template), please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
