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Year 1

Mixing secondary colours: summer purples

I can mix purple and blend it into tints and shades

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New
New
Year 1

Mixing secondary colours: summer purples

I can mix purple and blend it into tints and shades

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. We are able to mix a range of purples using primary colours.
  2. Artists can mix colours on paper using blending.
  3. We can add white to make tints of colour, making a colour lighter.
  4. We can add black to make shades of colour, making a colour darker.

Keywords

  • Purple - a secondary colour, made by mixing blue and red

  • Blend - using a brush to gently mix colours on paper

  • Tint - adding white to a colour to make it lighter

  • Shade - adding black to a colour to make it darker

Common misconception

Paint can only be mixed in a paint palette.

Paint can be mixed in a paint palette, but it can also be mixed on paper to create a blend.


To help you plan your year 1 art and design lesson on: Mixing secondary colours: summer purples, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Pupils can sometimes find mixing purple challenging. Encourage pupils to mix the paint really well with their brushes, and experiment by adding different amounts of blue and red.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Sketchbooks or A3 paper, poster paint in red, blue, white and black, brushes, water pots.

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.
True or false? A hue is a particular shade or tint of a colour.
Correct answer: True
False
Q2.
Which of the following tools can be used to paint with?
Pencil and paper
Oil pastel and paper
Correct answer: Paint and paintbrush
Q3.
A __________ is used to build up layers of colour.
glue spreader
Correct answer: glaze
paper
scissor
Q4.
This colour is a __________ colour.
An image in a quiz
pale
primary
Correct answer: secondary

4 Questions

Q1.
What do we add to a colour to lighten it?
Correct answer: White
Black
Red
Q2.
When we add black to a colour, we make ...
tints.
Correct answer: shades.
the rainbow.
Q3.
Which two colours are mixed together to make purple?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: Red and blue
Orange and green
Black and white
Q4.
What does blending mean?
Correct answer: Mixing colours or shades together smoothly
Moulding a shape
Mixing colours so they are separate