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Year 1

Colour mixing for the garden

I can match colours I see in flowers using wet and dry paint.

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New
New
Year 1

Colour mixing for the garden

I can match colours I see in flowers using wet and dry paint.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Artists can match colours that they observe in the world around them.
  2. Wet and dry paint can be mixed to create a range of colours.
  3. Powder paint and petroleum jelly can be mixed to create a colourful artwork.

Keywords

  • Match - mixing paint so that it looks the same as the colours we observe

  • Powder paint - a dry, colourful powder that can be mixed with water to make paint

  • Petroleum jelly - a thick, greasy substance

Common misconception

Artists can always match colours on the first attempt.

Remind children that it can take an artist several tries to make the correct colour. By practicing colour mixing, artists can improve over time.


To help you plan your year 1 art and design lesson on: Colour mixing for the garden, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Petroleum jelly does not cure when exposed to air. The artwork made in learning cycle two can be made on loose sheets of paper rather than sketchbooks, and photographed to preserve it. This artwork will not be suitable for display where it will remain wet to touch.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Ready mixed paint, paint brushes, water pots, powder paint in primary colours, petroleum jelly, loose sheets of paper.

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which of these colours can you mix to make orange paint?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: red and yellow
red and blue
blue and yellow
Q2.
Which of these materials do you think might feel soft?
Correct answer: wool
stone
paper
Q3.
What is a “reduction drawing”?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: drawing a shape and then making parts of it lighter
drawing lots of bright shapes at once
drawing many lightly coloured pictures of the same thing
Q4.
What are the three secondary colours?
Correct Answer: orange, purple and green, orange, green and purple, green, orange and purple, green, purple and orange, purple, orange and green

4 Questions

Q1.
Colours can only be mixed with wet paint.
True
Correct answer: False
Q2.
What other materials do you need to be able to paint with powder paint?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: water
pencils
Correct answer: petroleum jelly
Q3.
Artists might have to try several times to match a colour.
Correct answer: True
False
Q4.
Put the steps in the correct order to create a flower artwork with dry paint.
An image in a quiz
1 - Use petroleum jelly and your finger to create an image of a flower.
2 - Choose two primary colours to mix for your flower.
3 - Sprinkle on the powder paint to mix the colours.
4 - Shake off the excess powder paint to reveal your artwork.