Mouse Paint

Students in my 2nd grade class have been learning about color theory this week.  I read to them a favorite book called Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh.  It is a great book for introducing color mixing to the little ones.  I love books like this that are short and sweet, but also fun for reading to the kids.  Last year we did an activity where the students drew the mice with payons (crayon and paint combined) They work like water color pencils, the students drew and colored 6 mice using only the primary colors, but this year I wanted to switch it up.  Since model magic comes in the primary color packs I thought this would be a fun way to get them to learn about color theory.  each student started with  red, yellow and blue Model Magic. We mixed one color at a time, first we swirled two colors like red and yellow together and set it aside.  Next we combined the rest of the red and yellow together to make a smooth orange.   We then placed the swirled colors on top of the orange to make it look like the mice were mixing the color, just like the book.  My students LOVE playing with model magic, and i love it too because it mixes so well, and is not messy to clean up! A huge plus with the little ones! Lots of fun but no fuss:) 

Pout pout fish model magic

Pout pout fish sculpture project with model magic.  This was a fun lesson! Students learned about form and color mixing through the use of model magic.  We first read "The Pout Pout Fish Goes to School" and then discussed some features of the fish.  We also discussed the difference between shape and form.  When they got to their seats they were given model magic and were allowed to experiment and play for about 15 min.  I gave them some ideas on the board to try (try to make a sphere, cone, snake...etc).  We then created cone shapes together and pressed our fingers into the wide end to form the mouths.  We let them dry over night. The next day students were given liquid water colors to paint their fish, and a small amount of white model magic to create the eyes.  Then we let them dry again.  On the third day I took out the colored model magic (red, yellow and blue) We reviewed what primary colors were and how to use the color wheel to make secondary and tertiary colors.  As students gave me instructions on how to creat the new colors, "You make green by mixing yellow and blue!," I gave them pieces of the model magic to mix together.  As they gave it back to me mixed I placed it on chart paper and we formed our own color wheel.  They were so excited to do this, it was a great teaching moment! Students were then allowed to go back to their seat to create fins and details with the colored model magic, I think they came out adorable! Next time I will try to get them to make their fish a bit more round and wide.