How to make brown? - A color mixing experiment

We have been enjoying painting indoors during the series of rainy days for the past few weeks. I normally set out only  primary colors of tempera paint and let the kids explore color mixing. So now, the twins have enough practice of mixing secondary colors on their own.

One evening when painting, Sid wondered, "Mom! How to make brown?" Now that is an interesting question. Till a few months back his process arts have mostly ended up a big mess of mushy brown. But now he wants to mix brown intentionally. I considered this as an opportunity for them to explore beyond secondary colors. Moreover I too wondered how to mix brown.

We started to explore. I suggested them to start by mixing secondary colors. Here is a photo journal of our color mixing experiment.

An invitation to color mixing experiment

Nidhi started by mixing red and yellow to make orange.

When you mix red and yellow it makes orange

She then moved on to make this beautiful green by mixing blue and yellow.

A lovely green

A lot of sampling was done to get the purple color she intended.

Getting the desired purple shade is a big task

Our secondary colors all mixed and ready

Sid took the entire time exploring to get brown. He suddenly announced  with excitement, "Look Mom! I made brown by mixing red, blue and yellow." I love to see the amount of effort that went into his discovery of brown.

Eureka! Brown is discovered!

I then wondered aloud "Can we make brown with secondary colors?". The twins happily considered the challenge and off they went in search of other shades of brown.

Sid exclaimed, "I made this brown with mixing purple and yellow". Nidhi said, "I made this brown by mixing purple and green!".

"When I mixed this purple, orange and yellow, I got this brown!", exclaimed Nidhi.

We ventured into tertiary colors.They noticed that the color shades varied when mixed with other colors. Nidhi figured that purple when mixed with blue made dark purple and green and blue made dark green. 

Experimenting tertiary colors

Here is our experiment left to dry overnight.

The many shades of brown

The next morning the kids observed that the painting had dried and an interesting conversation ensued.

Nidhi: The paint was wet yesterday. Now it is dry.

Me: It was wet because it had water in it. Now, where did the water go?

Sid( after some thought) : The paper has holes in it and water went to drain through the hole.

Interesting! Thinking in lines of absorption.

Nidhi: I think the water flew and went into smoke alarm.

 That's a simple explanation of evaporation!

I love little kids' imagination. In their own little world, as Pablo Picasso said 

"Everything you can imagine is real!"

Plants and Seeds inquiry - Part 2

Here is an update on our inquiry on plants and seeds.

The kids were finding it tough to understand the difference between seeds, tubers, and bulbs. So to understand roots better we bought this Root viewer. Here they are planting carrot, spring onion and radish. We are caring for the plants everyday and watching the roots grow.

Planting in Rootviewer

Here is a picture of our beans plants  sprouting and growing at different stages. Nidhi keenly observed this progress and recorded her observation by modeling with play dough. 

Beans plant in different stages of growth

Here is a short video of Nidhi explaining how a bean plant sprouts and grows.

Beans have been the fastest growing plant and the kids measured the  growth using a scale. We observed that beans plant grew a half to one inch everyday.

Nidhi measuring the height of beans plant

It is only natural to practice writing numbers and make your own scale after measuring the plants.

Nidhi making her own measuring scale

The kids wondered if plants can grow without soil. So we tried a little experiment by soaking some moong beans in water and leaving it out on window sill.

We watched the beans germinating for next few days but they started to rot before sprouting. So we concluded that plants need soil to grow. 

Do seeds need soil to grow? - a little experiment

Here are some interesting thoughts and conversations going on with the kids.

Sid: I found a mushroom.
Nidhi: It looks just like a plant.


Sid: Do plants drink milk?
Nidhi : No! They drink only water.
Me: Do you want to test it?
Nidhi: No they will drink only water.

Sid: Roots are very sharp. Roots will break off when you walk on them.

I can see that the twins are in awe of the whole process of seeds turning into plants. Sid draws a lot about plants and their growth and I love that over time he has started adding more finer details of his understanding in his drawings. Here are a few of his creations.

A beans plant - Notice the fine details of root

Did you know? - Lots of new plants come up when it rains!

A Spring garden - with bees, butterflies and snails!

We have also been looking out for seeds when playing out in the park. Nidhi blew a dandelion and exclaimed, "Look Mom! It flies like a parachute!". 

Nidhi blowing a dandelion

"I am seeing if dandelion seeds fly up when I blow lying down", wondered Sid. 

Sid blowing a dandelion

I love this picture of Sid. So calm, carefree interaction with nature.

Though this topic can be explored more, I think the twins are happy with their learning as of now. 

This inquiry on plants has led the kids to be more observant of their environment. They have learnt to slow down, look deeply and respect even the smallest seedling they come across.

When children are encouraged to attune with nature in ways applicable to their daily life,  they become perspective and sensitive to feeling nature beyond the visual, and can truly connect to and love their world and their place in the world. 

 - Kelly Johnson