Adult-led activity
What do you see?
Use the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and illustrated by Eric Carle to introduce a topic on colour.
Key learning intentions
To listen and respond to a story
To differentiate between colours and use colour names
Adult:child ratio 1:6 Resources
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and illustrated by Eric Carle (Picture Puffins, 5.99) a range of self-coloured toys (for example, a yellow plastic duck, a blue teddy, a green model dinosaur) box a small curtain or piece of fabric on a frame to form a screen
Preparation
Place one of the toys on an upturned box and put it behind the screen.
Activity content
* Share the story with the children and encourage them to join in with repeated phrases and to anticipate the next animal or bird that Brown Bear will see.
* Explain to the children that you have brought some coloured creatures to meet them. Invite the children, by name, to lift the curtain to reveal a creature sitting on the box, and encourage the group to say, for example, 'Sophie, Sophie, what do you see?' The child will then reply 'I see a green dinosaur looking at me.'
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Colour names, names of creatures such as duck, bear and dinosaur.
Questions to ask
What colour is the bird? What do you think Brown Bear will see next? What colour was the cat that Brown Bear saw? I've got a duck behind the screen - guess what colour it is? Were you right?
Follow-up activities
* Leave the book, toys, box and curtain in the book area and encourage the children to continue to play with rhyme.
* Use a digital camera to take photographs of individual children and the toys. Make up a book using the same structure as Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Mixing colours
Spend time teaching the children the routines and skills needed to explore paint colour mixing independently.
Key learning intentions
To select and use equipment independently
To explore what happens when they mix colours
Adult:child ratio 1:1 or 2
Resources
Pots of powder paint in the primary colours (red, yellow and blue)
spatulas water pots palettes brush colour mixing chart (see Nursery World poster)
Activity content
* Show the children the tools and equipment and encourage them to handle each piece. Talk about equipment names.
* Explain to children that these are all the things that they need to mix their own paint.
* Ask the child to put on an apron and to collect a pot of paint, a spatula and a brush, and to half-fill a water pot.
* Work through the routine of mixing the powder paint with water. Model each step and then encourage the child to repeat that step, using just one colour to start and then adding others:
1 Use your spatula to put some powder paint in the mixing palette.
2 Wet the brush in the water.
3 Stir the water into the powder paint.
* Support the children in washing up and putting away their equipment.
* As the children become familiar with the routine, encourage them to work independently experimenting with colour mixing and using their skills to create planned colour effects when applying paint to paper.
Extending learning
Key vocabulary
Primary colour names: red, yellow, blue.
Secondary colour names: orange, green, purple.
Equipment names: spatula, water pot, palette, brush.
Mix, change, same, different.
Questions to ask
What do you need to get ready before you start mixing paint? Why don't we put the spatula into the water/the wet brush into the dry paint? What do you think will happen if we add some yellow paint to the red? What colours did you mix to make this green? How do you think we could mix purple? What will happen if we paint over the top of this red stripe with blue? Look at the water in the pot - why do you think it has changed colour?
Follow-up activities
* Provide paint mixing equipment on a permanent or regular basis in the paint area and store on easily accessed open shelves or tabletops.
Templates can help children as they self-select and in tidying away equipment.
* Offer other colour mixing experiences, such as mixing primary colours (ready mixed paint) with the palms of their hands on a Perspex board; laying one coloured Perspex paddle over another and holding them up to the light to create a third colour; kneading two different coloured balls of dough together; or mixing food colouring in water (see Water area).
Child-initiated learning
Maths area
Additional resources
Coloured sorting toys, such as Compare Bears and bobbins 3dice and spinners displaying the same colours as the toys 3grids marked on A4 sheets of paper 3coloured pencils 3number lines (See also the back of the Nursery World poster)
Possible learning experiences
* Recognising colours and using colour names.
* Matching coloured toys to colours on the dice or spinner.
* Lining up and counting toys.
* Placing one toy in each space on a grid.
* Making random patterns.
* Recognising and continuing repeat patterns.
* Making up games - for example, 'Your colour is red, so every time you roll red on the dice you can put a red toy in your column on the grid.'
* Negotiating rules.
* Taking turns.
* Explaining rules to others.
* Recording, for example, making a mark with the appropriate coloured pencil on the grid as colours are shown on the spinner.
The practitioner role
* Offer children experiences of playing dice and board games.
* Talk with children about colours as they explore the environment.
* Recognise and support individual learning needs and interests.
* Join in with their games, making suggestions where appropriate and asking questions, such as, 'Look at the toys on our grid - how many red ones are there?' 'Which colour do we need next to carry on the pattern?'
* Model skills such as rolling the dice, recording colours and writing 'rule cards'.
Water area
Additional resources
Food colouring coloured sequins coloured glitter (in sifters) ice cubes (containing food colouring, coloured sequins or glitter) transparent plastic containers.
Possible learning experiences
* Talking about colours.
* Investigating using the senses of touch and sight.
* Experimenting with colour mixing in water.
* Commenting on observations.
* Asking questions about why things happen.
* Understanding that water can be frozen and that ice melts, and that objects and colours frozen inside are released as the ice cubes melt.
* Expressing imaginative ideas - for example, 'The glitter in the water looks like magic rain.'
* Making predictions and offering simple explanations.
The practitioner role
* Prepare ice cubes beforehand.
* With children, add food colouring to the water in the tray and plastic containers.
* Ask questions to challenge children's thinking, for example, 'What do you think will happen to the sequins in the ice cubes when we put them in the water?' 'What happened when you mixed red and yellow food colouring into the water?' 'How do you think we could make some coloured ice cubes?'
Outdoor area
Additional resources
A panel of close-weave wooden or plastic trellis secured into the ground leaf collection bag or bucket paint shade cards available from DIY stores in autumn colours (at other times of the year, provide coloured ribbons for the children to weave into the trellis frame)
Possible learning experiences
* Collecting autumn leaves and talking about features such as colour and shape.
* Sorting leaves by colour, such as red, orange, yellow and brown.
* Matching leaf colours to colours on the paint shade cards.
* Selecting leaves to put into the spaces in the trellis.
* Arranging leaves in colour patterns, for example, a row of yellow leaves or a repeat of brown and orange leaves.
The practitioner role
* Make sure that the trellis is easily accessible by children, preferably from each side. It may also serve to separate zones within the outdoor area.
* If leaves are not available in the outdoor area, take the children for a walk to the local park to collect autumn leaves.
Sand area
Additional resources
Coloured sand in plastic storage tubs teaspoons salt spoons small scoops small funnels small transparent plastic bottles (some with a hole in the bottom) film canisters (white ones allow children to see through the plastic) shallow trays sand-timers containing coloured sand
photographs of rangoli patterns
Possible learning experiences
* Handling the sand and differentiating between the different coloured sands.
* Mixing different coloured sands and commenting on the effects that can be created.
* Exploring mark-making by pouring sand from a bottle or funnel, perhaps producing some letter shapes.
* Creating line patterns using different coloured sands.
* Selecting colours to achieve a planned effect.
* Making marks in the coloured sand with their fingers.
* Filling bottles and film canisters with layers of coloured sand.
* Developing a concept of measuring time using coloured sand-timers and comparing time spans, for example, 'The yellow sand flowed through before I tidied away the sand toys'. Children can make their own simple timers using funnels and bottles.
The practitioner role
* Support children with the physical skills needed to pour sand into small containers.
* Model use of colour names.
* Talk with children about the marks and patterns they have created.
Office area
Additional resources
Red, blue and yellow stickers (round or rectangular ones are readily available in stationery shops) notelets writing paper envelopes three postboxes (one red, one blue and one yellow) three postbags (one red, one blue and one yellow)
Possible learning experiences
* Writing a letter to a friend, addressing the envelope and selecting a coloured 'stamp' to stick on the envelope.
* Posting envelopes in corresponding postboxes.
* Matching the postbag to the box of the same colour and collecting the post in that box.
The practitioner role
* Model writing skills and encourage children to read back their own attempts at writing.
* Talk with them about their choice of coloured stamp and support them in matching this to the correct postbox.
* At intervals during the day, ask a child to deliver the post from a particular box and provide the appropriate coloured collection bag. Rotate collections from the three post boxes. Support the children in delivering the post.