Learning About Mixing Colors

My 4 year old has always showed an interest in mixing colors to see what other colors they can make. When we finger paint she loves sticking her hands in 2 different colors, rubbing her hands together and making hand prints.  If we use paint brushes she'll always put 2 different colors on the brush to see what color will appear on the paper.  It's definitely an activity that keeps her interest for quite some time!

One day while I was using my blender Tiffany asked if she could use her blender.  Actually, this blender was purchased for my son when he was about my daughters age. My son is 8.5 now and this toy blender is still being loved!! Gotta love toys that keep on givin'!  Anyway, Tiffany asked for water and simply turned on the blender and watched it swirl around.  Since we've used food coloring for other activities she asked if she could make her water a different color.  Since I make shakes in my blender what she actually said was, "can I make a blue drink?"  This is how are color mixing with water and a toy blender started. 

At least once per week Tiffany will ask to make a drink and now I know exactly what she means. I'll take out her blender, provide her with a cup and the process begins.  First, Tiffany uses the cup and puts ice in it by using the ice dispenser on our fridge. She usually adds one ice cube at a time and I encourage her to count each ice cube as she takes the ice from the cup and puts into her blender.

Next, Tiffany takes the cup back to the fridge uses our water dispenser and fills her cup with water and then pours that water into her blender.

To avoid food coloring getting all over the place I add in a few drops of the food coloring.

This is the fun part as Tiffany turns on her blender and watches as the colors swirl together.  The blender is really cool because when you turn it on not only does it offer the sense of sight by seeing the the colors swirl around but it also offers the sense of sound as you can hear the blender mixing just like Mommie's!

Once the water is mixed together Tiffany removes the blender cup from the base and pours the water into a cup for Mommy to drink.  We continue the same process using different colors as she makes 2 more drinks for big brother and Daddy!

The fun didn't stop there! Once Tiffany finished mixing colors she wanted to add 'something else' to her drink.  I gave her some sprinkles, a measuring spoon and she began adding the sprinkles and mixing away!

This activity teaches:

What our primary colors are and what happens when mixed together.

Life lessons, like pouring from one cup to another.  This is a skill that requires practice and patience. One day, sooner than later, Tiffany should be able to pour her drinks....with less spills.

Counting and measuring as Tiffany uses one to one correspondence when counting the ice cubes and measuring out the sprinkles.

Communication, as we talk about how and why the water changed color. 

Sharing and Responsibility, as Tiffany makes drinks and shares with her family.  It also gives a sense of contributing and responsibility to the household as we usually share these drinks with the family at dinner time.

This activity turned out to be more than just mixing colors.  Gotta love when one activity can lead into another!