Conduct a Yellow and Blue Experiment

Watch your child's wide-eyed fascination as he turns yellow and blue paint into green! Spark his interest in art with a hands-on lesson on the color wheel. Afterward, he can use his new shade of green to paint a festive picture for St. Patrick's Day.

What You Need:

• Yellow paint
• Blue paint
• Zip-top plastic bag
• Paper
• Paint brushes and/or paint sponges
• Glitter

What You Do:

1. Cover a work surface with newspaper or grocery bags. Make sure your child is wearing play clothes that you don't mind getting paint on.
2. Have your child pour some yellow paint into the zip-top plastic bag.
3. Now have him add some blue paint.
4. Help him seal the bag, then encourage him to squish and squeeze the bag with his hands until the paints get mixed together. Watch as the paint turns green! Explain that yellow and blue are primary colors and when they're combined, they make green. Does he know what colors make orange? How about purple?
5. Hand your child the paint brushes and/or sponges and let him paint. If he likes, let him add glitter to his painting while the paint is still wet.
6. Once the painting is dry, hang it up in a prominent place so everyone can enjoy it.

To learn more about the color wheel, try reading the book Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni together.