1st grade Color Trees

This was a popular idea in the art teacher internet world this year.  I think it was a great way to get 1st graders thinking about color and what it can do.

Students practiced mixing secondary colors as well as light tints.  Students discussed the artwork of abstract artist, Kandinsky, as well as Klimt.  Both of these artists are known for their use of color and artwork involving trees.  Students compared the artwork of these artists and created their own colorful tree. 

Sometimes it's easy to get stuck in the perspective that students need to memorize information and then be able to repeat the rhetoric.  Learning certain vocabulary words is very necessary, but I tried a different approach to color theory this year. 

My first graders understand that color mixing creates new colors.  They understand that there are different degrees of color and that combining them in different ways creates a different effect.  My students might not always remember exactly which 2 colors create purple or which 2 colors create orange, but I guarantee that they can figure it out by looking at a color wheel.

Sometimes knowledge is figuring out how to find the answer rather than actually knowing the answer.