Primary Colors Art

We started school this past week, and I wanted to start with color words because most children come knowing their colors, but are excited to be able to learn to read words quickly.  We focus on color words because they were engaging for the kids.  Thanks to HeidiSongs, we learn how to spell them pretty quickly.

Our first week is all about starting to establish routines as well.  Our building does a staggered start (A-M day one, N-Z day 2) then we have an aide for 2 days when all the kiddos are together.  I took advantage of a 2nd set of hands and decided to do some painting.  I'm not big on getting out paint early in the year; I like to wait until the kids are used to my expectations for other things in our classroom, but it is hard to pass up when you have help!

We had talked about the primary colors and color mixing the day before this activity.  Each child received an 8x10 canvas taped off into 6 sections.  They were given red, yellow and blue watercolors.  I showed them how to mix colors on the canvas and give them the freedom to create as they'd like.  There were no requirements to make certain colors or paint a certain way.  My kiddos painted in groups of 4 with my aide, who is our fabulous librarian- she was a great sport!

Here are some examples of finished projects hanging in the hallway (the tape is peeled off):

This project was a fun way to start our year.  My kiddos got to show their creativity while sticking to our color topic.  They were SO excited when I said we were going to paint, that it made the mess (my table has a permanent yellow blob despite the tablecloth that was covering it) totally worth it.

Have you tried anything 'crazy' in the first week of school?