LEARNING ABOUT MIXING COLOURS - Cognitive experience

This is a great cognitive and sensory experience for children aged 2-5 years old.

You will need:
  • Clear plastic containers
  • Food colouring (RED, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW)
  • Water
  • Ice-trays
  • 4 plastic cups
  • Straw or spoon to stir
  1. A day ahead of the activity or the night before, fill the 4 plastic cups with water and add a few drops of colour separately to each cup. So one red water cup, one blue water cup, one yellow water cup and one green water cup.
  2. Pour the coloured water into the ice trays so you have an even amount of all 4 colours and then FREEZE.
Once you have made your coloured frozen ice cubes, you can begin the activity.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have only made small coloured ice cubes, you will only need small clear containers or bowls, otherwise the food dye wont make a big impact when dissolving into the water.
  1. Fill clear plastic containers half full with water.
  2. Get your children to drop one of each of the coloured ice cubes/blocks into different plastic containers and you can watch it slowly dissolve and change the water that colour. Your child can use a spoon to help swirl it around. 
  3. Once the water has changed, drop a different colour into the water, again watching it dissolve and change the water as the 2 colours mix. FOR EXAMPLE: Add a YELLOW ice block first and then add a BLUE ice block and as your child stirs it around, the water will become GREEN.
Colours to try:

Yellow + Red = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Purple
Red + Green = Brown

Try other mixes and then once you make a new colour, try adding that with other containers to see what colours of the rainbow you can make :-)

Your child may even create their own unique colour while mixing!