a little colour science

Just a little colour mixing experiment we tried recently. Jars of water with food colouring in the primary colours – red, yellow, blue – and an empty jar and eyedropper to mix the colours in.
My son really enjoys using the eyedropper and has asked for this experiment a few times since we first tried it. He is fascinated with being able to make a new colour and beginning to notice that he can create different shades of the colours by mixing different amounts of each colour (for example, he notices that he has made a lighter blue, although he cannot accurately say why). He also tried mixing all three colours to find that he can get brown.
Your child will enjoy this activity just as it is, but you can extend their understanding a little bit by asking them to predict which colour they will make before they mix the colours. You could also get them to record their results by drawing (eg. a spot of red + a spot of blue = a spot of purple)