Mixing Paint Colors with Kids

Not every child loves to paint with loads of colors.  In fact, I once had a student who painted his art entirely with black paint. It was quite modern of him, I must admit.

But for me, mixing colors is almost as fun as painting with them. And teaching children how to mix paint colors is one of the magical moments of being an art educator.

In our Primerry episodes, kids have been exploring how to create their own magical mixings of colored tempera paint. They have learned how to create TINTS (which is just a color mixed with white paint).

You can facilitate this process at home even if you are wary of spills and messy mistakes.

Here are a few tips to help you keep paint off your floor:

Invest (about $3 for a pack of 50) small salsa cups with lids from kitchen supply stores like Smart & Final. I use these ALOT to mix paint in and store at the same time. The lid allows the paint to stay moist and therefore reusable for at least a month.

Use a 18" x 24" or 24" x 36" bristol board or tag board available from craft stores as a placemat for your child's art. Just one will last for over a year of art-making so buy the largest size to fit your table and there will be no need to worry about spilled paints, messy marks or painting off the edges of the art paper. The paint dries easily and fast.

Buy a dog's water bowl to clean brushes when paint mixing. Yup. A dog bowl. Half the messes you will clean-up are due to spilled water cups so for Heaven's Sake, do not use a plastic red solo cup for big brushes. You're just inviting a mess.
When your child starts to mix paints, step back. Truly. Just step back and let them experiment. They are having the time of their lives and such amazing colors will ensue. 

Can't wait to start mixing colors with your kiddos this month!

If you're not a member yet, get onboard today and let's start mixing paints together! Click the JOIN button in the menu.

Keep creating!

Miss Patty