Third grade color wheels

Third graders came into class to see a blank color wheel paper, and dollops of primary tempera paint sitting on their tables. Using only red, blue, and yellow we mixed colors together to create the secondary and tertiary colors in order on the color wheel. Like a cool science experiment, students discovered for themselves how colors form. The next week we used only gray and black to paint a rainy day scene. I scattered magazine photos on tables as inspiration. I also took students' photos as they pretended to walk on my oval carpet. The final assemblage came the following week! We cut umbrella shapes from our color wheels, cut our our portraits and carefully glued all onto the rainy background. Only their feet are showing, but students cooed over the results. The contrast of the vibrant colors and neutral background made for interesting compositions. It also reinforced the Art Principle design of Contrast. Thank you Jennifer Burns for the inspiration.